Bookbinding is the process of building a book from a stack of paper with one's hands and tools.

First, you bind the sheets of papers along an edge with a thick needle and strong thread (or loose-leaf rings, binding posts, twin-loop spine coils, plastic spiral coils, and plastic spine combs). Next, you enclose the bound stack in a cover. 

The book was not necessary in ancient times, as most early texts were only around 30 pages long, and folded like an accordion to fit into the hand (most seen in Ancient Greece, their word for book was tome, meaning "to cut"). Writers in the Hellenistic -Roman culture wrote longer texts (sometimes hundreds of pages) as scrolls that were stored in boxes or small cubbies. Court records were written on wax tablets, and important documents were written on papyrus or parchment. Diptychs (an ancient writing tablet consisting of two hinged leaves with waxed inner sides) and later polyptych (similar to a diptych, but with more than three panels) formats were similar to the spine of modern books. Around the first century CE, Romans referred to a set of wooden boards sewn together as a codex, from the Latin word caudex meaning “the trunk”.

A grimoire is a spell book that contains symbols, incantations, charms, ingredients, correspondences, and instructions for spells and the making of amulets. In many cases, the books themselves are believed to be imbued with magic. While the term grimoire is originally European, similar books can be found all around the world, though the world's first grimoires were created in Europe and the Middle East. The earliest known written magical incantations come from ancient Mesopotamia (city of Uruk), and are dated to between the 4th and 5th centuries BCE. The ancient Egyptians also employed spells, which have been found inscribed on amulets and other items. 

The Egyptian magical system, known as heka, was changed and expanded after the Macedonians invaded Egypt in 332 BCE. During the next three centuries of Hellenistic Egypt, the Coptic writing system (coptic is an Afro-Asiatic language that evolved from ancient Egyptian and was spoken in Egypt until it was largely replaced by Arabic) evolved, and the Library of Alexandria was opened. This had a major influence on books of magic, with the trend on known incantations switching from simple health and protection charms to more specific things.

At the turn of the first century, a folded parchment notebook called pugillares membranei (Latin) became commonly used for writing throughout the Roman Empire. Early intact “books” (codices) were discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt consisting primarily of Gnostic (relating to knowledge, especially esoteric mystical knowledge) texts in Coptic, the books were mostly written on papyrus. Codices were a significant improvement over papyrus or vellum scrolls in that they were easier to handle and write on. This book format became the preferred way of preserving printed material. The modern English word "book" comes from the Proto-Germanic “bokiz”, referring to the beechwood on which early written works were recorded.

A diary is a written memorable record, with entries typically arranged by date, reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period and including the writer’s experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Today the term is generally used for personal diaries, normally intended to remain private. The word diary comes from the Latin word “diarium”, meaning daily allowance and the word “journal” is derived from the old French word “jurnal” which in modern French is “jour” meaning day. 

The earliest known book that resembles a diary is the Diary of Merer, an ancient Egyptian book in which the author describes the transport of limestone from Tura to Giza, likely for the outside of the Great Pyramid. The oldest surviving diaries come from Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures, although “To Myself” (now referred to as “the Mediations”) which is written in Greek by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in the second half of the 2nd century CE, resembles what we now refer to as a diary. 

In the medieval Middle East, Arabic diaries were written from before the 10th century. The earliest surviving diary of this era which most resembles the modern diary was that of Abu Ali ibn al-Banna in the 11th century. His diary is the earliest known to be arranged in order of date, very much like modern diaries. Most ancient diaries or books that resemble modern diaries include daily notes from medieval mystics, speaking of inward emotions and outward events perceived as spiritually important.