What is Book Club Fiction?

Book club fiction tells a story of a person at a defining point in their life, often suitable for discussion in book clubs. These are thought provoking books readers can savor.

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What about Upmarket Fiction?

The terms Book Club Fiction and Upmarket Fiction often overlap to define a certain subset of the old Mainstream Fiction genre. Mainstream fiction is generally not used as much anymore. Although you don’t tend to see Upmarket or Book Club as a genre, they do seem to be quite fitting for labeling when it comes to the publishing industry and readers to find the right books they’re looking for.

Some popular genres of books you’ll explore in book club fiction

These are only general genres, and you can certainly go deeper when browsing bookstores, but these are some we can help you with recommendations for your TBR

Womens Fiction

Essential characteristic of women’s fiction:

• It will have a contemporary setting, if this isn’t the case, it may be historical fiction
• There will be no paranormal elements.
• The main characters will be adults – although it could have a reflections or sections with memories or thoughts from childhood.

A women’s fiction novel must have the above characteristics.

Women’s fiction is much like historical fiction, only instead of being set in the past, it is set in the present. The story will about about a characters journey and may or may not contain any romance. Usually the story will involve some self discovery or the development of familial relationships for the main character.

Historical Fiction

Essential characteristic of historical fiction:

• The time period of the book will be before the 1940s
• It will reflect the technology and historical facts of the time i.e. there has been no concerted effort to change history or technology. If there has, it may be a steampunk.
• There will be no paranormal elements.
• The main characters will be adults – although it could have a reflections or sections with memories or thoughts from childhood.

A historical fiction novel must have all the above characteristics.

A historical fiction is similar to a historical romance in that it is set in the past. The difference being that the romance is optional and when it is present it isn’t necessarily the driving force behind the story and you aren’t guaranteed a happily ever after. Instead the story will focus on the main characters(s) journey, which may or not not contain romance.

Historical fiction is also often based on real live historical events and figures – although this isn’t always the case. It will tell the stories of people who have lived through a famous event or been part of them in some way or/and they have a connection to a historical figure. The book itself will always be based in reality, there will be no paranormal elements.

Looking for book club fiction recommendations?

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