Consumerism is the ideology that enables an individual to feel happiness through the practice of constant purchasing. Ingrained into daily life, it is the countless subscription services, the constant advertisements, the seasonal rotation of decorations, the giant supermarkets and the ease of online delivery.
Overconsumption, which is the outcome of consumerism, is easy to spot in the industries of fast-fashion and electronics, but social media has pointed towards another area of overconsumption running rampant: books.
The publishing industry is just that: an industry. They want the consumer to buy the expensive hardcover book, so they release it before the cheaper paperback. They make numerous special editions of the same book and create related products like home décor and artwork to keep buyers buying.
The publishing industry markets books just like any other product, but the Tiktok users who claim a full bookshelf is overconsumption ignore one fundamental aspect of a novel: it is more than just a physical object, it is a story, a story that is powerful in how it can shape a person and the world.
A person might be able to over consume the tangible object of a book, but in the midst of a literacy crisis, book bans, a decline in physical media and the closure of independent book stores, reading is not overconsumption.
There’s a crisis in canada, and it’s not overconsuming books
A 2026 literacy report states that 1 in 5 adults in Canada struggle with basic reading. A person’s everyday life — from reading menus, to engaging with others, understanding the news and excelling in a workplace — is impacted if they struggle with basic reading.
Reading is fundamental to a person’s success in Canadian society, so TikToks that criticize individuals for wanting to read a lot by calling it an “overconsumption problem” are extremely harmful. It only discourages people from seeking education in books and developing beneficial reading skills.
A blog post by the University of Waterloo states that regular reading improves writing skills, expands vocabulary, diversifies knowledge, improves the ability to focus and increases critical thinking skills. Perhaps if TikTok users promoted the benefits of reading rather than claiming frequent reading is overconsumption, less Canadian adults would struggle in their daily lives.
Social media also raises the argument that reading a high number of books in a year is “Not actually reading, it is just consuming.” When scrolling TikTok and binging T.V. for hours is the norm, it does seem far-fetched that people can read 100 books a year and actually digest the content. But by reading instead of scrolling, a person can easily build a habit of regular reading that enables those large numbers.
Reading more than just a handful of books in a year has the power to expand a person’s worldview, too. The Oxford University Press states that books allow better understanding of different perspectives, and that a wide variety of reading through multiple genres builds an even higher emotional understanding.
Reading for children is extremely important in building empathy and understanding, as “The greatest amount of brain growth occurs between birth and age five,” according to the Calgary Public Library.
Yet, the library states that “twenty-five per cent of Grade 3 children in Canada are not reading at a third grade level.”
The literacy crisis in Canada could be curved by simply reading, because the skill only improves if it is practiced. Social media users seem to believe that a tall stack of books contributes to consumerism, but when the crisis is reading, more books is the only solution.
Get ’em before they’re gone
In a caption for a TikTok post that shows clips of full bookshelves, the user writes “People continue to buy books even when they have other books on their shelf that they have not read yet.” It is easy to see why this appears consumerist: a person is buying books before they need them. However, with book bans on the rise, they might not always be available.
Data from PEN Canada shows an escalation of book bans in Canadian schools last year. Many of the titles banned are stories of Indigenous and LGBTQIA2S+ experiences, and delve into issues of human rights, diversity and identity. They are important books for worldview expansion, but without access to them, an individual’s education could be at risk.
Owning a book protects it from book bans, but with increasing e-reader popularity, many no longer own physical copies of their novels. Subscription services have led to a decrease in physical media and allowed for corporate conglomerates like Amazon to own and control the books that are distributed via online platforms.
Although a person pays for an e-book on their Kindle or an audio book through Audible — both of which are owned by Amazon — they do not actually own the book in the same way they own a physical novel. Amazon has the power to change a novel’s content or remove it from a person’s catalogue.
In his 1953 dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451,” Ray Bradbury writes “Books are hated and feared… they show the pores in the face of life.” He continues, “The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless.”
By leaving a book to the discretion of companies like Amazon, or “The comfortable people,” it allows for the potential of being scrubbed of its meaning, of losing its power in critiquing the world. Protecting physical media by owning books contributes to the preservation of literature, not overconsumption.
‘Run, don’t walk’ to your nearest independent bookstore
TikToks criticizing the ‘book haul’ argue of the consumerist nature of leaving a book store with a bag of books, but they fail to acknowledge how supporting an independent book store can make a difference in an individual’s community.
Octopus Books in Ottawa, for example, promotes “Ideas in support of emancipation and activism” through their book curation and community events. They are “An anti-oppressive bookstore that supports the liberation of all community members.” Octopus Books also uplifts local authors and Canadian publishers.
Shopping independent does not mean that a person should never go to the library, thrift used books or visit little libraries, it only means that they should not be made to feel guilty for buying books which support their community.
it all boils down to gender bias
It is rare that a social media video would dispute the benefits of reading, yet there is so much discourse online claiming that reading and owning books is overconsumption. Why is something so beneficial attacked?
In comparison to TikTok creators who show videos of their collections of other items like Lego and figurines, they do not receive comments claiming they are over consuming like those who share their book collections.
Studies show that women read more books than men, so it could be assumed that it is mostly women who own collections of books. Like one TikTok comment points out, if men bought large amounts of books to fill their shelves, would it just be called a collection instead of overconsumption? Is the book collection of a woman simply not viewed as a ‘real’ collection?
So many men post TikToks of their collections of other items, even explaining how much they enjoy the hobby, and comments only agree. It questions the purpose of discouraging women from reading, because without reading there is a lack of education, and that prevents an understanding of a person’s rights and place in the world.
Books preserve human thought and reimagine the future. They hold the power of knowledge and the ability to bring a reader to every corner of the world, to every situation they would otherwise never find themselves. Read Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” to learn of the all-too-real world where women are stripped of their rights.
Read R.F Kuang’s “The Poppy War” to learn of the history of China’s wars. Read Agustina Bazterrica’s “Tender is the Flesh” to learn of the harmful meat industry. Consume it all, and do not fear that it will ever be overconsumption.