The Books Portal
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images. Books are typically composed of many pages, bound together and protected by a cover. Modern bound books were preceded by many other written mediums, such as the codex, the scroll and the tablet. The book publishing process is the series of steps involved in their creation and dissemination.
As a conceptual object, a book typically refers to a written work of substantial length, which may be distributed either physically or in digital forms like ebooks. These works are broadly classified into fiction (containing imaginary content) and non-fiction (containing content representing truths). Many smaller categories exist within these, such as children's literature meant to match the reading level and interests of children, or reference works that gather collections of non-fiction. Books are traded at both regular stores and specialized bookstores, and can be borrowed from libraries. The reception of books has led to a number of social consequences, including censorship.
A physical book may not contain a written work: for example, it may contain only drawings, engravings, photographs, puzzles, or removable content like paper dolls. Physical books may be left empty to be used for writing or drawing, as in the case of account books, appointment books, autograph books, notebooks, diaries and sketchbooks.
The contemporary book industry has seen several major changes due to new technologies. In some markets, the sale of printed books has decreased due to the increased use of ebooks. However, printed books still largely outsell ebooks, and many people have a preference for print. The 21st century has also seen a rapid rise in the popularity of audiobooks, which are recordings of books being read aloud. Additionally, awareness of the needs of people who have difficulty accessing print media due to disabilities like visual impairment has led to a rise in formats designed for greater accessibility, such as braille printing or formats supporting text-to-voice. Google Books estimated that as of 2010, approximately 130,000,000 unique books had been published. (Full article...)
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More Did you know (auto generated)
- ... that the book Racecraft argues that the concept of human races was developed to justify racism?
- ... that ten years after publishing the book Great South African Christians, Horton Davies gave a speech criticizing South African churches and synagogues for their role in apartheid?
- ... that the best novel of American science fiction author Garrett Smith did not appear as a stand-alone book until over 60 years after his death?
- ... that Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite, compared a rival author to the subject of both their books, convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried?
- ... that the writer of the 2022 comic book miniseries Poison Ivy, starring the eponymous Batman villain, described it as a "love story" that features "plant-based body horror"?
- ... that History of the Mission of the Evangelical Brothers in the Caribbean by C. G. A. Oldendorp was the first book to publish Igbo-language terms in 1777?
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“ | The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books. |
” |
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
Did you know
- ...that the world's largest book has 730 leaves and 1460 pages; each page is three and a half feet wide, five feet tall and five inches thick?(Pictured)
- ...that before the invention and adoption of the printing press, almost all books were copied by hand, making books expensive and comparatively rare?
- ...that biggest book in the world is Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom by Michael Hawley, which measures 1.5 m x 2.1 m (5 feet x 7 feet?
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Web resources
- Bookbinding and the Conservation of books, A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, 1982 by Matt T. Roberts and Don Etherington
- IOBA glossary of book terms
- Project Gutenberg - Free e-Books
- Words at Large: The best in books from CBC.ca
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