Book Genres Explained: A Quick Guide to Your Next Read
A book genre is a category that describes the kind of story or subject you can expect. Use it to find a shelf to browse, not a rule about what you should enjoy.
Common genres at a glance
- Mystery
- A puzzle, often a crime, whose answer unfolds through clues
- Thriller
- Danger, suspense and pressure to find out what happens next
- Romance
- A central love story, usually with an optimistic resolution
- Fantasy
- Magic or imagined worlds beyond ordinary reality
- Science fiction
- Speculative technology, science or possible futures
- Horror
- Stories written to unsettle, frighten or disturb
- Historical fiction
- An invented story set in a real period of the past
- Literary fiction
- Fiction often foregrounding voice, character and theme
- Memoir
- A person's account of experiences from their own life
- Biography
- A person's life written about by someone else
- History
- Accounts and interpretations of past events
- Popular science
- Science explained for readers outside a specialist field
Find a shelf to try
Story or subject
Fiction or nonfiction
A kind of book
Choose a genre below
A sample
Try the author's writing
Start with the experience you want
Want a puzzle, a love story or a real-life account? That is often more useful than trying to memorize every category before choosing a book.
Separate genre from format
An audiobook is a format. A graphic novel tells its story through sequential art. Either can contain different genres, such as mystery or historical fiction.
Treat age categories separately
Children's, middle grade and young adult describe intended readership categories. They do not tell you whether a book is fantasy, romance or nonfiction.
Expect books to cross boundaries
A book can be both fantasy and romance, or both mystery and historical fiction. Different libraries and publishers may label the same book differently.
A few quick answers
Is nonfiction a genre?
It is a broad category covering many kinds of fact-based writing, including biography, history, science and practical guides.
Is young adult the same as fantasy?
No. Young adult is a readership category. A young adult book might be fantasy, contemporary fiction or nonfiction.
Do I need a favorite genre?
No. Browse by mood, subject or recommendation instead. You can enjoy very different books.
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Further reading: Penguin Random House: browse publisher book categories.
Any session lengths or routines suggested here are starting points, not a formula.