I really don't appreciate or respect an author who curses as much as Ashlee Piper does in the first two chapters of this book. It's a book about confronting consumerism -- why does it have to sound like a trucker is yelling at me? Vulgarity is the crutch of a weak mind, so it's a DNF (did not finish) for this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book, but it's not going to be one I recommend.

This book outlines one of the most practical and doable challenges of its kind that I've seen. At its heart the challenge Piper outlines is to go one month without buying any new things. She allows the purchase of used items, as well as renting/borrowing/repurposing, and she allows the purchase of experiences, food in restaurants, takeout, etc. To me, this makes the challenge seem truly not extreme and therefore much more achievable for the average person than most "challenges" we see in books/on social media/etc. That being said, it still has the potential to be very impactful, especially to a person who shops a lot. While listening to the book I realized I already do a lot of what she suggests, but I still saw a lot of ways I could benefit from the challenge. It is a very practical book, with concrete suggestions as to how to handle more difficult situations that might arise through the challenge.

I listened all at once but I could see that this would work really well as a day by day challenge (the way it is intended to be read) and would have maximum impact that way. This book would be a great gift for the shopping addicted person in your life (or yourself if that is you) - even if it is a little bit funny to buy a book about not buying new things. At least for the first little while, this book will likely not be available secondhand. Although to the author's credit, she does acknowledge this in the book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of the audiobook in exchange for this review.

There are many positives to this book. Overall, it tries to point out the absolute absurdity of America’s consumerism. How many times have you seen a meme of someone saying they went into Target for band aids and milk and walked out with $300 worth of stuff? I’ll be the first to admit that I have struggled with this problem, too. Generally speaking, if something new comes into the house, I try to get rid of something, too, but in the past year or two, due to some health struggles, the going out portion of this exercise has been lacking and now the house is overwhelmingly stuffed.

No New Stuff is a step-by step book that not only walks you through the process of decluttering, it shines a light on the conspicuous consumption that is prevalent in this society and how you can teach yourself to stop. buying. stuff. Not only will it improve your mental health, but our planet will also be better off in the long run. It takes a toll on one’s mental health to see the clutter.

I do have to say that Ashlee Piper is a great narrator of her own book. It really sounds like a conversation between friends. However, I also feel like this book would be better served to read it instead of listening to it. There are day-by-day instructions that, to me, feel like they would pack more punch seeing the words instead of just listening to it. Either way, this book is a great way to reevaluate the collection of stuff we acquire and how to dig ourselves out of the pile.

There are seasons of life and as I've now entered my 60s, my current season is dispersal. I am dispersing as much of my junk as I can in order to make my passing easier on my kids. You've likely heard of this movement - Swedish Death Cleaning. Seeing No New Things as an audio arc, I was all in to hear more about a life with less consuming. I started my year watching a documentary called Buy Now, and this book is a great follow-up resource to reiterate the importance of not buying into the influencer generation. Stop overconsuming. Stop falling for the psych warfare we live with as MUST HAVE is being thrown at us in all facets of our life.

This book started with such great information I regretted having the audio version. I kept listening, promising myself to remember that info, the next info came, and the first info left my brain (see my age mentioned in sentence 1, lol). Basically author Ashlee Piper spends a ton of time presenting interesting facts about why we are driven to consume, the history of us as humans who are subject to tricks that compel us to seek a dopamine high from the procuring of goods, and the most important fact - that high dissipates quickly and needs to be filled again with.....you guessed it.....another purchase.

The second half of the book is a 30 day starter kit on how to live a life where we avoid unnecessary purchases. Since I was reading to review, I did not start the 30 day challenge, but I did listen to get an idea of what to expect because you bet I'm in for the month of April. I may not make it more than one month, but I'm game to stop wasting precious resources including money, time, energy.....

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have been doing no buy/low buy for a few years now. And I love it. And I love that this book exists.

This is a great intro into the world of low buying. The writing style is purposefully couched in modern social media language. It is fun and irreverent and goofy.

For those who are already deep into sustainable purchasing and living, this may only have a few small new things for you to pick up on but the read is still enjoyable.

If you are new to it, this is a BRILLIANT intro into how to reduce spending and shopping. It offers actionable ways to reduce shopping, amazing background into how we got here, and really clearly lays out the perks of going low/no buy.

A lovely read.

I really enjoyed how this book laid out a clear step-by-step approach and explained the reasons behind not making certain purchases. It felt like the author was speaking directly to me, and I learned so much from it! Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC.

#NoNewThings #NetGalley

This book was full of very eye opening statistics on the impacts of overconsumption on mental health, the environment, and relationships. Was not expecting to learn so much about so many different things, and it tells you how to make a step by step guide personalized for yourself to combat overconsumption habits