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A typical paperback book accounts for around 1kg of carbon dioxide, according to sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee, external.

Sales of print books enjoying lift from success of genre fiction and interest from young readers

Books are one of the first entertainment technologies-and one whose fundamentals are essentially the same since Gutenberg rolled out movable type to revolutionize printing in 1440. Given the stability of the format, it's amazing just how much there is still to talk about, and how vital book publishing remains even as many newer technologies have come along.

Anand Limaye of Indian Printing Works in Mumbai is a book printer and publisher. Every year during the festival season, he is "super-duper busy" with Diwali Anks, the bumper-size magazines published in Marathi during Diwali, featuring literary writings and ads in equal measure. "This year, instead of 19 Diwali Anks, we have printed 11," Limaye said.

For a while we were told that books were going to be a thing of the past. A new century had dawned, our lives were being digitised and surely there was no longer any reason to lug the pressed pulp of dead trees around. And yet, over the past decade, it seems clear that the death of the book has been greatly exaggerated.  Read more