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129 Million different books have been published


Athena

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Yesterday I was talking with my dad and we were curious how many different books have been published so far, ever. A quick Google search gave the answer:

 

For those who have ever wondered how many different books are out there in the world, Google has an answer for you: 129,864,880, according to Leonid Taycher, a Google software engineer who works on the Google Books project.

Source:

Link to PCWorld article

 

That makes our TBRs look very tiny indeed! It's a somewhat sad idea we'll never be able to read all the books in our lifetimes. On the other hand, it's good to know we won't run out of reading material any time soon.

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That makes our TBRs look very tiny indeed! It's a somewhat sad idea we'll never be able to read all the books in our lifetimes. On the other hand, it's good to know we won't run out of reading material any time soon.

I'm more than happy not to be able to read them all - imagine the rubbish you'd have to read if you read everything.

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On one hand, that is a lot of books.  OTOH, considering there are, what?, about 7 billion people on the planet....give or take a few so.....not so many, yeah?

Edited by pontalba
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I think Kylie and Pontalba probably have most of those between them  :giggle2:

 

:P    In the U.S. the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution states we are protected from "self-incrimination".  So, regarding the above quote, I plead the 5th.  :hide:

 

*note, the fifth, not a fifth........ :giggle2:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Pontalba, am I allowed to plead the fifth if I'm not American?  :lurker:

 

That's an interesting stat, Athena, thanks! I wonder what year they calculated it from? Like, is it the number of known books, back to the earliest published books? I would guess so.

 

 

This reminds me (as so many things do) of a scene in Gilmore Girls, when Lorelai and Rory take a road trip to Harvard. Lorelai tells Rory that the libraries at Harvard hold more than 13 million books:

 

RORY: Thirteen million volumes? I've read like, what, three hundred books in my entire life and I'm already sixteen? Do you know how long it would take me to read thirteen million books? 

 

LORELAI: But honey, you don't have to read every one of them. "Tuesday's with Morrie?" Skip that. "Who Moved My Cheese?" Just stuff you already know. 

 

RORY: Okay, but every kid coming to Harvard is inevitably reading books, and different books, and I want to be able to converse intelligently with each of them and I can't do that unless I read books, at least a few from every genre and sub-genre.

 

:D

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Pontalba, am I allowed to plead the fifth if I'm not American?  :lurker:

 

That's an interesting stat, Athena, thanks! I wonder what year they calculated it from? Like, is it the number of known books, back to the earliest published books? I would guess so.

 

 

This reminds me (as so many things do) of a scene in Gilmore Girls, when Lorelai and Rory take a road trip to Harvard. Lorelai tells Rory that the libraries at Harvard hold more than 13 million books:

 

RORY: Thirteen million volumes? I've read like, what, three hundred books in my entire life and I'm already sixteen? Do you know how long it would take me to read thirteen million books? 

 

LORELAI: But honey, you don't have to read every one of them. "Tuesday's with Morrie?" Skip that. "Who Moved My Cheese?" Just stuff you already know. 

 

RORY: Okay, but every kid coming to Harvard is inevitably reading books, and different books, and I want to be able to converse intelligently with each of them and I can't do that unless I read books, at least a few from every genre and sub-genre.

 

:D

 

You may, of course!!  :rolol:

 

Great quotes!!

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You may, of course!!  :rolol:

 

Phew, thanks! I was afraid you'd say I had to actually be in America to plead the fifth, and then I was going to have to think up an elaborate story about how I flew to America to plead the fifth in my post, and then I came home again.  :blush2:

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I've always wondered about that quote - 300 for a

16-year-old who reads as avidly as Rory does always seemed a bit low assuming she was counting all those she had ever read?!

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Phew, thanks! I was afraid you'd say I had to actually be in America to plead the fifth, and then I was going to have to think up an elaborate story about how I flew to America to plead the fifth in my post, and then I came home again.  :blush2:

 

You could say you enjoy the coffee in the US consulate. Castlereagh St.

Edited by Sousa
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That's an interesting stat, Athena, thanks! I wonder what year they calculated it from? Like, is it the number of known books, back to the earliest published books? I would guess so.

 

 

This reminds me (as so many things do) of a scene in Gilmore Girls, when Lorelai and Rory take a road trip to Harvard. Lorelai tells Rory that the libraries at Harvard hold more than 13 million books:

 

RORY: Thirteen million volumes? I've read like, what, three hundred books in my entire life and I'm already sixteen? Do you know how long it would take me to read thirteen million books? 

 

LORELAI: But honey, you don't have to read every one of them. "Tuesday's with Morrie?" Skip that. "Who Moved My Cheese?" Just stuff you already know. 

 

RORY: Okay, but every kid coming to Harvard is inevitably reading books, and different books, and I want to be able to converse intelligently with each of them and I can't do that unless I read books, at least a few from every genre and sub-genre.

 

:D

I would think so, but I'm not entirely sure.

 

That is a brilliant scene :lol:! Any chance you remember which season that's in? So I know how long it will take me to get to it :P.

 

 

I've always wondered about that quote - 300 for a

16-year-old who reads as avidly as Rory does always seemed a bit low assuming she was counting all those she had ever read?!

I would agree!

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I've always wondered about that quote - 300 for a

16-year-old who reads as avidly as Rory does always seemed a bit low assuming she was counting all those she had ever read?!

 

Yeah, I've always thought it was a bit dodgy too. I don't think the writers did the math properly. I reckon Rory would read quite a few books per year (maybe around 100?). I'm sure there's at least 300 on the Rory Challenge list alone, and they're only the ones that happened to be mentioned, so she's certainly read many more than that!

 

You could say you enjoy the coffee in the US consulate. Castlereagh St.

 

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. :)

 

That is a brilliant scene :lol:! Any chance you remember which season that's in? So I know how long it will take me to get to it :P.

 

It's episode 4 of season 2, so you shouldn't have too long to wait!

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