Here are 10 interesting book facts that will blow your mind!

1. The earliest known work of literature is an epic poem titled the 'Epic of Gilgamesh', from Ancient Mesopotamia. Because paper books did not exist at the time, the whole tale is told on 12 tablets. 

2. It's estimated that 755,755 new books are published every year. As of mid-2017, there were an estimated 134,399,411 total published books in the world! That's a lot of books!

3. The world’s largest book made of paper is located in Dubai. The giant book, titled 'This the Prophet Muhamed', was created by the Mshahed International Group and unveiled in February 2012. It is five meters wide, 8.06 meters long, contains 429 pages and weighs over 1,300 kilograms!

4. The longest audiobook in the world is almost five days long. It was published in 2008 in Japan, and consists of lectures from Takaaki Yoshimoto, a philosopher, poet and literary critic. In total, it is 115 hours and 43 minutes long!

5. The best selling and most read book in the world is still 'The Bible' (although Harry Potter is close behind).

6. If one of the first things you do when you get a new book is smell the pages, you’re not alone. The act of smelling books is called 'bibliosmia'.

7. Much like with carbon-dating, scientists can analyze the chemicals responsible for 'old book smell' to determine the age of a book. The process is called 'material degradomics'. 

8. Powell’s City of Books takes up a whole city block in Portland, Oregon. The massive store has about 1.6 acres (68,000 square feet) of retail floor space. Now, that sounds like Heaven!

9. Books are good for your health! One way to help prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia is to pick up a book. People who engage in reading throughout their lives, and other mentally stimulating activities, typically have less beta-amyloid proteins and plaque in their brains (which are associated with Alzheimer’s).

10. Those bibles you find in hotel rooms are distributed by an organization called Gideons International, founded in 1899. They actually exist for the sole purpose of distributing bibles.