3 Weird Book Genres You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

As writers and avid readers, we like to get our hands on anything that looks like a book. From the latest book to the oldest book, our love for reading knows no bounds.

While we may already know our favorites by heart, there still are unexplored genres of reading that we might grow a liking to.

In this article we’ve selected three such book genres, both weird and rare, that the adventurous reader in you might want to check out right away!

1. Microblogging novels

In a fast-paced era of social media, microblogging novels is a genre you shouldn’t be missing out on. Authors who engage in microblogging use their social media following to publish bite-sized chapters of their books. They write every chapter to fit into the character limit of the social platform, hence the name microblogging.

For example, a chapter of a ‘Twitter novel’ would be as short as 280 characters. A ‘Facebook Novel’, accompanied by the ‘read more’ option, would be longer. Either way, it’s a fun and engaging way to share your novel with the world.

David Mitchell’s Twitter short story ‘The Right Sort’ is a good example of a microblogging novel.

2. Bangsian Fantasy

If you’ve ever wanted to invent a genre, take a leaf out of Bangsian Fantasy, named after John Kendrick Bangs.

Bangsian Fantasy authors bring famous dead people to life—in the afterlife. Plotlines cover adventures after the deaths of historical figures in a place the author imagines to be the afterlife.

Heroes in Hell by Janet Morris, Chris Morris, and C.J. Cherryh, A House-Boat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, and Dante’s Inferno are some of the greatest Bangsian Fantasy novels worth reading.

3. Solarpunk

If you’re an optimist who believes in a future of sunshine and rainbows, you might enjoy the Solarpunk genre. Such books show how progressive technology can tackle environmental and social concerns such as climate change, pollution and inequality.

Popular Solarpunk books include Glass and Gardens by Sarena Ulibarri, the anthology Wings of Renewal by Claudie Arseneault and Brenda J. Pierson, and the novel New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson.