Thanks for joining me for the continuation of our discussion of genres in literature. If you missed part one, click here.
Literary – I have to admit, I’m not a lover of literary literature. When you’re talking about literary novels, you’re talking about books that are full of symbolism, with plot lines that may or may not actually make sense, and there’s supposed to be a deep meaning behind all of it. This is a genre that is studied frequently in college English classes and enjoyed by many around the world. I don’t know if I’m just not that deep of a thinker or what, but I don’t find myself as uplifted by literary books as others I’ve spoken to. I don’t mean to knock literary books; there are beautiful stories out there told by very talented authors. It’s just not for me at this time of my life.
Classics – a classic is any book written more than a few years ago that has been deemed as a must – read. Think “Little Women,” “Anne of Green Gables,” “The Red Badge of Courage,” “The Scarlet Letter,” “Pilgrim’s Progress.” These are books written years ago that have stood the test of time and have been passed down from generation to generation as being the best. In some circles, you’re not considered truly educated unless you’ve read a good smattering of classics. A modern classic would be a book published recently but that has picked up a huge following and will most likely be passed down from person to person. Think “The Da Vinci Code” or “The Secret Life of Bees.”
Religious Fiction: A book in any genre can be religious fiction. If you have a cowboy who converts to Christianity and it’s a major part of the book, that would be Christian Western. A romance among Mormons would be LDS Fiction. A Catholic who gets murdered would be Catholic Suspense. (I’ve never actually heard of Catholic Suspense, but it could happen) You can mix and match genres until you find the title that best matches what you’ve created. The specific title for what I write is LDS Historical Fiction.
Nonfiction – any book that is written with true facts in an effort to educate without imaginary elements is nonfiction. This is not to say that a nonfiction book can’t be entertaining. I have read many entertaining nonfiction books. But the main purpose of the nonfiction book is to present the facts in a way that makes them accessible to the reader for personal edification, research, or educational uses.
Religious Nonfiction – these are books written using real facts and talking about real persons for the purpose of bringing individuals closer to the Being they worship. You will find religious nonfiction available for every denomination and theology that exists. It’s interesting to read books about other religions and see what they believe; it gives us a better foundation to learn more about the person themselves when we know what’s important to them.
Self-Help: These are books that teach you how to learn something or overcome something without having seek professional help or to supplement the professional help you are being given. Often if you have a problem you’d like to keep confidential, you can get more information about it through a book without having to talk to another person about it.
How-To: These books teach you how to perform your own repairs, cook a meal, care for a baby, or build a deck just by following the easy instructions. They can be very useful for simple tasks or can supplement other classes you might be taking at the time.
I hope this overview of the genres of literature is helpful to you as you look for books you would enjoy. Like I mentioned, this is by no means a complete list, as authors get more and more creative and new styles of books are introduced, but this will certainly get you started.