The Sunday Salon: Why call it a "book"

Happy Sunday to everyone. It's a very hot day here in Texas. After a big Sunday meal, we are all settled in for a nice long read, which will unfold into a nice long nap and then a dip in the pool. But first, this blog post.

Who knows why our mind gets set on certain questions and ideas, but this week I sought out the answer to a seemingly simple question: Why do we call books - books? It's possible one of my children tossed out this idea. In any case, I went in search of the answer. Here's what I found:

The origin of the Latin word for book, liber, comes from the Romans who used the thin layer found between the bark and the wood (the liber) before the times of parchment. The English word comes from the Danish word for book, bog, meaning birch tree, as the early people of Denmark wrote on birch bark.

So there you have it. Now you, too, can impress your friends at summer cocktail parties with your vast knowledge of all things books. Maybe I'll run into you there and as we sip a cool margarita or sangria, we can not only talk etymology, but what we're reading now. Hey, I'll go first. I'm reading Beach Music by Pat Conroy. You?