Portal:Books
The Books Portal

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As a conceptual object, a book often refers to a written work of substantial length by one or more authors, which may also be distributed digitally as an electronic book (ebook). These kinds of works can be broadly classified into fiction (containing invented content, often narratives) and non-fiction (containing content intended as factual truth). But a physical book may not contain a written work: for example, it may contain only drawings, engravings, photographs, sheet music, puzzles, or removable content like paper dolls.
The modern book industry has seen several major changes due to new technologies, including ebooks and audiobooks (recordings of books being read aloud). Awareness of the needs of print-disabled people has led to a rise in formats designed for greater accessibility such as braille printing and large-print editions.
Google Books estimated in 2010 that approximately 130 million total unique books had been published. The book publishing process is the series of steps involved in book creation and dissemination. Books are sold at both regular stores and specialized bookstores, as well as online (for delivery), and can be borrowed from libraries or public bookcases. The reception of books has led to a number of social consequences, including censorship.
Books are sometimes contrasted with periodical literature, such as newspapers or magazines, where new editions are published according to a regular schedule. Related items, also broadly categorized as "books", are left empty for personal use: as in the case of account books, appointment books, autograph books, notebooks, diaries and sketchbooks. (Full article...)
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Credit: Eadfrith of Lindisfarne
More Did you know (auto generated)

- ... that in 1976, William F. Matthews became the first bookbinder to receive the Insignia Award of the City and Guilds of London Institute?
- ... that because of violent reactions – such as Jenny Geddes's on 23 July 1637 – to a Scottish prayer book, Walter Whitford kept loaded pistols visible to his congregants while using the book?
- ... that It's So Amazing won an award from the American Library Association before entering the organization's list of the most banned books of the decade?
- ... that comedian Pamela Stephenson was pleased that her 1987 book How to Be a Complete Bitch was described as "sexist, violent and crude"?
- ... that the Poison Book Project has identified more than 100 books that contain arsenic?
- ... that Margaret Pargeter published 49 books in eleven years, with another book following eleven years later?
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Selected quote
“ | Books are the gardens of the scholars | ” |
— Ali ibn Abi Talib |
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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Things you can do

- Find news articles regarding notable books and add them to the "In the news" section.
- Expand this portal and book-related articles: List of Jamaican books
- Create new articles: Lists of books provides a comprehensive list of notable books, many of which have no articles.
- Add references: List of CEO books, List of anonymously published works
- Make this portal more complete:
- Add {{WPBooks}} to the Talk pages of articles about notable books – but try to add an initial Assessment from the Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books
- Add
{{Portal|Books}}
to appropriate articles within the subject
- Anything else you can think of doing.
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
- please add more!
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