Book List and Reading Guides

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Historical Fiction is a story that takes readers to a time and place in the past. How far back in time does an author have to go for their work to be considered Historical Fiction? A good rule of thumb is a minimum of 50 years. The idea is to take readers out of the events of their lifetime. Most book lovers agree that Historical Fiction is the closest we’ll get to actual time travel.

Fantasy is a form of literary genre in which a plot cannot occur in the real world. Its plot usually involves witchcraft or magic, taking place on an undiscovered planet of an unknown world. Its overall theme and setting involve a combination of technology, architecture, and language, which sometimes resemble European medieval ages. The most interesting thing about fantasies is that their plot involves animal creatures talking like humans, and other things that never happen in real life. Fantasy genre can be any number of characters; toy, magical, modern, alternative universe, heroic, or supernatural. 

a state in which the conditions of human life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror (or all three). A dystopian society is characterized by human misery in the form of squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, or war. 

Multicultural literature describes how people live in different parts of the world. In other words, we can learn about their culture and beliefs. It also accurately represents its culture and must be free from stereotypes or assumptions about a particular group that is oversimplified or based upon generalizations. Through these accurate representations, we can build a clear understanding of the culture's heritage as portrayed in the text.

Any document or media content that intends, in good faith, to present only truth and accuracy regarding information, events, or people.[1] Nonfictional content may be presented either objectively or subjectively. Sometimes taking the form of a story, nonfiction is one of the fundamental divisions of narrative writing (specifically, prose)[2]— in contrast to fiction, which offers information, events, or characters expected to be partly or largely imaginary, or else leaves open if and how the work refers to reality

mystery: the main character is occupied in tracking down the truth about an event, usually a murder. If the protagonist is in any danger, it is usually moderate, and becomes a problem only as the detective approaches the truth.

thriller: the protagonist is in danger from the outset.

suspense: the main character may become aware of danger only gradually. In a mystery, the reader is exposed to the same information as the detective, but in a suspense story, the reader is aware of things unknown to the protagonist. The reader sees the bad guy plant the bomb, and then suffers the suspense of wondering when or if it will explode.

 Nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.

A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.