Types of books

If you are a book lover, you may have a bookshelf in your house with many different types of books . Maybe you only like a certain genre. Or maybe everyone in the family has a particular taste for one book or another. Even in ereaders you can classify ebooks by genre.

But how many types of books are there? Do you question some time? We do, and that is why today we are going to talk to you about the ones we have found since, depending on the classification, they can be more or less. Let’s start!

What is meant by book

A book can be defined, according to Unesco, as a printed work that must contain at least 49 pages. According to the RAE, a book would be:

“Scientific, literary or any other type of work with sufficient length to form a volume, which may appear in print or on another support”.

At present, the book, as seen in the RAE, does not necessarily have to be printed, but the digital format (e-book) as well as the audio format (audiobooks) are accepted.

In a certain way, all of us at some point in our life are linked to books. As children, with stories. When we start school, the textbooks that accompany us until we finish the degree, and also those that we read, either forced or for pleasure.

Types of books

If you visit the RAE page and search for the word book, you will not only find the definition that we have given you, but there will be up to 7, 6 of them referring to what we really understand by book, and a seventh of a zoological nature.

However, the truth is that, a little further down, you find a classification of books that you may never have heard of before. And it is that, according to the RAE, it distinguishes 46 different types of books, among which we highlight:

• Great book. It is the one that the public debt offices carry. They serve to reflect nominative registrations of State income.
• Antiphonal. Also called the antiphonary book, it is a choir work where, as its name indicates, the antiphons of the year are found.
• Calf. It is a document of the churches or communities.
• Record book. It was formerly used as a notebook where merchants wrote down information that they later transcribed into official documents.
• Copier. It is the one that served as support to record the correspondence of a business.
• Of agreements. It contained the resolutions and decisions that were taken in town halls, companies, etc.
• Of chivalry. More than a type of book, it is a literary genre where the protagonists are gentlemen.
• Bedside book. It is the one that is kept on the nightstand to read before going to sleep or that has preference over others (it is the favorite).
• Cash-book. Where the merchants point the entrances and exits of money.
• Choir. Made with sheets of parchment, in it the psalms, antiphons are written down… with their musical notes.
• School book. It is the document where the qualifications of a person throughout their educational career are collected.
• In style. It reflects the norms that are followed in a communication medium.
• Of family. Where all the data of each of the people who are part of a family are collected.
• Honorary. It is a book where signatures of illustrious visitors are collected. It is mainly found in places such as institutions, museums, etc.
• Of the life. The book of life is related to God’s knowledge of the elect, those predisposed for glory.
• Book of forty leaves. This is how the deck of cards is usually called.
• Book of the saved In it, the favors, graces and concessions that were sent or given to the kings were formerly recorded.
• Mass book. It follows the order that is carried in the mass.
• Music book. Characterized by having the musical notes necessary to sing or play.
• Textbooks. They are those that are used in schools, institutes and careers to study.
• Ebook. It refers both to the electronic device that allows reading digital documents and to that digital document that contains a work.
• Green Book. It is a document in which curious or particular news about countries, people or lineages are noted.

What other types of books are there?

Regardless of this classification, the truth is that, depending on different criteria, we find different ones.

So:

• Depending on the format , you will have paper, electronic, interactive (they are digital but the reader interacts with them) and audio (audiobooks) books.
• According to the literary genre, you will have: lyrical, epic, dramatic. Some authors expand this classification much more according to the history of the books: detective, romantic, contemporary, historical, etc.
• Prolonged reading books: where novels and stories are framed because they are narratives with a beginning and an end that assume that the reader is going to spend a while reading it from beginning to end.
• Consultation, also known as consultation, where we can include dictionaries, encyclopedias, manuals, informative books, etc. On the other hand, there would be entertainment books, since their objective is not to give knowledge, but rather to have a good time reading.
• Pocket books, characterized by their small size and short extension. In contrast, you would have hardcover books and normal size books.

As you can see, there are many types of books, and many times the classifications end up confusing them with genres of books. What is clear is that we can find a wide variety of them that will evolve over time to adapt to the demand that is placed on them.