Literature by Genre

Since Aristotle, man has been busy classifying things. Adam was the classification pioneer (naming the animals), but it was the Greek philosopher who turned it into an art form, an obsession, and an intellectual sport. We've had 2300 years to get better at it, and today a book isn't just a "book": it's a novel, or a treatise, or a poem, or a drama. But it isn't even just a novel, anymore—it's a satire, or historical fiction, or science fiction, or a philosophical novel, or an autobiographical collection of short stories set in a dystopian near-future.

There may be no examples of the last type, but genres (rather than being confusing, as some claim) are invaluable guides to navigating the endless stream of books that flows through our bookstores, libraries, and online distribution centers. For instance, you know just by hearing the phrase "romance novel" there won't be much quality in any section so named, and if the normal romance novel is to be shunned, you can be certain the growing field of paranormal romance fiction will be even more useless.

I will not take this opportunity to describe each and every genre we've included in our selection; that's what the sidebar is for. However, before you dismiss the genre distinctions as useless generic terminology, consider what they can do. If you've just finished a book by Jane Austen, or Tim O'Brien, or Rudyard Kipling, and want to read similar books but don't know where to start, you could start by looking at other books included in their respective genres.

Some of the genres are pretty basic. Obviously, if you want to read poetry you aren't going to look under Novels. Well, you might, but you'd be mostly out of luck. Others, like Epic & Saga, can be much more helpful for more specific searches—our Epic & Saga category includes 42 items; our Literature & Adult Fiction includes 2,397.

Most of the books found here are for older students or adults (though that doesn't mean younger readers can't enjoy most of them as well, as long as you preview and discuss each title with them). For kid-oriented reading, check out our Fiction category. The genres there are even more specific, partly because there are more obvious distinctions beween different kinds of children's literature, and partly because we've spent more time bringing in specifc titles for young readers. That in no way means we've ignored our selection for adults and high schoolers.

