Bookish Glossary
Have you ever seen a term, wording or acronym to don’t understand? Don’t worry I’ve got you!
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A
- ARC
- Advanced Reading Copies
- Alpha Reader
- A person who reads a work of fiction before it is polished in order to suggest improvements, typically without receiving payment. This is usually a step before beta readers.
- Alphahole
- An alpha male who is typically an asshole. Usually the type who acts this way with little care to what others think of him.
B
- BOTM
- Book of the month
- Beta Reader
- A person who reads a work of fiction before it is published in order to mark errors and suggest improvements, typically without receiving payment.
- Book Birthday
- A fun way to promote and share the word of a book publication. Usually release day or the anniversary of a book release.
C
- CIS
- A cisgender or ‘cis’ person has a gender identity that matches the sex they were assigned at birth. So if you were born with male sex characteristics, and still express yourself as a man, you’re cisgender.
- Canon
- A word to describe something that is true to the original story. This term is often used when a character or scene is a perfect reflection of the original writers view/creation.
For example when cosplayers dress as characters their depiction may at times not be canon based on their interpretation.
- Cinnamon Roll
- A character who is very sweet but often faces suffering and hardship within their story.
D
- DNF
- Did not finish. A book that you were unable to finish for whatever reason
- Dark Academia
- A social media aesthetic and subculture concerned with higher education, writing/poetry, the arts, and classic Greek and Gothic architecture
- Dark Romance
- Dark Romance is as the name suggests. A sub-genre of romance that contains controversial darker themes and content for mature readers. Throughout the plot or characters with questionable or morally grey lives and backgrounds. These themes can include but are not limited to BDSM, high levels of crime/violence, dub/non con and kidnapping/captivity.
- Dual Narration
- This is where the male narrator will read the male chapters and the female narrator will read the female chapters.
- Duet Narration
- Where the male narrator will narrator all male voices and the female narrator will narrate all female voices. This is not always limited to one narrator for male and one for female, audiobooks can also come with a full male and female narrator cast to bring a book to life.
E
F
- FF Romance
- Commonly used term in the book community to describe lesbian romance books where the love interests both identify as female
- FMC
- Female Main Character
G
- Golden Retriever Energy
- A young and attractive man – typically one with soft facial features and disheveled or “poofy” straight hair
– who exhibit traits associated with a golden retriever dog.
These traits include: joyfulness, playfulness, high energy, silliness, innocence or can perceived as non-threatening, tenderness.
- Grumpy/Sunshine Trope
- Usually a book trope. To describe the relationship between the couple. two people with opposite personalities meet, one a positive and upbeat person and the other a grumpy and or pessimistic person.
H
- HEA
- Happily Ever After
- Himbo
- A good-looking but unintelligent young man.
I
- ISBN
- International Standard Book Number. A unique number that identifies a published book.
- Indie Author
- An indie author is an author who self publishes their work and they hold the rights and royalties for their works.
J
- Jacobs Ladder
- Several piercings down the length of the shaft of a penis. Usually looks like the rungs of a ladder, hence it’s name.
K
L
- LGBTQIA+
- LGBTQIA+ is an inclusive term that includes people of all genders and sexualities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, asexual, pansexual, and allies. While each letter in LGBTQIA+ stands for a specific group of people, the term encompasses the entire spectrum of gender fluidity and sexual identities.
M
- MC
- Main character
- MM Romance
- Commonly used term in the book community to describe gay romance books where the love interests both identify as male
- Meet Cute
- When a character meets another character within the story. This is often used to describe a bad or funny moment when they meet.
- Menage
- A relationship or sexual encounter with three people. This is not limited by identity, so long as it’s three persons in the relationship or sexual encounter.
- Morally Grey
- The simple definition is that morally gray/grey characters are those who are not completely good or completely evil. It’s the characters who wobble in the “gray” area between hero and villain.
N
O
- OTP
- One true pairing. Fictional couples you ship or believe are endgame.
P
- PNR
- Paranormal Romance
- POV
- Point of view.
- Pronouns
- Pronouns are what we use to describe someone when we’re not using their name. The most common pronouns are she/her/hers, he/him/his and the gender-neutral pronoun they/them/theirs.
Q
R
- RTC
- Review to come
- RTC
- Review to Come
- Readathon
- A reading marathon, where a group of people come together and read as much as they can during a certain period of time. This is often done virtually.
- Reverse Harem
- A relationship where the female has three or more love interests and is not required to choose.
- Romantic Suspense
- Romantic suspense is a romance sub genre and can often be linked to dark romance. In a romantic suspense, the suspense comes from danger or intrigue that is directly related to the protagonist.
S
- Sapphic
- While definitely not solely a book topic this is used alot in the book community to describe books relating to a female-aligned person who feels romantic or sexual attraction to female-aligned people. This applies to female-aligned people who are not only lesbians, but also bisexual, pansexual etc.
- Ship
- A shortened term from relationship describing a couple or group depending on the dynamics (fictional or non-fictional) you want to be a romantic relationship.
- Simp
- Usually used i the context of simping for a character. This is generally being absolutely an unwaveringly obsessed with a character.
- Smut
- Erotic writing that contains explicit sexual content. This is often used to describe romance books.
- Spicy Books
- This term I believe is subjected. What one deems as a spicy book another may not. But simply put, it is another way to describe books that contain smut.
T
- TBR
- To Be Read
- TW
- Trigger warning, usually associated with content featured in the book that may be triggering to certain audiences.
- Throuple or Thruple
- A relationship consisting of three people. This is commonly referred to as a triad by polyamorists .
- Traditionally Published Author
- A traditionally published author is one where the publishing company own the rights and royalties to their works.
- Trans
- If your gender identity doesn’t match with the sex you were assigned at birth, you might describe yourself as transgender or ‘trans‘.
Trans can be used as an umbrella term for other identities like non-binary or gender fluid. Some people might use the word as a way to describe a history or experience, rather than as an identity.
- Trope
- A word or expression used in a figurative sense. Commonly used to describe a recognizable plot element, or theme. For example: enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine or brothers best friend.
U
V
W
X
Y
Z