Fiction:

Contemporary Fiction

Benchmark authors: Terry McMillan, Carl Hiassen and Amy Tan. This category includes books with a contemporary (post 1970s) setting that do not fit into one of the following fiction genres, although titles may be here as well as another category. Popularity of an author may be considered also: for example, Maeve Binchy is here, although many of her novels are set in the 1950s.

Crime Fiction

Benchmark authors: Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Patricia Highsmith (Ripley series) This category is often told from the criminal's perspective. The protagonists can be career criminals or ordinary citizens forced by circumstances into committing illegal acts. Titles range from humorous to noir.

Ethnic Fiction

Examples include The Family Markowitz, The Gettin Place or China Boy. Books are placed in this category based on content, not by nationality of their author. Ethnic groups may include different races or religions, but fiction in this category emphasizes characterization within those groups, not just a foreign land as background for the story.

Fantasy

Benchmark authors: Piers Anthony's Xanth books, Robert Jordan, Guy Gavriel Kay. As Orson Scott Card said, "If the cover has foliage or animals, it's fantasy." Fantasy focuses on characters, creatures and events that are not explainable by known science. There is often a strong element of adventure or romance. Settings may be near Earth-normal, as in Patricia McKillip's Winter Rose, or elaborately off-world, as in Mercedes Lackey's Storm Rising series.

Gay and Lesbian Fiction

Benchmark authors: Carol Anshaw, E. Lynn Harris, Alan Hollinghurst. This category focuses on gay protagonists and their experiences, sometimes with an emphasis on gay issues.

Graphic Novels

Benchmark authors: Neil Gaiman (Sandman series), Art Spiegelman, Barbara Kesel. Technically not a genre but rather a format, graphic novels tell a story with both words and artwork. Science fiction, fantasy, biography, literary fiction, or any of a host of other genres can be presented in the graphic novel format. This category also includes well-known comics such as Batman in addition to Japanese manga.

Historical Fiction

Benchmark authors: Bernard Cornwell, Judith Tarr or Jean Auel. The rule of thumb for historical fiction is that events take place at least one generation ago; therefore, fiction set during the Vietnam War is considered historical. Settings tend to be near periods of great conflict: civil war, revolution, or in famous courts such as Peter the Great or Henry VIII. Includes adventure fiction in other times, such as Patrick O'Brian, W. E. B. Griffin and Philip McCutchan.

Horror Fiction

Benchmark authors: Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, John Saul. Horror fiction is essentially very dark fantasy written with the intent to frighten the reader. Generally, supernatural or occult elements distinguish horror from thrillers, where a serial killer may be frightening, but is all too human.

Inspirational Fiction

Benchmark authors: Janette Oke, Francine Rivers, Bodie and Brock Thoene. These books tend to be primarily Christian fiction, although the Zion Covenant series by the Thoenes is a good example of Jewish inspirational fiction. Stories often focus on a crisis of faith, or a difficult decision that is guided by faith. Setting is often historical, so these titles may be included in Historical Fiction as well.

Literate Fiction

Benchmark authors: Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates and Martin Amis. Any author with a reputation for "serious" fiction, winner of fiction prizes such as the Booker or Pulitzer Prize, or a new author with consistently positive reviews that imply high quality of writing and imagery. If a novel seems experimental or unorthodox in its writing, it will usually earn a label of literate fiction.

Military Fiction

Benchmark authors: W.E.B. Griffin, Tom Clancy, and Dale Brown. Technology and military culture are the most important elements, as the setting may vary from the Napoleonic War (Patrick O'Brian) to the present (Stephen Coonts).

Mysteries:

The division here is only by setting: historical or contemporary. Mysteries are separated from other crime or suspense fiction by having a recognizeable detective as the central character, whether professional, amateur or animal (The Cat Who.... by Lilian Jackson Braun).

