Outline of books
overview of and topical guide to books
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to books.
A book is a written work of substantial length created by one or more authors, these writings are typically printed on many sheets of paper as pages bound together into a bookblock, this bookblock is glued to the middle of a foldable cover that protects the pages. Before the wide adoption of the modern printing press, codices were used to create handwritten manuscripts. Older writing media include scrolls and clay tablets. Nowadays, books can be distributed in other forms like audiobooks, and electronic books (ebooks). Books are broadly classified into fiction, which contains invented or imaginary narratives; and non-fiction, which contains content intended as factual truth.
Types of books
Physical types of books not to be confused with literary genres or types of literature.
Advance copy – a free promotional copy of a book given by a publisher to booksellers, librarians, journalists, or others, or as a contest or school prize, before the book is printed for mass distribution.
Alphabet book – a book primarily designed for young children representing letters of the alphabet with corresponding words and/or images.
Alternative formats – another version of a standard printed book such as audio, braille, electronic or large print versions
Audiobook – a recorded reading of a physical book
Autograph book – a book for collecting the autographs of others
Confession album – a type of autograph book with set of questions
Banned book – a book or other printed works which are prohibited by law or to which free access is not permitted by other means
Bestseller – a book that is included on a list of top-selling or frequently-borrowed titles
Blook – a printed book that contains or is based on content from a blog
Board book – a type of book printed on thick paperboard generally for children
Book-and-record set – a set consisting of a picture storybook and an accompanying recording
Book series – sequence of books that are formally identified together as a group
Booklet – a small book or group of pages
Chapbook – an early type of cheap popular literature printed in early modern Europe in booklet format
Tract – booklets used for religious and political purposes
Boxed Set – a compilation of books packaged in a box, for sale as a single unit
Braille book – a book that is traditionally written with embossed paper for the blind or visually impaired
Chapter book – a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10
Codex – a bound book constructed of a number of sheets of paper, vellum, papyrus, or similar materials
Coffee table book – an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table
Coloring book – a book containing line art to which a reader may add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media
Comic book – a book or magazine that consists of comic art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes
Comedia suelta – an individual printing of a play
Condolence book – a book in which people may record their condolences after a death or great tragedy.
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