Welcome to our series sharing Unique Holidays: August 9th, 2022. Today is Book Lover’s Day a holiday I wish my dad was here to celebrate with me. My dad loved books just as much as I did. If not more. How about you. Are you a book lover?
Books are the purest form of escape and books can take you to any time, place, or culture. In honor of National Book Lovers Day August 9th, we put away our smartphones, pull out a good book and read. An audiobook will suffice too. From clay tablets to today’s eBooks, literature has played a crucial role in preserving cultures, educating the masses, and storytelling.
Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg’s 15th-Century printing press, anyone, not just royalty, Monks or landed gentry, could read and own books. Alas, there was no overnight shipping. Today, join a book club or re-read a favorite novel because National Book Lovers Day rocks!
HISTORY OF NATIONAL BOOK LOVERS DAY
Book Lovers Day appreciates the medium that has withstood and preserved its importance in time literature. Our love for books knows no bounds. Someday we’ll write a book on it.
The modern book is made by binding paper, but before the invention of paper, books came in the form of tablets, scrolls, and engravings. Every civilization had its own way to document events. Some time in 3500 B.C., the Mesopotamians would make markings on clay tablets using a pointed device, made from the stem of the Reed Plant, called the Calamus. These writings on the moist clay were called ‘Cuneiform.’ Approximately 20,000 of these tablets were discovered in modern-day Iraq.
Paper was invented in China in the 1st Century A.D. By experimenting with various materials such as hemp, fishnets, and the Mulberry Plant, Ts’ai Lun invented the first paper. With time, printing on woodblocks also became the go-to way of reproducing books in China. The ancient scrolls dating back to the 4th Century B.C. are considered the first ‘books,’ but by today’s definition, the oldest surviving compiled book is “The Diamond Sutra” which was published in China on May 11, 868.
Hardback books ruled the market at the start of the 20th Century, with a certain prestige associated with the hard bindings of books. But from 1937 onwards, paperbacks rose in popularity, paving the way for digests, pulp fiction, and pocket-friendly books.
Advancement in computers and technology led to the digitization of books, with the first book sold in CD format in the 1980s, “The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia.”
TRADITIONS
Books, books, and more books! Traditions for the holiday are all about books! Some of the many traditions of National Book Lovers Day include taking advantage of the great discounts on paperbacks. Having a book haul. Starting a new book, reading a new genre, donating books. Encouraging others to read, and reading a book adaption of a movie you like.
Authors and publishers host questions and answers sessions, either in-person or online. New excerpts are also released from books coming soon. Online book communities like Goodreads are extra active today, and pictures of books grace our newsfeeds on Social Media sites.
NATIONAL BOOK LOVERS DAY FAQS
World Book Day is observed annually on April 23rd.
National Book Month is held each October and the month-long celebration focuses on the importance of reading, writing, and literature.
Some ways to celebrate Book Lovers Day include starting a book club, supporting a local Indie Author, recommending books to others, and even starting to write your own book!
National Book Lovers Day will be observed on the 9th of August.
NATIONAL BOOK LOVERS DAY ACTIVITIES
- Public libraries have been around since the Middle Ages. Back in those days, books were often chained to the bookcases to prevent theft. On National Book Lovers Day, reconnect with the past by browsing the shelves at your Library. Bonus points if you pick a book off the shelf, find a cozy nook and read the book right there at the library.
- National Book Lovers Day is a day of great expectations. It’s not a hard task to make as many literary references as possible. If you manage to reference at least 10 books, you deserve a red badge of courage.
- What better way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day than by trading an old favorite book with a friend in exchange for something new? If you have the opportunity get a few friends together for a group book exchange. Before handing off your book, share a few words about what that book means to you.
5 FACTS EVERY BIBLIOPHILE AGREES WITH!
- A book is the best present someone can give you not only on your birthday but everyday of the year.
- The book will always be better, no matter how faithful the movie adaption is.
- Anything can be a bookmark if you’re creative enough.
- Bibliophiles take time to recover from the stories they have been immersed. Especially if there is a death of their favorite fictional character!
- People who borrow books and never return them are the bane of a bibliophile’s existence!
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL BOOK LOVERS DAY
- American novelist James Baldwin said it best: “You think your pain and heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” Books help us understand each other, feel less alone, and put our complex emotions into words.
- Books are powerful and they’re the only medium that can transport us through time and space. Books take us into the past, present, future, and faraway worlds including Galaxies away. We don’t even have to leave our couch or change out of our PJ’s!
- Can you think of many movies that break the rule that the movie is better than the book? Screenplays often simplify subtle complexities of the book and in many cases, the original Author may have very little input. Would you like to go to the movies? No, thanks. I would rather read a book! Not only on National Book Lovers Day but everyday all day long. How about you?
Date When Celebrated : August 9 and/or first Saturday in November. Book Lovers Day encourages us to find a place in the shade to relax with a good book. Book reading is a great hobby and an important hobby, too. Employers look for book reading on resumes.
Reading is educational, informative, and relaxing and reading makes us both smarter, and happier people. Book Lovers Day is a great day to celebrate. Grab an interesting book, find a quiet, cozy place, and crack open the cover. Celebrating Book Lovers Day in August is outside in a hammock, poolside, or inside. If you fall asleep while reading, that’s okay. That’s part of the relaxing benefits of being a book lover.
The History and Origin of Book Lovers Day:
Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this holiday. There is some disagreement over when this holiday is celebrated. The vast majority of sites list Book Lovers DAy on August 9th. A smaller number of sites have Book Lovers Day recorded on the first Saturday in November. If you are a true book lover, you will enjoy celebrating Book Lovers Day on both dates. Localized organizations and groups have declared “Book Lover” days on various other dates.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
