English literature

Popular types of fictions in the world
The world of literature abounds with different genres. Broadly speaking, the fiction world is divided into two segments: literary fiction and genre fiction. Literary fiction typically describes the kinds of books that are assigned in high school and college English classes, that are character driven and describe some aspect of the human condition. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners tend to come from the literary fiction genre. Genre fiction has a more mainstream, populist appeal. It traditionally comprises genres such as romance, mystery, thriller, horror, fantasy, and children’s books.Some genre writers straddle a line between genre-focused commercial fiction and the traditions of literary fiction. John Updike, for instance, has been noted for his somewhat pulpy novels that still managed to examine humanity. J.R.R. Tolkien developed a worldwide following within the fantasy genre, yet his Lord of the Rings trilogy is famous for its intricate themes.

List Of Most Popular Book Genres

Before we look at the most popular book genres in detail, let’s first examine the best-selling fiction books and non-fiction books.
Please note, that the publishing industry refers to the groups into which books are grouped as ‘genres’. However, if you look at Amazon you will see that these are called ‘categories’.
There are some differences between the publisher’s genres and Amazon’s categories, but for this article, they have been used interchangeably. You may also find that some people group books slightly differently, but in most situations the meaning is clear.
So you’ve decided you to want to become a fiction writer. Congratulations! It’s one of the most enjoyable creative pursuits out there. The world needs more fiction, and it’s a better time than ever before to start, thanks to the ease of self-publishing. But what if you don’t know exactly what to write?
It’s more common than you might think to have a desire to write a fiction book without knowing exactly what type. If that sounds like you, don’t worry! In fact, it’s great that you’re taking the time to stop and make a conscious choice.
Exploring the various types of fiction you may wish to write prevents you from one of the major writing sins – trying to write something that ‘doesn’t have a genre’ and is aimed at ‘everyone’. If you attempt that, you’ll likely end up writing something confusing that pleases no one at all!
These days, there are more types of fiction than ever before, with subgenres and mashups springing up seemingly all the time. That’s a good thing as it provides readers with huge amounts of choice and exactly what they’re looking for. 
While it would be impossible to cover every type of fiction out there, here are some of the major genres for you to consider. 
Let’s get clear on what we mean first of all. When we talk about types of fiction, we are talking about one of two major ways to categorize novels and short stories – either by their genre, or the age of the reader they are attended for. Knowing both classifications is useful, as your story will most likely combine them. For example, you might want to write sci-fi for young adults, or historical fiction for adult readers.
There are other ways fiction can be categorized, such as its mood and tone, the decade in which it was written, the geographical location of its author, or whether it belongs to a particular artistic movement. These are all valid but they won’t be the focus of this article. 
Instead, we’ll explore some of the most popular parent genres as well as the major age ranges writers choose to target. 
As stated earlier, this list of fiction genre types is by no means exhaustive. Instead, it is intended as an overview. If you find a genre that piques your interest, by all means jump on Goodreads or Amazon and delve deep into its more obscure subgenres!
Contemporary fiction refers to fictional stories that revolve around realistic events set in or close to our current time of living. This stands in contrast to historical fiction or that set in the near or far future. 
A contemporary novel is intended to be grounded in the real world, avoiding anything that could be construed as fantasy or sci-fi. It well have a sense of being grounded in the real world, often referring to contemporary events, brands, and people. 
Historical fiction is exactly what it sounds like – a story set in a time period past. Historical fiction is often intended to shine a light on the ways in which societies and nations operated in decades and centuries gone by. Often, historical fiction will attempt to humanize a major historical event, such as love stories set during famous wars, for example.
Historical fiction requires a good level of either research or familiarity with the time period being written about to be convincing and effective. It also requires writers to strike a balance between sharing historical detail and providing a gripping and moving human story. 
Readers have always had a taste for tales that terrify and scare. Some of the most-loved classics are horror stories, and the genre contains to be very popular to this day. Just consider the colossal success of Stephen King if you need convincing.
Horror readers expect to be scared or the book simply isn’t worth it from their perspective. You should therefore know how to create and sustain tension as well as the types of events that are likely to induce a feeling of fear in a story. 
Fantasy is one of the most popular types of genre fiction out there. Fantasy readers have a long lineage of great writing to draw on, from Tolkien in earlier eras through to the more recent success of the Harry Potter series.
To write good fantasy requires strong powers of imagination and the ability to creative captivating worlds that live long in the minds of readers.
Literary fiction is a highbrow type of writing that tends to please critics more than the average reader.