Dhaka, Feb. 18 -- The Amar Ekushey Book Fair has attracted a massive crowd of buyers and visitors in mid-February, with "more than 1,500" new books hitting the shelves.

The book fair management committee said 1,531 new books had been introduced during the first 16 days of the fair.

However, those involved in the publishing houses claim that the actual number is even higher, reports bdnews24.com.

According to the committee's list of new books, there are 180 short stories, 255 novels, 62 essays, 508 poetry collections, 33 research papers, 29 rhymes, 36 children's books, 45 biographies, 10 collected works, 12 on the Liberation War, 17 plays, 26 science books, 17 travel books, 35 on history, 20 on politics, seven on health/medicine, nine o...