Books have been around for years as a way to educate, inspire, entertain, and even prop up table legs.

Books are a wonderful thing and although the Kindle offers a certain level of convenience and flexibility – a bit like the crackle of vinyl – there’s nothing quite like getting lost in the spine of a good old book.

You’re probably in agreement that books are brilliant, but here are seven things you probably didn’t know about them…

One. Hugh Lofting, the author of Doctor Doolittle, believed books should have a ‘senile’ category to complement the ‘juvenile’ section.

Two. Believe it or not, in the 16th century, the planet’s bestselling book was not the Bible but Erasmus’s handbook on good manners for children, titled De Civilitate Morum Puerilium Libellus.

Three. The world’s longest memoir is The Story of My Life, the 12-volume, 3,600-page biography of Giacomo Casanova. He wrote it in French as he thought the language to be more sophisticated than his native Italian.

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Four.  The earliest known written instance of the word ‘book’ lives in a book by Alfred the Great.

Five. Around £2.2 billion is spent on books in the UK each year; children’s books account for a fifth of this spend.

Six. A ‘bouquinist’ is the name of a person who deals in ‘second-hand books of little value.

Seven. Part of the M6 toll road is made from copies of pulped Mills and Boon novels. Around two million books were shredded into a paste and then added to a mixture of asphalt and tarmac to prevent it from cracking.

Looking for a few frank pearls of wisdom? Check out these 5 Charles Bukowski quotes.