Art Books in which the written word is an adjunct to the accompanying illustrations or photos (may also be in comics).

Biography/Autobiography Books that are purported to be true and written about someone’s life and may be written by the individual whose life is described.

Classics Books that we believe are works of enduring excellence.

Comics Books that are a combination of groups of cartoons in sequence.  They are probably not funny, but may owe their existence to comic strips from newspapers (may also be in Art or graphic books).

Commentary Books containing someone’s opinions about a subject.  These opinions may or may not be based on a body of academic achievement.

 

Erotica Books that have titillation as their primary purpose, they may or may not have any socially redeeming value.

Fiction Books that are written out of an author’s imagination, not literally true.

Graphic Books Books in which the story is told by a combination of words and illustrations neither of which can tell the story alone.

History Books cataloging series of events that affect nations of institutions often attempting to describe their causes.

Historical Fiction Fiction in which the protagonists are associated with historical events (which should be portrayed accurately).

IT Reference Books on computer programming, database management, best practices, etc.

Mystery Fiction whose purpose is to present the reader with various conundrums usually involving crime and criminals.

Natural History Books that catalog natural processes usually in a semi-scientific manner.

Other Fiction Fiction without a special category, but include those categories too.

Philosophy Books on the search for a general understanding of values and reality by speculative means.

Poetry Language arranged to evoke a specific response (usually emotional) through its meaning, sound and rhythm.

Reference (includes Science/Math) Books, generally without narrative form, created to provide lists of facts for researchers.

Science Fiction & Fantasy A genre that has become a catch-all that includes various forms a fantasy and speculative fiction.  Our primary interest is in ‘hard’ science fiction (based on the extrapolation of existing scientific research, but we have it all.

Sports Literature associated with a sport.

Textbooks Books written to teach a subject.

True Adventure Stories of adventures that were undertaken by the author.

Vintage Books Books older than any of us.

Young Adult/Children Books adults think are below them.