Portal:Books
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 and the scroll. 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 people can borrow them from libraries. The reception of books has led to a number of social consequences, including censorship.
A physical book does not need to contain written works: 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, such as 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 can't access print media due to limitations 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 Chronicle of the 20th Century was so heavy that it was said to be "the first coffee table book seriously to threaten the well-being of coffee-tables"?
- ... that zoologist Ruth Crosby Noble's 1945 book on animal behavior was said to have the "rare quality of combining entertainment with sound scientific value"?
- ... that Holly Ringland wrote her second book while stuck in Australia for three years during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- ... that The Scout Mindset, a book about being able to change one's mind, took five years to be published partly because author Julia Galef changed her mind about what to write?
- ... that Beyond the Wall received positive reviews in the UK but was deeply controversial in Germany?
- ... that Irish crucifixion plaques date from between the 9th and 12th centuries and may have once been attached to altars, book shrines, reliquaries or high crosses?
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“ | Books are the gardens of the scholars | ” |
— Ali ibn Abi Talib |
Did you know
- ...that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold more than 11 million copies in the first twenty-four hours following its release?(Pictured)
- ...that Guinness World Records is the best-selling copyrighted series of all-time?
- ... that the c. 8th-century medical text Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah, attributed to Ali al-Ridha, is also known as the "Golden Treatise"?
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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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