Book genres

Every genre we track, from queer romance to Victorian science fiction. Each page ranks the books readers shelve most, with decades, tropes, top authors and free classics.

Queer Romance & Fiction

1,800 books

M/M Romance

M/M romance is romantic fiction centred on a relationship between two men, written to deliver the genre's core promise: a love story that ends…

2,027 books

Gay Fiction

Gay fiction covers novels and stories with gay men at their centre — from early coded classics and post-Stonewall landmarks to contemporary literary…

2,199 books

Lesbian & Sapphic Fiction

Sapphic fiction tells stories about women who love women — romance, literary fiction, historical drama, fantasy and gothic.

621 books

Queer Fantasy

Queer fantasy puts LGBTQ+ characters at the heart of magic, quests and invented worlds.

295 books

Queer Science Fiction

Science fiction has long been a laboratory for gender and sexuality — from Ursula K.

244 books

Transgender & Nonbinary Fiction

Stories by and about trans and nonbinary people, across literary fiction, romance, fantasy and young adult.

294 books

Bisexual Fiction

Fiction with bisexual and pansexual protagonists — romance, literary fiction and fantasy where attraction to more than one gender is part of the…

367 books

LGBTQ+ Young Adult

LGBTQ+ young adult fiction follows teenage characters figuring out love and identity — coming-of-age contemporaries, sweet romances, and a growing…

Steampunk & Speculative

345 books

Steampunk

Steampunk imagines a 19th century that ran further on steam: brass automatons, airships, difference engines and gaslit cities, usually with a…

51 books

Gaslamp & Victorian Fantasy

Gaslamp fantasy is magic in the age of fog and gaslight: Victorian and Edwardian settings where sorcerers attend society balls, ghosts haunt the…

598 books

Alternate History

Alternate history asks 'what if?' — what if the Axis won, Rome never fell, or Babbage's engines launched an information age in 1850?

1,049 books

Historical Fantasy

Historical fantasy sets magic inside real history — Napoleonic dragons, Tudor witchcraft, feudal Japan full of fox spirits.

470 books

Urban Fantasy

Urban fantasy hides the supernatural in modern cities: wizards for hire, werewolf packs in the suburbs, vampire politics after dark.

281 books

Dark Fantasy

Dark fantasy blends magic with horror and moral ambiguity — cursed kingdoms, devil's bargains, monstrous heroes.

873 books

Epic Fantasy

Epic (or high) fantasy is fantasy at its largest scale: invented worlds, long series, wars of succession and quests that decide the fate of kingdoms.

1,134 books

Romantasy

Romantasy is fantasy where the romance carries equal weight with the magic — fae bargains, enemies-to-lovers across warring courts, dragon riders…

301 books

Science Fiction Romance

Sci-fi romance sets love stories among the stars: alien encounters, starship crews, cyberpunk cities and time-crossed lovers.

1,032 books

Time Travel

Time travel stories bend chronology for adventure, paradox and romance — from H. G. Wells's The Time Machine (1895, free to read) to lovers separated…

381 books

Fairy Tale Retellings

Retellings rework familiar tales — Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Bluebeard, the Snow Queen — from new angles: the villain's side, a queer…

1,470 books

Myth & Legend Fiction

Fiction drawn from myth and legend — Greek gods, Norse sagas, Arthurian knights, Japanese yōkai — told as novels with modern sensibilities.

Gothic, Horror & Paranormal

1,232 books

Gothic Fiction

Gothic fiction is the literature of crumbling houses, buried secrets and dread you can't quite name.

2,369 books

Paranormal Romance

Paranormal romance pairs love stories with the supernatural: vampires, shifters, demons, angels, ghosts and witches.

1,536 books

Vampire Fiction

From Polidori's The Vampyre (1819) and Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872) to Dracula and modern paranormal romance, the vampire has been fiction's most…

813 books

Werewolf Fiction

Werewolf stories range from folklore horror to pack-politics urban fantasy and shifter romance.

729 books

Shapeshifter Fiction

Shifter fiction features characters who change form — wolves and big cats, dragons, selkies, kitsune.

1,913 books

Ghost Stories

Ghost stories are among the oldest forms of fiction, and the Victorians perfected them as fireside entertainment — M. R.

1,467 books

Witch Fiction

Witches have been villains, victims, heroines and lovers: from Salem histories and folk horror to cosy witch-shop romances and urban fantasy covens.

1,235 books

Demons & Devils

Crossroads deals, possessions and charming devils: demon fiction runs from Faust and The Monk to modern paranormal romance where the demon is the…

803 books

Angel Fiction

Fallen angels, guardian angels and celestial wars — angel fiction mixes theology with romance and urban fantasy.

1,243 books

Fae & Fairy Fiction

The fae of folklore are dangerous: bound by bargains, unable to lie, ruthless in their courts.

3,566 books

Horror

Horror fiction aims to frighten — through monsters, the supernatural, or what people do to each other.

1,348 books

Occult Fiction

Secret societies, séances, grimoires and psychic detectives. Occult fiction flourished in the late Victorian era alongside real spiritualism, and…

670 books

Mermaids & Sea Creatures

Mermaids, sirens and selkies: from Andersen's original Little Mermaid (free to read) to dark sea romances and folk tales of seal-wives and drowned…

Historical & Romance

2,043 books

Historical Romance

Historical romance sets the love story in the past — Regency ballrooms, Victorian London, the Wild West, medieval castles.

876 books

Regency Romance

Regency romance is set in Britain around 1811–1820: balls, Almack's, scandal and marriage-market manoeuvring.

223 books

Victorian-Era Fiction

Fiction set between 1837 and 1901 — modern novels that recreate the age of Victoria, from gaslit London mysteries to queer historical romance and…

2,657 books

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction brings real eras to life through invented (and sometimes real) characters.

1,299 books

Romantic Suspense

Romantic suspense balances a love story with danger — a stalker, a heist, a murder investigation.

503 books

Victorian Mysteries

Gaslight detectives: Sherlock Holmes and his rivals, plus modern mysteries set in fog-bound Victorian London.

Themes & Settings

1,052 books

Circus & Carnival

Travelling circuses and night carnivals make perfect fictional worlds: closed communities, secrets, performers with strange gifts, and a ringmaster…

634 books

Magicians & Illusionists

Stage magicians, rival illusionists and con artists who might be the real thing — think The Prestige.

346 books

Samurai & Feudal Japan

Ronin on the road, fox spirits, warring clans and yōkai: fiction set in feudal Japan blends history with folklore.

130 books

Airships & Sky Pirates

Airships are the iconic steampunk vehicle: sky pirates, floating cities, aerial navies and smugglers above the clouds.

880 books

Pirate Fiction

Treasure Island invented the modern pirate story in 1883 (and it's free to read). Since then pirates have sailed into romance, fantasy and queer…

167 books

Clockwork & Automata

Clockwork hearts, brass automatons and eccentric inventors: the mechanical marvels at the core of steampunk, and a recurring way to ask what makes us…

1,009 books

Dragon Fiction

Hoarding monsters, wise elders, war mounts and shapeshifting love interests: dragons are fantasy's most versatile creature.

2,892 books

Adventure

Swashbuckling adventure — lost worlds, treasure hunts, duels and expeditions. Our list leans toward classic adventure that inspired steampunk, much…

Free Classics

3,600 books