Use of 书 or 书籍 for 'books'

Question

I admit I was not familiar with the phrase 书籍, until I used Google translate now to translate 'I like reading all sorts of books' (of course, I take the Google translate translation with a pinch of salt!). But I was wondering why 书籍 was used as opposed to simply 书. I am familiar with the use of 籍 in 国籍 meaning 'country of citizenship' so have an idea of 籍 as meaning 'belonging to' or something of the sort (again, Google translate verifies this as 'membership'). So its use in the phrase 我喜欢读各种书籍 I assume to mean something like 'I like reading books belonging to various categories'.

Is this the general gist? In this case, is the 籍 omittable, or would I have to rephrase the sentence?

Answer 1

牛(cow) and 羊(goat) are both farm animal; The term '牛羊' is a general term for 'farm animal' including sheep, horse and all others farm animals.

刀(knife) and 剑(sword) are both cold weapon; The term '刀剑' is a general term for 'cold weapon' including axe, spear and all other cold weapons.

书(book) and 籍(record) are both bound written material; The term '书籍' is a general term for 'bound written material'.

To classify written materials more strictly, novel and textbook are 书, not 籍; Accounting book and record book are 籍, not 书. The term '书籍' refers to everything in book form, including dictionary (典) and all other bound written materials.

In modern Chinese:

• '书籍' is a general term for 'book'

• '书刊' is a general terms for 'printed publication'

• '书册' and '书本' are general terms for 'bound printed material'

Examples of when to use '书' and '书籍' in sentences:

1. 这是一本园艺书 (this is a gardening book)

2. 所有园艺书都在这里 (all the gardening books are here)

3. 有关园艺的书籍都在这里 (all the books related to gardening is here)

In #1 and #2 you can use 书 or 书籍 interchangeably, but most of the time people would choose to use one less character and just say XX书 instead of XX书籍

In #3. you can also use 书 or 书籍 interchangeably, but the more general 书籍 is preferred because a reference book or a novel might also relate to gardening.

Answer 2

书: spoken/written language, can/can't be count 书籍: written language, very formal, usually can't be count BTW, 书 can be a verb means "write".