Text book ๐ฎ vs book emoji
๐ฎ is simply named BOOK. It was added in Unicode 7.0 and has no emoji version, so it stays black and white and matches your text, which suits minimal bios, menus and documents. Font support is thinner than for emoji, so check it where you paste.
The emoji set is bigger: ๐ open book (reading right now), ๐ closed book, ๐ ๐ ๐ green, blue and orange books, ๐ a stack of books (studying, libraries, bookworms), ๐ ๐ notebooks, ๐ a ledger, ๐ a bookmark and ๐ bookmark tabs.
For a long reading list, the text book keeps things calm: "๐ฎ Dune โ โ โ โ โ " and "๐ฎ Circe โ โ โ โ โ" line up neatly, because ๐ฎ is the same size and color as the words around it, while a column of ๐ can look busy.
Ideas for readers, writers and students
Bookstagram and BookTok bios often use a few symbols as labels: "๐ reading goal: 12/40", "๐ TBR", "๐ currently reading". Rate books with stars like โ โ โ โ โ, and mark quotes or notes with โ from the pencil symbol page.
Students use ๐ and ๐ for study accounts and graduation posts, and ๐ for history or a diploma. For a calm reading aesthetic, mix ๐ with โ๏ธ and ๐ฏ๏ธ, or add sparkles from the aesthetic symbols page.
How to type a book symbol
On a phone, search for "book" in the emoji keyboard. On Windows, press Win + .; on a Mac, press Control + Command + Space and search for "book". In HTML, ๐ฎ is 🕮 and ๐ is 📖. The flat ๐ฎ is not in phone emoji keyboards, so copy it from this page.