Of Deciphering Book Genres, Blurbs And Descriptions

Uncle B’s Guide To Deciphering Book Descriptions and Blurbs

They tell you that you must never judge a book by its cover, but people are such visual creatures, that cover will call out to you… I am a huge fan of the Blind Date With A Book idea, imagine books just wrapped up in a brown paper package tied up with string; these are a few of my favourite things…

Blind date with a book 
books covered in brown paper
Blind date with a book librarieshawaii.org

I thought this idea was neat you just pick a book based on its description.

Now the thing about a book’s description (trust me on this and you can ask any author you want, writing that tiny book description is so much harder than writing the actual book) it has a secret language similar to how realtors and estate agents will describe a house for sale as cozy instead of cramped or charming instead of derelict and when they say unique they mean no one else wants it…

From personal observation these are some terms I have come to understand and expect:

Fantasy – set in a surreal world

Epic Fantasy – Magic and possibly dragons

Sci-fi – magic but steeped in scientific terms

Magical Tale – There is no magic magic in that one its probably a tear jerker.

Moving – similar to magical

Enchanting – there could be fairies but most likely a human interest story

Romantic – break up and makeup and break up some more

Fascinating – its like watching paint drip, something to pass time

Thriller – someone about to die and time running out

Suspense – no idea what will happen next, turn to next page

Mystery – Somebody died now find out who and why

Fast Paced – reads like a long blog post

Gripping – cant believe somebody actually wrote a book about this, usually relating to a thriller

Riveting – cant believe somebody actually wrote a book about this, usually relating to a mystery

Chilling – cant believe somebody actualy wrote a book about this, usualy relating to horror or crime

Spine Chilling – see chilling

Crime Fiction – Elementary my dear Watson

True Crime – Elementary my dear Watson, this really happened

Horror – now you cant sleep cause the thing from the book will come from you

Historical Fiction– There is somebody called Thomas in it

Classic – authors died a decades ago and everyone read it or pretends to have

Debut – Incase they make it to best seller this is where it started

Adventure – its probaby for the young and young at heart

Apocalyptic – World ends or almost ended

Post-Apocalyptic – after the world ended

Non-Fiction – It really happened to me

Powerful – cant believe this is not fiction usually in relation to Non-fiction

Inspiring – probably Non-Fiction


I am curious if you drawn any such observations… add more if you have them

~B

Responses to “Of Deciphering Book Genres, Blurbs And Descriptions”

  1. conniedia avatar

    This is super awesome I could easily read relatable books I have read described as such 👌👌

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
      Haha there’s some funny truth to this am happy not the only who sees it
      ~B

      Like

  2. Sue Nyakubaya-Nhevera avatar

    Historical fiction had me cracking😂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thomas is such a historicalc name🤣🤣🤣
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sue Nyakubaya-Nhevera avatar

        I wonder what all the Thomas’s out there will have to say about this

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Beaton avatar

        They will probably doubt it even🤣🤣🤣
        ~B

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Sue Nyakubaya-Nhevera avatar

    I really related to a lot of these

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

      Glad I am not the only one
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  4. mattsnyder1970 avatar

    ya forgot erotica 😉

    Like

  5. Wonani avatar

    😂😂 this was so funny to me, I have no idea why.
    And yes, there is always a Thomas!

    “Break up and makeup and break up some more” please 😂😂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Wonani avatar

      I came back to say, Henry is fairly popular too but Thomas definitely gets the cake 😂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Beaton avatar

        Oh yes Henry, definitely a Henry 🤣🤣
        ~B

        Like

    2. Beaton avatar

      Because there’s a funny truth to it… 🤣🤣🤣
      ~B

      Like

  6. Gary A Wilson avatar

    Slice-of-Life: a single scene from a possible longer story I do not care to write.

    Expose: the real truth about something you thought you already knew.

