October is National Book Month

10 random book facts to honor all things related to 📚

'Book': The earliest known written instance of the word ‘book’ is in a book by Alfred the Great. Source: Interesting Literature

Book Bikes: With a recent study finding a decline in U.S. literacy, "book bikes" are growing. This promotes literacy by distributing books in parks via bicycle, similar to the book distribution system used in Kentucky in the 1930's. (Pack Horse Librarians.)

Source: Publishers Weekly

Edgar Allen Poe: October 7 marked the anniversary of his death (1849). He was America's first full-time writer which was unheard of in the mid-1800's. His dream was to start a literary magazine (The Stylus) that focused on quality writing, not popular.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: This is the first book written with a typewriter.

Of Mice and Men: The original title for John Steinbeck's novel was Something that Happened.

Peter Pan: The name Wendy was made up for the story Peter Pan. It never existed before that.

Bibliosmia: means enjoying the smell of old books.

Most Expensive Book: The most expensive book in the world is the 72 page Codex Leicester written by Leonardo da Vinci. It was purchased by Bill Gates in 1994 for $30.8 million. Source: Southeby's International Realty

Who Reads the Most/Least: Despite the decline in literacy rates, the United States reads the most books (17), followed by India (16) and United Kingdom (15). The countries that read the least are Pakistan (2.6), Brunei (2.59) and Afghanistan (2.56).

Source: World Population Review

Amazon: The first book bought on Amazon was called Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought.

Source: Interesting Literature