> Does anyone know of a way to [refer to the number of pages in a book,
> like page 37 of 224], apart from a cross-reference to something in the
> last page.

The consensus of the Framers is that there is no automatic way, but the
cross-reference doesn't have to target the last page. Insert a
paragraph containing the variable <$lastpagenum> anywhere in the last
book component. Some people put a paragraph on the first page of the
last chapter and paint it white so as noit to appear in the finished
product, but a better approach is to put the paragraph on a master
page. In any book component, obtain the page number of the last page in
the book through a cross-reference to the text of that paragraph.

Many requests have been made for Frame to introduce a variable for this
purpose. Frame's reluctance to implement this feature may stem from a
potential user-interface trap if chapters in the book restart page
numbering or use prefixes in page numbers. If a book has pages i
through xvi of front matter and body pages 1 through  48, it seems to
me that <$booklastpagenum> should return 48 and not 64. But if the last
page of the book is G-19, what should <$booklastpagenum> return? I
propose that the variable simply return the actual page number of the
last page of the book, G-19, not the count of pages in the book. My
proposed variable name makes this interpretation clear. It would be
guaranteed valid if no pages have been inserted or deleted since
Generate/Update. Some people might find <$bookpagecount> useful.

C.