Contemporary Mysteries
Benchmark authors: James Lee Burke, Sara Paretsky and Linda Barnes. Anything more recent than the 1970s, unless you feel the author is trying to represent the "disco" setting (for example) as a real period piece. Generally police procedurals, amateur detectives or caper novels (Westlake's Dortmunder series).
Historical Mysteries
Typical authors include Ellis Peters, Anne Perry and Steven Saylor. The setting is very important here: Victorian England, Revolutionary War America, ancient Rome.

Romance:

True romance fiction is characterized by one couple whose relationship is the center of the story, which always ends happily. We have divided this genre by setting, using the same rough divisions as in Mysteries. Many romance authors write in different styles under different names (Jayne Anne Krentz -- Amanda Quick, Nora Roberts -- J.D. Robb).

Contemporary Romance
Benchmark authors: Nora Roberts, Jayne Anne Krentz and Julie Garwood. Again, the relationship is the center of the story, but the women are generally complicated, modern women who are anything but submissive to their men.
Historical Romance
Benchmark authors: Marion Chesney (the queen of Regency romances), Amanda Quick, and Victoria Holt. The settings vary, as well as the level of sensuality, but the relationship remains the heart of the novel. This category includes time travel romances where the heroine returns to an earlier time.
Romantic Suspense
Mary Higgins Clark and Barbara Erskine are perfect contemporary examples of this sometimes difficult-to-define sub-genre, located somewhere between Romance and Suspense fiction. When the setting is historical and the style is clearly gothic, as in the work of Phyllis Whitney, the novels can be also be considered Romantic Suspense.

Science Fiction

Benchmark authors: David Brin, Nancy Kress, Poul Anderson. Orson Scott Card has also said, "If the cover has rivets, it's science fiction." This category focuses on speculative fiction that uses at least plausible science, extrapolated from what we know now. Setting can vary from recognizable Earth society to a distant planet. Technology is not always belabored, but is part of the essential structure of the novel.

Suspense/Thrillers

Items in this genre generally concentrate more on why a crime is, was, or will be committed rather than on the search for the culprit's identity. Often a sense of menace pervades the story, and fast-paced action is common. Technical details related to a specific field of expertise such as finance, the law, government/politics, or medicine/technology often play a key role.

Financial Suspense/Thrillers
Benchmark authors: Stephen Frey, David Baldacci. These books deal with financial skullduggery, often on a large scale.
Governmental/Political Suspense Thrillers
Benchmark authors: Richard Condon, Robert Ludlum, John LeCarre. This category includes espionage/spy fiction and the national or local political scene. Often violent, with true-to-life threats such as nuclear weapons, serial murderers or terrorists.
Legal Thrillers
Benchmark authors: John Grisham and Scott Turow. The legal thriller's appeal depends on the intricacies and tension of the law and the courtroom. Some authors known for their courtroom dramas have written other types of fiction: Nancy Taylor Rosenberg is a good example.
Medical/Technological Suspense/Thrillers
Benchmark authors: Robin Cook, Michael Crichton, Tess Gerritsen. Frequently these titles address current medical or technological topics in the news, and often a conspiracy is part of the plot.
Psychological Suspense/Thrillers
Benchmark authors: James Patterson, Caleb Carr. These titles often take you into the mind of a murderer or terrorist, and the reader often knows more than the hero or heroine. They usually have graphic violence.

Westerns

A disappearing genre, whose benchmark authors are Louis L'Amour, Max Brand and modern writer Larry McMurtry (but not all the time). Westerns are given a genre sticker and interfiled with fiction.

Women's Fiction

Benchmark authors: Danielle Steel, Judith Krantz and Susan Isaacs. These novels differ from romances, for although they focus on a woman character, her romance with a single partner is not the main element of the story, but rather how she grows and changes throughout her life. These novels often pay great attention to material details: clothes, jewelry and other furnishings.

Young Adult

Benchmark authors: Caroline Cooney, Gary Paulsen and Lurlene McDaniel. These novels are generally under 300 pages, and center on teen characters, although they may be any type of genre fiction (mysteries, fantasy, romance, etc.). Brief reviews are included whenever possible for new titles.