The 16 types of books (according to different criteria)

There are many of us who enjoy devouring a good book from time to time, either when we go on a trip and we have a long wait in the airport or when we want to learn new things about our profession with one of the interestingly useful manuals available at the market.

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Types of books and how they are classified

But not all books are the same. Some editorial works are for reference, others explain fanciful stories, and others are illustrated. In addition, each book can be presented in a different format, or be directed to a specific audience.

In today's article we will review the kinds of books that exist, according to different criteria.

1. According to its format

Depending on their format and presentation, the books can be:

1.1. Paper books

The paper book is the classic book, the one of all life. It can have a soft cover or a hard cover, but the text is on paper. Although, thanks to new technologies, new formats have appeared to be able to read editorial works, this is still a widely used format.

1.2. Electronic books (ebooks)

The electronic book has been gaining ground in recent years due to its enormous convenience. To be able to read it, it is necessary to have a device, such as a "kindle", that is, an electronic book reader, or a tablet. Although it is also possible to download electronic books on the mobile phone.

1.3. Interactive books

Interactive books are digital books that, in addition to the classic reading, allow the reader to interact and carry out activities. For example, online exercises. These types of books use all the resources offered by the latest technological advances to offer a qualitatively different experience to readers. In addition, some of them may even pose an interesting dialogue between the world of literature and that of video games.

2. According to his literary genre

Books can also be classified according to their literary genre, that is, depending on its content and its literary objective. Within this category, we only find works of fiction.

2.1. Lyric

The lyrical genre is characterized because the author expresses feelings, imagination or thoughts. It is narrated in the first person, in which the subjective condition of the writer stands out. Within this genre, we find:

• Ode: It is a kind of pensive poetry and its tone is one of praise.
• Anthem: It is lyrical text that expresses patriotic passions, positive feelings and celebration
• Elegy: Poetic work that expresses negative feelings such as melancholy, own pain or that of others.
• Eclogue: It is characterized by the expression of affectionate feelings for what surrounds us and is usually presented in the form of dialogue.
• Song: It is a poem that expresses feelings, for example, of love.
• Satire: It presents an acid humor, somewhat burlesque, in which personal or social corruptions are criticized.

2.2. Epic genre

The author expresses himself through narration and presents the facts in a fictitious environment, teaching the reader the world objectively, without showing their feelings. Now, the author can carry out dialogues so that his characters express their emotions and reflections. There are different epic subgenres:

• Epic: Explains actions that should be remembered for the heroic deeds and legendary feats of a character or people.
• epic poem: Account of legendary or fictional adventures of one or more heroic characters.
• Romance: Tells brave, affective and sentimental stories.
• Fable: Usually written in prose or verse. the main characters are animals or inanimate things. Thanks to the fable, it is possible to extract a teaching or moral.
• Story: Narrates a fictitious event that is usually short and with few characters.
• Legend: Narrates a real or fabulous event, shrouded in mystery.
• Novel: It is an extensive narrative, with a more developed story than a short story. It includes both characters from reality and imaginary.

2.3. Drama

It is characterized by an episode or conflict conceived by internal relationships between the characters. The narration is wrapped in dialogue.

• Tragedy: Highlights the passionate nature of terrifying problems or conflicts.
• Comedy: The conflict is viewed with humor.
• Drama: The story is shown in a serious context.
• Tragicomedy: There are tragic and then comic sequences.
• Melodrama: The dramatic parts of the play are exaggerated.

3. Other types of books

In addition to the above classifications, it is possible to find other types of books according to various criteria and characteristics:

3.1. Long-read books

Long-read books include novels and short stories. It is ideal that they are small and light books so that the reader can transport them anywhere to be able to read them whenever he wants. Furthermore, since they contain a narrative of a chain of events, they usually have well-defined beginnings and ends.

3.2. Reference books

Reference books are also known as reference books. They are not read continuously, but the reader only comes to them when obtaining a specific piece of information or to resolve a doubt punctual, so its summary is very useful to go directly to the home page of the section of interest. Some examples are: an encyclopedia, a dictionary, or the phone book.

3.3. Informational books or manuals (essays)

The informative books and manuals, unlike the previous ones, can be read in full. They deal with topics of interest, such as a field of psychology. They deal with problems, solve doubts and provide photos, diagrams and diagrams to clarify the information. They are also known as "essays": they are prose texts that analyze a specific topic in an objective and documented way.

• Recommended article: "The 25 best Psychology books you can't miss"

3.4. Illustrated literature

They treat stories through drawings. Generally, illustrations are accompanied by a short text, so there needs to be close cooperation between the illustrator and the typographer.

3.5. Biographies

Biographies are the story of a person's life narrated on the other, in which the latter describes the events achieved and the failures. There are also autobiographies, in which the author himself tells his own story.

3.6. Sacred books

Sacred books are textbooks considered sacred by different religions. For example: the Bible or the Koran, which are the reference texts of Christianity and Islam, respectively. The difference with the rest of the works is that they have traditionally been attributed a connection with the divine.

3.7. Pocket books

Pocket books are light texts, small in size and very handy to be able to be transported to any place. They are not usually very long books.

3.8. Comics

Comics are stories explained through vignettes with illustrations, which usually have a short text narrated by the characters themselves. Although it used to be a genre whose readers were children and teenagers, in recent times comics They are also all the rage among adults, and in some circles they have become known as novels graphics.

3.9. Sagas or Trilogies

The sagas are collections of books of the same story, where each volume complements the previous book. When the saga consists of three books or volumes, it is called a trilogy. Some of them are mythical sagas, like those of Iceland, and others are author's, more recent.

3.10. Score book

Sheet music books are books in which it is possible to find musical scores to be able to play different instruments, including the voice. Logically, they are widely used by musicians to perfectly know the musical pieces they want to interpret.