30-Second Literature

This educational book geared towards adults teaches readers about the 50 "most important" literary forms of poetry, novels, etc. There were quite a few elements that I expected that were not included, especially in the drama section (such as pageants in the outdoor historic play sense) and poetry. No examples are really provided, which is a shame in terms of things like iambic pentameter and sonnets. The styles were mostly the traditional, established types.

The book is well illustrated with dark, muted art, especially vintage looking images and sort of steampunk looking stuff. It's a good intro, but rather scattered. I had to look through the index to find out if many terms were included and they were often in different sections than where I would have looked. Still a good supplement for learning about literary forms, with lots of information.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

A great idea for a reference book! It is structured and organized into short sections. The research and quality of writing is excellent. It is a very helpful book and a quick read.

As an avid reader, English major, and sometimes writer I love this book! The book is very short, which is the point, and I think it is a brilliant idea. To be able to have a one-page summary, with bibliographic examples for each genre of literature is an invaluable resource to those in the writing and publishing world. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone considering English as a college major. I would not be surprised if within a few years there are schools adding this book to their reading list for English majors.

An interesting book, good idea for classrooms and teachers. Worth a read although it wasn’t perfect it wa good!

This is a very interesting book that would make an excellent classroom companion. It covers a wide range of subjects in such a clever summarised way that it never gets boring. The author has used wonderful illustrations throughout the book to add another level of interest and give the book an extra spark. It would appeal to children learning English literature as well as adults with an interest in the subject. A very well written and cleverly structured book. Thank you.

“30-Second Literature” provides a surprising amount of information in its succinct descriptions. Besides summaries on wide-spanning range of literary styles, writing styles, devices, and much more, each section also provides helpful sub-sections with example bibliographies, related topics, overarching themes, and even more smaller, further distilled summaries of whichever topic is being addressed on the page. Being such an easy and handy resource, I hope that this will start to appear in English classrooms and school libraries soon.

Whether you were an English major or not, you may find this short book to be an excellent resource on all things literary.  Some of the concepts covered are the oral tradition, early modern literature, the ballad, Satire and so much more.


The author notes that "Through literature, as readers we gain insight into worlds we could never have dreamt of..."  They also note that literature connects us to each other. True readers know just how true this is and how amazing literature can be.  This book will enhance readers understanding of many things literary.


The authors ambitious plan is to briefly reflect on the novel, literary prose, poetry, drama, literary devices and literary styles. You will know what a Gutenberg parenthesis is and way vorticism mean as you read and these are only two of the many included definitions.  Review your favorite kinds of fiction form historical novels to fantasy with everything in between.


I recommend this cleverly illustrated and written volume.  I feel like I already know more than I did before I opened this book.

'Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

I love the '30-Second' books, and this is a great addition to the series. It briefly explains different types of literature/literary techniques in very simple terms, making it incredibly easy for virtually anyone to understand. A great little reference book for anyone who wants to understand more about literature.

I absolutely loved everything about this book!
This is an amazing reference book for literature lovers, reviewers, and enthusiasts. In each section, we have a glossary of crucial words with definitions, a 3-second plot that explains the title, a 3-minute theme for more details of the concept, famous examples of the genre, other related topics, interesting information, and magnificent illustrations. It starts with the history of literature, followed by different genres, authors and insights. Of course, if you expect in-depth knowledge and content, it may not satisfy you as it is a pocket-book full of general terms and key concepts of literature. Starting from here, you can intensify your search and get to the bottom of it all, this amazing book offers a gateway to literature. I found it quite captivating and I will definitely buy a hard-copy edition to keep it in my library for future reference. Definitely recommended for bibliophiles, who want to extend their literary knowledge.

A quick read through different types of literature throughout history. The book is packed with lots of information delivered in short bursts. Each entry gives you notable works to look at and each chapter also gives a biography of an author that has impacted their field in a significant way. Well worth the read and a great addition to any collection.

