My Hobby: Book Buying or Book Reading?

Are you a book dragon or a leisurely reader? Do you own a library (>1000 books) or do you visit a communal book repository?

This post was inspired by some debates I’ve recently watched about overconsumption, and reading vs book buying as a hobby.

When it comes to books, I consider myself a trophy collector. If I’ve finished a book, then I want to display the achievement in my physical space. I want the chance for my eyes to fall on its spine and be reminded of whatever was going on in my life while I was reading it.

However, I’m also an immigrant, which means I had to leave most of my collection behind when I left the UK for Switzerland. I still plan to return to the UK (one day), and I’m starting to dread the idea of moving my growing book collection back home. For this reason, I’m very grateful to my colleagues who have lent me copies of their books to reduce the costs and storage of some really great tales! These are books that I plan to buy when I’m more settled down and can really curate my own library, full of books I’ve read and can share with friends and family.

Additionally, I’m very lucky that my parents have been caretaking the majority of my UK book collection for the last five years.

I love my books, I love to read, and I love the culture around reading. And, sometimes, buying books feels like a quick, low-effort way to engage with that culture when I don’t have the time or patience for anything more. I enjoy my collection, but I want it to reflect my achievements more than my ambitions (or the size of my wallet, for that matter). This is the philosophy preventing me from buying too much these days.

That said, my physical TBR shelf is still pretty weighty!

I decided to rearrange my bookshelf in January to put my physical TBR on one shelf (almost). A couple of the titles I’m yet to read are a little too tall to fit there, and my copy of book five in the Avatar Chronicles has suffered extremely delayed shipping, and thus, is not present in my photo.

So far, I’ve kept to my promise to stick to this shelf. By March 2026, I’ve already read and reviewed the following titles:

Coming up next, Under the Oak Tree, by the Korean author Suji Kim.

And you? What’s your philosophy on book buying? Talk to me in the comments!