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| A Celebration of Reading! March 7th in the UK; April 23 everywhere else. |
Lesesuct: n. (German) An addiction to reading.
Richest authors in the world (according to 2017 Forbes List):
◉ J. K. Rowling ($95 million)
◉ James Patterson ($87 million)
Librocubicularist: n. A person who reads in bed.
(A term coined by Christopher Morley in his novel The Haunted Bookshop)
◉ Bibliolatry: an excessive devotion to books.
◉ Bibliobibuli: people who read to much. (Is there such a thing as reading too much?!)
◉ Bibliomania: excessive book collecting.
◉ Bibliophobia: a fear of books
Most prolific author: Barbara Cartland who wrote and published 720 novels in her lifetime. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she is also the author who's written the most novels in one year: 23.
Runners up:
R.L. Stine -- 400+ books
Danielle Steel -- 167 books
James Patterson -- 147 books
Of note:
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is considered to be one of the earliest mystery/detective novels and the first "sensation" novel. Since it was first published in 1859, it has never been out of print.
Longest book ever written (according to Guinness): Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
Lipogrammatic novel: The Void by Georges Perec (A novel written entirely without ever using the letter E. So how did he sign his name on it?)
Book-bosomed: adj. someone who carries a book with them at all times.
(This term was coined by Sir Walter Scott.)
Interesting facts! Love the quote at the end, and I do my best!
ReplyDeleteI do my best on that, too! ;D
DeleteAll those descriptions fit me. :-) And Yay for The Woman in White! It is a great novel.
ReplyDeleteThe Woman in White is my favorite Wilkie Collins' novel. :)
Deletelol, I learned new things today, thank you :) I really love this one: Book-bosomed: adj. someone who carries a book with them at all times.
ReplyDeleteI think that describes a lot of us, don't you? :)
DeleteI love these! I wonder how many of those most prolific writers have help writing all those books...
ReplyDeleteOoh...that's a good question! I wonder that, too.
DeleteSuper fun post! Some bibliophobes would probably consider some readers to be bibliobibuli!
ReplyDeleteI would add to your list "bookternet" which is the bookish side of the internet! :D
Oh, I like that word! And that's definitely the part of the internet I like best. :D
DeleteI've definitely learned some new words from this post so thanks for sharing, Lark! :) And I'm totally agree with that quote!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one, isn't it? :)
DeleteSo I'm a Librocubicularist Bibliolatry Bibliomaniac. Right, that is a proper mouthful! 720 novels???? Wow I never knew she wrote anywhere near that and 23 in a year is impressive! John Creasey wrote a lot too...my dad is a big fan of his.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love being a librocubicularist...and those other things? I know I do! :D
DeleteHi Lark, 720 novels written during one's lifetime! And R L Stine, Danielle Steele and James Patterson over 100 novels written so far as well. I read part of book one of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club which I liked and must finish some day.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta admire how Patterson writes and markets his books! I wish I had half his business sense and energy. :)
DeleteI love this. I love learning fun, little facts. 720 books is crazy but I’m more impressed with the 23 in a year! How?! I expected to see Louis Lamore on here too.
ReplyDeleteL'Amour is a slacker compared to Barbara Cartland. He's written just over 100 books. :)
DeleteHow fun. What a great post. I love seeing these facts. Wonder how many Nora Roberts has written, especially counting her JD Robb stuff.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I should have included her on my list! Google says she's written more than 225 novels. :)
DeleteThis is such a fun and interesting post! I've learned a lot of new things today. A lipogrammatic novel? I can't imagine how hard it'd be to not use the letter E.
ReplyDeleteI want to know how he listed his name on the inside cover. As Gorg Prc?? :D
DeleteYou should give it a try sometime. It's a classic (but in the good sense of the word!)
ReplyDeleteFun list. My hubby and I called ourselves bookaholics. You can never have too many books, in theory, but of course I continually weed my books to give away.
ReplyDeleteBookaholic...good word. :) (And I try to weed my books every year to make room for new ones.)
DeleteI thought Agatha Christie was one of the most prolific writers. Must look that up. I'm totally a Librocubicularist for sure! I love reading in bed! Love this post, Lark! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rachel! And I know Christie wrote at least 65 mysteries, but I don't know how many other books she wrote. :)
DeleteI love this list, very funny! It shows that James Patterson writes so many books per year, they used to be not bad (early Alex Cross), but I cannot read any of his books anymore, they are horrible! At least, that is my opinion :-)
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
I agree with you. He sure knows how to sell them, though.
DeleteSo fun! I used to wonder if James Patterson really writes that many books in a year (seems impossible), but I heard Chris Grabenstein (who frequently co-authors with Patterson) talk at the National Book Festival this weekend and he confirmed that Patterson really does write that much. He said Patterson was a workaholic -- in the best sense of the word. I'm not much of a Patterson fan, but I am in awe of how much he produces. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm in awe of his work ethic, too!
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