    Meme: someone’s hopeful 15 minutes of viral fame in 25 words or less.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Meme had me snorting my coffee 🤣🤣🤣🤣
      Spot on on the Expose
      ~B

      Like

      1. Gary A Wilson avatar

        Making you snort your coffee makes my day👏👊

        Like

  7. mlnkole avatar

    Funny how I related to each description to a book I’ve read. Enjoyed the post. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Haha glad to create something relateable and enjoyable
      ~B

      Like

  8. Nellie avatar

    I love the “classic description” 😂😂 authors died decades ago and everyone read it or pretends to have 😂 the accuracy 🙌 great piece

    Like

    1. Beaton avatar

      hahaha the accuracy right!!!!
      glad you had a laugh with this
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  9. abbiejohnsontaylor avatar

    This post gave me a good laugh. Being visually impaired, I download most of the books I read in audio formats from various sources. I often don’t see the covers. So, I go by the descriptions. I no longer enjoy reading certain genres. Thank you for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Glad you got a good laugh from the post and I had a lot of fun writing it playing around with the stereotypes in book descriptions.

      Which kind of genres do you enjoy, I particularly love epic high fantasy for its ability to transport one to a world that is vastly different from ours and yet still manage to tackle the same things we deal with ordinarily if we look beyond the creative world building.

      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

      1. abbiejohnsontaylor avatar

        I enjoy humor, historical fiction, memoir, and some romance. I don’t particularly care for a lot of sex, strong language, or violence. I wasn’t always this picky, but my tastes have changed over the years.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. boromax avatar

    omigoodness, this is so good, B. Love it. I may need to share this with my bookloving friends!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      I am not even sure what inspired me to come up with this it just happened and thank you I see some of your book loving friends stopping by too
      Cheers
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Cal Gough avatar

    I;’m one of the “bookloving friends” who “boromax” sent your hilarious screed to. I definitely intend to provide a link to it very soon at one of my blogs, the Atlanta Booklover’s Blog. And I have added your site to the blog’s blogroll so I can remember to check out other your other musings from time to time!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you Cal

      Glad you had a laugh and cheers to Boromax for connecting

      And many thanks for the share
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Shuvai Mlilo avatar

    Your descriptions are spot on.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you
      ~B

      Like

  13. Of Straight Forward Financial Growth Book Revew – Becoming The Muse avatar

    […] And if you haven’t already, do check out a recent article I like to call Uncle B’s Guide To Book Descriptions, Blurbs and Genre. […]

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  14. Sam "Goldie" Kirk avatar

    I have to admit that as an adult, I long for a good adventure book. But you are right – it’s hard to find one that’s not for the younger population.

    A blind date with a book sounds awesome! Hmmmm…. now I have an idea. Go to the bookstore with someone and pick 3-5 books for the other person and then have them choose based on the blurb instead of the cover. Hmmmm….

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Yep it’s hard to find a good adventure story. But then even those that aren’t for the younger population end up being on the same shelves or recommendarion lists and by virtue of a book having young characters it’s classified as YA, I saw an author rant about how her book was not a children’s book as parents kept narrating her with how come the book is so dark for a YA… And she was explaining you see a book called Who Fears Death why would you think it would be for kids 🤣

      Moving on…. Yep that sounds like a good plan.

      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sam "Goldie" Kirk avatar

        LOL quite a funny title. These days parents seem to talk to their young kids about the weirdest things, so why not death, I guess. LOL

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Beaton avatar

        🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
        Parents of today are weird…
        (oh no as I realise I will be a parent of today😲)
        ~B

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Sam "Goldie" Kirk avatar

        Congratulations?

        Like

      4. Beaton avatar

        Oh no 🤣 no congratulations in order.. It was just a speculative thought
        ~B

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Of How Bloggers Really Blog – Becoming The Muse avatar

    […] How much of the above resonates with you? If you loved this guide do check out my best guide to Deciphering: The World of Book Genres […]

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