Setting Literary Records

We know that when it comes to setting World Records, nothing can be weird enough, whacky enough, shocking enough or even stupid enough. We have come across people who can pull aircrafts, people who make giant houses with playing cards, some who blow the most number of balloons under a minute and the like. But as reading addicts, we are definitely interested in world records related to reading, writing and of course, books!

As always, there have been disagreements about the records or parallel/ newer records may have been set. However, here is a list of some interesting world records…

Most books toppled in a domino fashion

The record for the most books toppled in a domino fashion is 10,200 and was achieved by Sinners Domino Entertainment (Germany) during the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on 14 October 2015. The record attempt was part of the German launch of the Guinness World Records 2016 book.

Largest book signing

Most books signed by one author in a single session is 6,786 by Orrin Woodward (USA), who signed his book “And Justice For All” at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, USA, on 21 June 2014. The attempt took 6 hours and 33 minutes to complete.

Largest collection of books autographed

Richard Warren of Lake Forest, California, USA, has collected 2,381 books, all signed by their original authors.

Longest marathon reading aloud

The longest marathon reading aloud is 113 hours 15 minutes achieved by Deepak Sharma Bajagain (Nepal) at the Tudikhel Ground, Kathmandu, Nepal, from 19 to 24 September 2008. He recited 17 different books from 13 authors during his record attempt.

Most abandoned book

The most abandoned book is Simon Cowell: The Unauthorised Biography by Chas Newkey-Burden. A 2010 survey of thousands of books left behind by guests at 452 Travelodges in Britain revealed that the X Factor star’s biography topped the list.

Highest library

The world’s highest library is located on the 60th floor of the JW Marriott Hotel at Tomorrow Square in Shanghai, China, at 230.9 m (757 ft 6 in) above street level.

Membership is available to the public, and the 103 shelves in the library contain an ever-expanding collection of Chinese and English books.

The most people reading aloud simultaneously in one place

This record was set by 46,660 people together at the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur, India, on 2 February 2014.

The largest book pyramid

This was made of 63,377 books, finished on 28 April 2015 in Luxembourg.

The largest colouring book

This measures 10 m² (107.63 ft²), and was created by Wydawnictwo Zielona Sowa in Poland.

The largest book published

An edition of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. measures 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) high and 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in) wide when open, and contains 128 pages.

Most people in a reading relay

The World Record of ‘most people in a reading relay’ has been achieved by IIMT University from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.

On Feb 15, 2017; during the event ‘Adhyatm’ organized at IIMT University campus, 3105 people read the ‘Geeta’ in relay.

Most widely read catalogue

The IKEA catalogue of Swedish flat-packed furniture is the world’s most widely read catalogue with 208 million copies printed in 2011. It is translated into 30 languages and distributed across 41 countries.

Most Eyebrow Raises while listening to a recording

Harmon Leon raised his eyebrows 217 times while listening to a recording of Jeff Daniels reading the Gettysburg Address in California, United States on January 16, 2012

Longest elbow stand while reading

Jordyn-Elle performed an elbow stand for two minutes, 15.02 seconds while reading a book in Ontario, Canada on December 31, 2015.

Most Books Read On Goodreads.com

On July 10, 2015, in California, United States, Jireh A. set the world record for most books read on Goodreads. He read a total of 3,107 books.

Last year we covered some other bookish world records, you can see those here.