In fact, we're pretty proud of it. Not every book is worth reading; we've tried to limit those on our shelf to ones that are. To make it easier for you to find the sort of book you want to read, we've given most of the titles genres. Sure, it's often fun to lazily browse bookstore shelves or websites, but let's face it—somtimes you just need to find the next book that's going to provide your fiction fix, and you don't have time to research the whole broad genre that happens to be your favorite. Reader, we salute you, and offer you: Literature by Genre.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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76 Items found Print
Active Filters: 17th Century Literature
Account of Mary Rowlandson and Other Indian Captivity Narratives
by Mary Rowlandson
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$6.95
American Poetry
by David S. Shields
from Library of America
for 11th-Adult
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Annotated Milton
by John Milton
from Bantam Books
for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$8.95
Compleat Angler
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Complete English Poems of John Donne
Penguin Classics
by John Donne
from Penguin Classics
Lyrical Poetry for 9th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$21.00
Complete Poetry of George Herbert
Penguin Classics
by George Herbert, edited by John Drury & Victoria Moul
from Penguin Classics
Lyrical Poetry for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Discourse on Method and Related Writings
by Rene Descartes
from Penguin Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$12.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by John Rutherford
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$17.00
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman
Reprint from Harper Perennial
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$19.99
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Tom Lathrop
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$9.95
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Samuel Putnam
1998 Modern Library Edition from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Don Quixote (abridged)
by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Walter Starkie
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.95
Don Quixote (abridged)
by Miguel de Cervantes, translator unknown
from Borders Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Essay Concerning Human Understanding
by John Locke
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$17.00
Essays and New Atlantis
by Francis Bacon
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
by John Foxe, edited by William Byron Forbush
from Hendrickson Publishers
for 10th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
Foxe's Christian Martys of the World
by John Foxe
from Barbour Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
by John Bunyan
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$15.00
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
by John Bunyan
from Hendrickson Publishers
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
History of God's Remarkable Providences
by Increase Mather
from Back Home Industries
Historical Non-Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Holy War
by John Bunyan
from Christian Focus Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Leviathan
Penguin Classics
by Thomas Hobbes
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$13.00
Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln
by Gluckel of Hamelin
from Schocken
for 8th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Misanthrope & Tartuffe
by Molière
First Ed from Mariner Books
for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Mourt's Relation
by Dwight B. Heath, editor
from Applewood Books
Primary Source Document for 8th-12th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
New Atlantis and The City of the Sun: Two Classic Utopias
by Francis Bacon, Tomasso Campanella
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Of Plymouth Plantation
by William Bradford
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$14.95
Of Plymouth Plantation
by William Bradford
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Non-Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
On Politics and Education
Walter J. Black Classics Club
by John Locke
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
Oroonoko
by Aphra Behn
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Paradise Lost
Penguin Classics
by John Milton
2003 Revised from Penguin Classics
Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$12.00
Paradise Lost
by John Milton, illustrated by Gustave Dore
from Flame Tree Collections
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Paradise Lost
by John Milton
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$10.00
Paradise Lost
A Norton Critical Edition
by John Milton
3rd revised from W. W. Norton and Co.
Formal Poetry for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$29.95
Paradise Lost and Other Poems
by John Milton
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Formal Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained
by John Milton
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.95
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained
by John Milton
from Borders Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Paradise Lost in Plain and Simple English
by John Milton
from CreateSpace
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$18.95
Pensees
Penguin Classics
by Blaise Pascal
from Penguin Putnam
Philosophy/Religion for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$13.00
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Dover Publications
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.00
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from John L. Dagg Publishing
for 10th-adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$28.95
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Oxford University
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$9.95
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan, retold by Cheryl Ford
from Tyndale House
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
Facsimile Ed from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan, retold by Mary Godolphin and illustrated by Robert Lawson
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
undated from Hurst Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Penguin Classics
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$11.00
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Pilgrim's Progress Publishing
for 10th-adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
from Hendrickson Publishers
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
Pilgrim's Progress (Read & Reflect with the Classics)
by John Bunyan
from B&H Books
for 8th-12th grade
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress - Study Guide
by Maureen L. Bradley
from P&R Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$9.99
Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English
by John Bunyan
from Bridge-Logos
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$19.99
Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English
by John Bunyan, retold by James H. Thomas and illustrated by John M. Cadel
from Moody Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English
by John Bunyan
from Moody Press
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence
from Living Book Press
for 11th-Adult
in Spiritual Disciplines (Location: XCL-SPDI)
Practice of the Presence of God with Spiritual Maxims
by Brother Lawrence
from Baker Books
for 11th-Adult
in Spiritual Disciplines (Location: XCL-SPDI)
$5.99
Practice of the Presence of God with Spiritual Maxims
by Brother Lawrence
from Hendrickson Publishers
for 11th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
Practicing His Presence
by Brother Lawrence, Frank Laubach
from Seedsowers
for Adult
in Spiritual Disciplines (Location: XCL-SPDI)
$10.95
Robinson Crusoe
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Daniel Defoe
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
No publication date from Saalfield Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 4
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
from Barnes & Noble
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frank Godwin
from John C. Winston
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Saint's Everlasting Rest
by Richard Baxter
1st edition from Christian Focus Publications
for 11th-Adult
in Puritan Writings (Location: XCH-PUR)
Second Treatise of Civil Government
by John Locke
from Prometheus Books
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$12.99
Second Treatise of Civil Government
by John Locke
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$5.00
Selected Poems of John Donne
Dover Thrift Editions
by John Donne
from Dover Publications
Lyrical Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Tartuffe and Other Plays
by Jean-Baptiste Moliere
from Signet Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$7.95
The Cid
by Pierre Corneille
from CreateSpace
for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$6.99
To My Husband & Other Poems
Dover Thrift Editions
by Anne Bradstreet
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$3.50
Two Treatises of Government
by John Locke
from Tuttle Publishing
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$9.95
Two Treatises of Government
by John Locke
3rd edition from Cambridge University
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$19.99
Voyages and Discoveries
by Richard Hakluyt
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$17.00
Westminster Confession of Faith
by Westminster Assembly
from Free Presbyterian Publications
for 7th-Adult
in Creeds, Confessions & Catechisms (Location: XTH-CREED)
Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes
by G. I. Williamson
2nd edition from P&R Publishing
Confessions and Catechisms for 9th-Adult
in Creeds, Confessions & Catechisms (Location: XTH-CREED)