"Books. Books. That's the secret of my success -– books. Oh, I read them all, I inherit the wisdom of the ages, every plot ever devised is here inside my head."
— Bookworm, Batman (1966)
Index about books, libraries, and the people that love them.
Compare Intelligence Tropes, Indexed and Nerdy.
List non-book tropes in Print Media Tropes.
Books
Also see:
- Akashic Records: Mystical compendium of all knowledge.
- Big Book of War: A fictional book about war, battle tactics, and martial code that's often referenced in an offhand manner.
- Blank Book: A book with no contents.
- Book and Switch: Someone tries to hide the book they're actually reading behind another book to trick others into thinking they're reading the outer book.
- Book Burning: Books are burned for ulterior reasons.
- The Book Cipher: Books are used to code messages.
- Bookmark Clue: Important information is discovered being used as a bookmark.
- Book on the Head: Balancing a book on your head in order to improve your posture.
- Book Safe: A hollowed-out book is being used as a “safe” for certain items.
- Bookshelf of Authority: Posing a character in front of a bookshelf to show that they're smart.
- Book Snap: A character slams a book shut to show their anger or seriousness about something.
- Books That Bite: Animate and malicious books.
- Books vs. Screens: A False Dichotomy between reading and TV/computers, usually either "if you like one, you can't like the other" or "books are better".
- But I Read a Book About It: Someone thinks they're an expert on something because they read a bit about it.
- Conveniently Interrupted Document: A document is interrupted in a way which is convenient for the plot.
- Deadly Book: A book that can inflict harm on its readers and/o writer.
- Diaries Are Girly: Diary-keeping is seen as a feminine pursuit.
- Doorstopper: A ludicrously long and hefty book.
- Extremely Overdue Library Book: A character has a library book that is months or more overdue.
- Faux-To Guide: A "How To" guide that fails at actually showing how to do the thing it describes.
- Flying Books: Books that fly.
- Great Big Book of Everything: A book that has information on any subject the characters may try to look up.
- The Illegible: Often applies to diaries.
- Instant Book Deal: Newly-written books are published immediately and with little fuss.
- Intrepid Fictioneer: A character who travels into in-universe fictional settings.
- Parodies for Dummies: Parodies of For Dummies books and similar instructional guides.
- Plot-Triggering Book: A special book that sets off the story when it's given to a character or someone discovers it.
- Portal Book: A book that can transport someone to the world of its story or illustrations.
- "Reading Is Cool" Aesop: The story has the characters learn that reading doesn't have to be boring.
- Reality-Writing Book: A book describing what is currently happening to its reader.
- Red-Flag Recreation Material: A character's villainy is highlighted by their choice in reading material.
- Rewriting Reality: Altering reality by writing down the changes you want.
- Rushed Inverted Reading: A character hurriedly grabs a book to make it appear that they were innocently reading, but the book is being held the wrong way round.
- Sacred Scripture: Books considered sacred by the followers of a religion or philosophy.
- Secret Diary: A (theoretically) hidden book containing someone's lurid secrets.
- Specific Situation Books: Books describing extremely specific and usually plot-relevant things.
- Spell Book: Books describing arcane rituals and magical incantations.
- Throw the Book at Them: Using a book as a physical weapon.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: Books that describe things beyond mortal ken.
- Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: Books that contain prophecies and predictions of things to come.
- Useful Book: A book gets used for a purpose other than reading it.
- Writing About Your Crime: Someone writes a book about a crime they committed and passes it off as fiction.
Libraries
- Bookcase Passage: A secret passage hidden behind a bookshelf that is revealed by lifting one of the books.
- Great Big Library of Everything: A library that has books on every subject imaginable.
- Library Episode: An episode taking place at a library in a series that isn't normally about one.
- Magical Library: Libraries of magical tomes, often magical themselves.
- Spooky Silent Library: An eerily desolate, abandoned library.
Character Types
- Bookworm and its sub-tropes:
- Badass Bookworm: A badass smart person.
- Cute Bookworm: A cute smart person.
- Literal Bookworm: Actual worms or wormy bugs that eat books, read books, or read books by eating them.
- Evil Librarians: Librarians who are evil.
- Genius Book Club: Characters who read classics or heavy scientific books to show that they're smart.
- Hot Librarian: Librarians who are attractive.
- Loony Librarian: An obsessive/scatterbrained/eccentric librarian.
- Magic Librarian: A librarian who can do magic.
- Mystery Writer Detective: A mystery writer who solves actual crimes.
- Scary Librarian: Librarians who are scary, especially if you're noisy or damage books.
Publishers
- Vanity Publishing: This publisher will publish anything... as long as you pay them.
