Main Entry: 1book
Pronunciation: 'buk
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English bOc; akin to Old High German buoh book, Gothic boka letter
Date: before 12th century
1 a : a set of written sheets of skin or paper or tablets of wood or ivory b : a set of written, printed, or blank sheets bound together into a volume c : a long written or printed literary composition d : a major division of a treatise or literary work e : a record of a business's financial transactions or financial condition -- often used in plural <the books show a profit>
I guess people used these as a sort of entertainment before television was invented.