A well-written and concise summary of various elements of literature, including genre, movements, devices, and more. As someone who reads a lot and studied literature in college, there wasn't a whole lot of new information here, however I did take away a lot of reading recommendations to help me expand my reading horizons.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ivy Press for the advanced reader's copy.

It's easy to get many of these forms mixed up (I often fail at finding the demarcation between symbolism and allegory even though I've re-learned it what feels like a hundred times), and Berthoud seeks to remedy that by giving us some extremely concise summations of literary movements, styles, etc. so that, at the very least, you know they're a thing. I'd like to think that many of us haven't given these much thought since high school or college, so it's a big help.

The selling point of this is its rapid-fire reference material meant to just give you the ole quick-and-dirty without belaboring a point and getting overexcited, and it delivers in that regard. Some pages might feel that they're too basic (e.g. crime), and Berthoud notes up front that some subject matter had to be excised (read the book for all of that info). I think the material here is incredibly helpful, as I'm sure you could search online for these definitions, but the neat thing is that sometimes we don't even know what we should be searching for--and in comes this book, right?

Aside from the profile pages on the styles or genres, you're referred to choice book examples on each respective page, short paragraphs that distill the point into an even *shorter* summary, selected author biographies...that and more.

A well-crafted reference piece you can revisit time and again to obtain clarity.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group and Ivy Press for the advance read.

Exactly what it sets out to be. Probably best as a quick reference book, but still an interesting read for anyone interested in writing.

This is absolutely wonderful!

This book is a fantastic tool not just for learning if you are a student but to help you grow in understanding of what literature is, how it came to be, why it is what it is! And it's all in such short perfect paragraphs!

Absolutely lovely,I will definitely get this in print!

I've read several of these '30 Second' guides and they are a treat. As an English teacher, I found the Shakespeare one particularly useful and so was looking forward to this more general Literature one.

The format stays the same across the range of books - quirky whole page collage-style pictures mixed in with pages of text. In this case, each text page focuses on a different genre, literary device, form, period or style. There are separate sections on poetry, drama and the novel. The text pages are easy to read - a longer '30 second thesis' surrounded by snippets of additional information or links to related sections in the book. The content of the guide is pretty good - certainly enough to be very useful to any high school or university English Literature student to dip into. My academic background is Literature and I've taught it up to A Level, yet I still found lots of interesting things and new information.

I'd wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who loves or studied Literature. It's a beautiful addition to any bookshelf and packed with easy-to-access information.

I love this play with form by Ella Berthoud. I would use this book as a mentor text for creativity in short spaces.

First of all, if you read a lots of books then you should pick this book.
It teaches so many things about books, which frequently feature whenever books are discussed officially or in our backyards.
I learnt so many new words related to writing style like epistolary novels, allegory, haiku, anthromorphism and many similar words.
History of early literature and brief bio of few great authors feature in the work.
Best part is its conciseness, it takes only half page for each facet it deciphers.
There are wonderful graphics on facing page.
Very good book, especially for book reviewers and aspiring authors who want to gain practical knowledge of glossary related to literature.
Thanks Quarto books for another wonderful reading opportunity.

DISCLAIMER: The book is given by NetGalley, the author and the publisher in exchange of an honest review. All the review written is not related to any personal issues or connection.

TRIGGER: This is a non-fiction book. The content is informative and concise.

As a literarian, I found that this book is enlightening. Each of its contents is precise and informative. The good thing is that they also keep the contents simple. The book is divided into seven sections: History of Literature, The Novel, Literary Prose, Poetry, Drama, Literary Devices and Literary Style. The information is very enlightening and useful not only for a literarian like me but also for the common people who happen to love literature. Each section is started with the glossaries, history of literature and short yet interesting explanation on the topic being discussed. 

I would really and strongly suggest you to purchase and read this book particularly if you are literarian for it explains all about literature in the simplest way.

