Get to Know Bookish Terms

Just like any other community, the book community has it's own jargon, slang and terms that are obvious to everyone on the inside but a little confusing to everyone on the outside, particularly the acronyms. However, this can make it confusing for new readers to get into the groove of things when they don't know what everyone is saying and what we mean when we say certain terms. Even for me, a reader who took a massive nearly 10 year break, when I got back into the community, there were a lot of new terms that took me a while to fully understand what they meant. 

So I chose a good number of terms whose meanings I think aren't 100% obvious, separate them into sections where they would relate to one another, and I'm going to define the terms. Hopefully a lot of new readers will find this helpful!

Acronyms:

TBR

To be Read! This is a list (often, quite extensive) of books you need to read but haven't gotten to yet. This is usually, at least for me, books that I own/have borrowed that I have yet to read but are sitting on my bookshelf.
Some people set monthly TBRs - books you want to read that month. But others have an overall TBR of all the books they want to read, eventually.

DNF

Did not finish. This is reserved for those books you really don't like. When you literally don't like a book (for a variety of reasons that is unique for everyone) so much so that you don't even want to finish it. So you don't. You stop reading at whatever point your at and put the book down.

MC

Main Character. This is the protagonist that a book follows and focuses on.

CR

Currently Reading/Current Read. This is the book(s) that you are currently in the middle of reading. 

TW

Trigger Warning. This is a list of themes in the book that could potentially mentally affect certain readers. So these lists, usually coming from other readers to make others aware, are important so that readers can know what a book contains and make educated decisions on whether they'll be able to handle reading/experiencing those themes.

Categories:

YA

Young Adult. This is a category of books that are targeted for young adult (ages 12-18) audiences - however, and I can't stress this enough, they can be enjoyed by all ages. This targeting is usually done by the age of the protagonist being at around that same age range with the plot dealing with issues rampant with that age group such as first love, finding oneself, school, etc.

NA

New Adult. Another category of books that are targeted for a slightly older audience but still not enough to be 'Adult'. The age range for this audience is around 18-30. NA is pretty popular with being more sexually explicit but focuses heavily on other topics important for newer adults - college, family relationships, careers, marriage, etc.

MG

Middle Grade. This is for children in the range between 8-12. It really is set up perfectly for that age group. Not only is the protagonist usually that age, but the plot itself is completely innocent/clean with themes revolving around pre-teen interest, often introducing a reader to a magical world. The reading level is easy enough for it to be a good stepping stone between 'children's' books and more complex books.

Plot:

Own Voices

This refers to a book that centers around a theme/protagonist that is a minority or has a marginalized perspective by an author that is a part of that minority/group. It serves as a way to prioritize diversity in books, which is so lacking, and provide not only a voice for those voices that seem to be drowned out in mainstream media/books, but also be able to diversify and extend a reader's knowledge on these books that often deal with important topics.

Trope

A trope is just a theme/plot device that is used really often and is common in a lot of books. Examples could be love triangles, friends-to-lovers, etc. These could be great and something familiar to go into a book knowing but they can also be overdone, especially if it's an unpopular trope.

Insta Love

This is a type of trope. It is when a romance in the book seems to come out of nowhere, that is, feeling unnatural because the two characters never had that time of growing their relationship. Instead it became a serious and highly unrealistic "love" that just seems forced. This is one of those highly unpopular tropes - but could still be good if done right, in my opinion.

Found Family

This is another trope that I think can be a little confusing if never explained. This is when there's a group of characters, usually involving the protagonist, where they aren't blood related but they rely on and treat each other as if they were family. They form their own little family that protect each other, care for each other, and go through their journey together.
(This is also my favorite trope ever)

Canon

Material, plot-lines, relationships, etc that are officially a part of the book/story. It has been explicitly confirmed and is something that is 100% real in that universe.

Headcanon

A headcanon is something that is not officially a part of the book/story/universe and has never been confirmed. Instead, it is something readers or fans of that world like to assume/believe/pretend is real and part of the story even though it has never been stated in the book or by the author.

Info Dump

This is a term referring to when a book gives the reader a whole bunch of information (on the world, on characters, background information) in a very short period of time. It can often be overwhelming and confusing to have all this information 'dumped' on you without being given enough time to wrap your mind around it, understand it and connect it fully to the story. It can also be detrimental when used in place of slowly letting your character's personality and life be revealed to the reader.

Publishing:

ARC

Advanced Readers Copy. This is a free copy of a book that reviewers/librarians/booksellers can get before the book is officially out/printed for the mass. These come in paperback form. This is helpful to get marketing and book reviews out there before the book is actually out so that the public has a way to know if the book is something they want to pick up. Usually, an ARC can have some mistakes because it hasn't gone through final proofreading but the covers and layout are usually finalized - overall they look very similar to the final copy. It's not a final version of the actual novel but it's almost the final version.

Galley

This is extremely similar to an ARC. It is a free copy of a book sent out in order to get marketing and reviews for the book out before the actual publication. The distinction between an ARC and a Galley is that while an ARC is nearly the completed version (with usually just a few grammar/spelling mistakes that haven't been proofread over), a Galley is missing a lot more. They don't have a completed cover but instead use a stand-in that usually is just a solid color with the title of the book on it. The layout to the chapters and font aren't completed and if any graphics are included, even if just for chapter names, they aren't done. So basically, it's a lot further from the final copy and it's just the manuscript.

FC

Finished Copy. Now this is a book that gets published in mass for the public to be able to read. It's gone through all levels of editing, designing and is ready to be read by anyone! I'm not sure if it's the same in all countries, but usually in the first year or so that the finished copy is being published, it comes in hardcover form.

Backlist

This are the list of books that are not recently published. Older books from a publisher that are still in print.

Book Community:

Booktube

It is a community in youtube that focuses on books. It involves creators talking and even ranting at time about books, authors, and just news/events that are currently going on in the book community. There used to be book review videos, they were the most popular type of videos with book tags but now it's leading towards discussion and trends - which are just as interesting and great to watch!

Bookstagram

This a community on instagram that focuses on books. These creators post aesthetic pictures of their current reads, owned books, borrowed books and their bookshelves. These are great to look at to appreciate the beauty of books and reading itself.

Reader Trends:

Reading Slump

This is something all readers dread. It is a period of time where you just don't have the motivation/desire to pick up a book and read. If you try, it's often nearly impossible to get through even a little bit of it, no matter how much you want to. This is because your brain just doesn't want to read and doesn't find enjoyment in it. It happens randomly and the cause is unknown. But it sucks.

Wrap Up

A wrap up is an overall view of what books you read and what posts you made that relate to books of whatever period of time you choose your wrap up to focus on (weekly wrap up, monthly wrap up, yearly wrap up, etc). These includes your thoughts on the books, like mini book reviews that won't go in as full of details as a individual book review would but it's a great way to keep others' attention while still being able to talk about a lot of different books and things you've done/experienced. 

Did I miss anything? What was the term that took you the longest to understand?

For me, it took a long time to fully understand Own Voices and everything it entails, it was just so new to me!