A stack of manga filling gaps in a young reader's collection. Five books from a children's series new to another reader. A self-development title first spotted on social media. And a literary classic getting another chance after an unfinished first attempt.
The shopping bags leaving the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2026) reflect visitors' varied reading interests.
For Pakistani visitor Sehar Khan, a trip to the fair with her 11-year-old son Naqqash and friends turned into shopping for several family members.
Naqqash is preparing to start a new series after picking up five Tom Gates books. Khan also bought Super Stories of Prophets as gifts for younger nieces and nephews and planned to look for leadership books for herself.
“We just came to visit,” Khan said, explaining that they had arrived without a fixed shopping list. “We liked the collection, so we picked a couple of books for them, for Naqqash, for gifting, all of that.”
Hunting for the missing volumes
For 11-year-old Emirati reader Yousif Ahmed Al Marzooqi, the visit involved a more targeted search.
A fan of the Demon Slayer manga series, Yousif already owns the first 18 volumes and arrived looking for the next two. “I had to go to many shops,” he said after finally finding volumes 19 and 20.
