The Anti-consumerist Druid: How I Beat My Shopping Addiction Through Connection With Nature

The first thing that caught my eye about this book is the memoir-style writing about the journey the author went thru. The author even mentions in the introduction that this book is not a self-help or a Paganism 101 book. Yet, I find reading about someone else’s journey sometimes is more informative that a workbook style book. The Anti-consumerist Druid is very thought provoking and I personally want to make some changes. I write this ironically as another Amazon package has been dropped off at my door. I have done plenty of ‘retail – therapy’ shopping days (especially at Barnes and Nobles for books). Our family has been trying to cut back on shopping for financial reasons, but I honestly hadn’t put much thought into an earth-friendly, pagan way of thinking of shopping previously.

The book is broken down into two main parts. The first part: Come for the Shopaholism includes the following chapters, Identity Crisis, The Consumer Trap, Been There Done That, How Extinction Rebellion Stole Christmas, Lockdown, Authenticity, and The Year of Being Myself. In Part Two: Stay for the Druidry, the author includes the following chapters, The Weird The Wild and the Woo-Woo, Connections, Brigid, The Good Neighbours, and #Blessed.

The writing style is down to earth and you feel as you are having a chat with a friend at a local café. Author Katrina Townsend tells how she felt, her addiction to clothes and shopping and what it was like during her self-imposed shopping ban. The book is intimate and compelling and several times I saw myself in her pages. The reader can have a better understanding on the addiction of consumerism as they read the book thru the author’s eyes. While this is not a self-help book, the author does provide suggested reading at the end for those who want to further research and continue reading.

This was a good read and I enjoyed the memoir-style approach the book took.

~review by Amber Barnes

Author: Katrina Townsend
Moon Books, 2022
pp. 168, $16.95