Most Popular Book Genres Read by People in India

Did you know? – “Plato”, the famous Greek philosopher invented the concept of genres? The concept evolved from the classifications systems created by Plato. Genre is a French word and it came into existence as a word in 1770.

A newcomer to the world of books would find this article helpful because it is going to answer an important question that he may come across – what book genres do you like to read?

Before we look into the most popular book genres read by people in India, let us understand what exactly are book genres and the different types of book genres.

What are book genres?

Book Genres are categories used to identify different types of literary work. These categories are further characterized by content, style and form.

What are the different types of book genres?

Primarily, books are categorized as Fiction & Non-Fiction.

Fiction refers to stories that are created out of imagination, something that did not happen in real life. Non-fiction refers to actual stories based on facts taken from the lives of real people and real events.

Fiction is further sub-categorized into Romance, thriller, science fiction, mystery, historical and fantasy. Let us understand the sub-categories in detail:

Romance – Romantic novels are stories that place their focus on romantic love and relationship between two individuals. Romance being an emotion that comes naturally to humans, a lot of readers love to read the Romance category of books.

As statistics suggest, women are more inclined to read romantic novels or stories because of the emotional nature of the stories. Men too are keen readers of romantic novels. This genre is particularly considered to be a book genre for young adults.

Thriller – Thriller stories are characterized by emotions of excitement, surprise, suspense and anxiety. The stories are such that keep the readers engaged to every word of it. This is because suspense is an emotion that is very crucial. It brings a level of anticipation among the reader and hence the reader is looking forward to the progression of the plot.

Thrillers are such a popular genre that filmmakers and even drama companies create a lot of adaptations of thrillers stories. This is amongst the top selling book genres worldwide since readers of all ages are attracted towards thriller stories.

Science fiction – It is fiction that deals with futuristic concepts that are presently only imaginative in nature. It has deep connections with ancient mythology. But over the years, this genre of stories has gained immense popularity across the globe.

It is considered as a form of literature that presents the reactions of society to changes in science and technology. It is a genre that has attracted readers irrespective of their age groups and individual interest in science as a field of study.

Mystery – Stories with mystery as a key emotion are very close to the thriller genre of stories. But this genre particularly relies on creation of suspense, which is why it is so very popular among readers. You may find a lot of defective stories being categorized as mystery genres. Like most of the fiction stories, this genre too attracts people of all age groups.

Historical – This genre includes stories that take place in an arrangement related to past events. The storyteller has to pay attention to the manners and social scenarios of a specific period that event is being narrated from. The storyteller may have an intention to make it completely fictional, but for countries which are religiously sensitive, the narrators have to be careful that they do not hurt the sentiments of a particular group of people.

From this perspective, it is not the easiest genre to write. The narrator needs to do in-depth research about the events or individuals involved. It is popularly considered to be a book genre for adults, but the way historical fiction is being presented in the current times, the younger generation too is looking forward to read these stories.

Fantasy – These stories are characterized by elements that are magical or supernatural and most likely inspired by folklore and mythology. It is the purest form of fiction and the author can dive deep into his imaginative self without being bothered by research as in case of historical fiction.

If you consider finding the Top 10 Book Selling Websites in India, Amazon will top the list. All the above sub-genres that we discussed are amongst the best-selling book genres on Amazon.

Let us now focus on the Non-fiction genre of books. Non-fiction is popularly subcategorized into autobiography, biography, periodicals and narrative.

Autobiography – These are usually accounts of one’s life in self-written form. Memoir forms of stories are very closely associated with autobiographies but memoires may be related to the events that happened around the storyteller while autobiographies are usually self-reflective forms of writing.

Some individuals in themselves are inspirational and accepted as one by generations. That is what motivates the writer to present his reflections to the world. This form of literature is becoming increasingly popular and the kind of response it attracts has encouraged more and more individuals to try their hand with this genre.

Biography – It is a detailed account of an individual’s life. It reflects the narrator’s experience of the life events of a particular individual. Historical biographies are one of the earliest forms of literature produced in this genre. Though biographies are popularly categorized as non-fiction forms of literature, a component of fiction can also be used to give a detailed account of a person’s life. The fiction component definitely adds value to the literature in general and it also contributes to the commercial success of the book.

Though this form of literature is not the easiest genre to get published because to make it authorized and acceptable requires written permissions and cooperation of the individuals that are being portrayed.

Periodicals – These are a form of publications that appear as per a pre-defined schedule. Magazines, newsletters, yearbooks are among the most popular publications in this genre of literature. Periodicals generally have a set production cycle and they are often referenced as “issue” of a particular period.

Periodicals are often classified as scholarly. This form of literature has a very specific kind of audience, usually academics, researchers or professionals. Distribution is a very important component of the life cycle of periodicals and across the globe, it gets preferential rates for postal distribution.

Narrative – This is a narrative account of a series of events or experiences. Storytelling in the oral form is the earliest method of presenting narratives. They have been the most popular form of literature that has touched lives of all of us especially during childhood when we are looking to find meaning out of the values taught to us, the culture we are part of, the traditions that we follow and the history of the society that we are part of. Narration or storytelling is found in all forms of human creativity.

Now that you have an idea about the most popular book genres read by people, the next obvious question is how to find the right book genre for you?

I would like to tell you how I started reading. Books were not a friend to me. So, me bothering about what is the right book genre was out of question. I don’t even know when I started reading and why I started reading a certain genre. I think it all depends on – who you really are?

Who we are is all about who are our parents? How is the environment that we were brought up in? How are the people around? How organized are we as an individual? How much do we value time? What is our favourite holiday destination? What is our favourite colour? What is your favourite food? What is your idea of a good time? How do you wish to lead your life? What do you wish to achieve in life?  – A detailed thought to these questions will bring out reasons for a lot of choices we make about things in life.

I think this is the most practical approach to think through before making a decision on critical aspects of our life.

So maybe more than selecting a genre, it is important to realize the importance of reading and develop a reading habit. For all good habits, the earlier the better.

Do check out our article on how to develop reading habit in students: https://storybooksforyou.com/how-to-develop-reading-habit-in-students/

Another article worth reading for parents: https://storybooksforyou.com/short-stories-for-toddlers/

Conclusion:

My intention was to introduce the most popular book genres to the new readers. Genres are like the style of foods that a restaurant serves. Sometimes the name of food items is enough for us to try it out. Sometimes we look into the ingredients used. Sometimes we don’t bother about any of these because we know it is a popular food chain. The same goes with book genres. Who you are will decide the book genre you choose to read but it is the habit of reading that will decide what you want to make out of life?

Do check out more information on book genres here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_genres

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