Full review: https://literatureisliving.wordpress.com/2020/01/18/30-second-literature-the-50-most-important-forms-genres-and-styles-each-explained-in-half-a-minute-by-ella-berthoud/

Reading books about books is a particular pleasure for most bibliophiles I know, myself included, and this book is sure to please.
30-Second Literature is a must-read for all book lovers, really. It is an easy-to-read and entertaining sourcebook, filled with short explanations of literary concepts, styles, and techniques, with a generous helping of fascinating facts sprinkled throughout. Each explanation is coupled with a very cool image, which was just as entertaining as learning about the concept itself.
This book is a great way to brush up on your literature knowledge, or to discover new interesting facts about authors and literature in general. And if that’s not enough, get ready to add PILES of new books to your TBR, thanks to the great recommendations inside!

This book is concise and informative. My only nitpicky problem is I wish there had been more examples. A must read for all book lovers and a wonderful quick reference to have on your shelves!

While I can't say the format of the ARC was very comfortable to read on a device, the information in this book about various literary terms and history of literature was fascinating. I particularly enjoyed getting to know more about the different literary devices and styles, because I'm very unfamiliar with them and I am hoping it will help me look at my reading in a different light and maybe even help in my blogging.

Definitely recommend for avid readers who want to know more about literature and writing in short detail.

30-Second Literature was a surprisingly informative look into broad aspects of literature. Even as it remains brief in its details throughout, it describes literary history, devices, and styles, as well as taking a deeper look into genres and categories of novels, poems, and plays. Anyone looking for a book that will help address terms and categories they don't feel they have a good understanding of (like modernism or stream of consciousness) should find this answers a lot of their questions, and provides some great examples to help you explore a broad variety of literature when they're done. I'm no academic, but I would still consider myself fairly knowledgeable, and I still found this gave me a better understanding of areas I lacked familiarity with, as well as some great recommendations in areas I have a good background of. I also really appreciated seeing these introductions feature discussions of race, gender, colonialism, politics, and more.

I would definitely recommend 30-Second Literature to adults and teenagers looking for a grasp of the basics. It has also suitably piqued my own interest in the 30-Second series as a whole.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley.

I thought this was a great exploration of the various forms and movements of literature. The entries were the perfect length to keep me engaged but also educate. I recommend it for any literature lover- I’ll probably give it another read now and then to prompt deeper thinking about the books I’m reading.

Having owned 30-Second Elements and 30-Second Psychology I was excited to get my hands on 30-Second Literature.

This book provides a brief, but insightful, look at many concepts related to literature including the history of literature, types of literature and literary devices and styles. I loved that each section had examples of literature matching each concept. I also really loved the author spotlights.

I would definitely recommend this to others as a simple, but entertaining reference guide.

Thank you NetGalley and Ivy Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

30-Second Literature, in short, is a book about literature. It talks about a myriad of genres and forms of literature, extending from the beginning of story-telling like sanskrit or Sumerian all the way forward to modern times where it describes new types of novels like webtoons.

It functions as an academic text book about literature, but is so interesting and resourceful; on each page, there is a 30 second summary, but additionally, it contains recommendations of books based off the page topic and refers you to different pages that are relevant. I think this is an amazing addition to any library and a great gift for a scholarly reader.

I loved how it also featured pages on authors. Many of them I have never heard about, but their life and biography are so interesting to read about. It also reminds you how so many of these artists and writers have gone through very interesting life experiences which may have become a form of inspiration for their writing.

As a YA lover, I loved seeing modern references as well like Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s nice how the book is so comprehensive. Whether you’re a history fanatic or a modern reader, a book worm or a theater lover, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone in this book

You could see the amount of research and knowledge put into the book. The authors and contributors are well-versed in their field of study; some pursuing doctoral degrees, etc. This is definitely something I would love to buy for my English teacher or my friends studying lit.

Recommend if you liked:

– Bibliophile by Jane Mount but also looking for a more academic version of it