Practically any book written with the intent to inspire and uplift readers may be in the inspirational book genre. In inspirational novels, characters may overcome obstacles, go through transformations, or come to existential realizations that, in turn, inspire the reader to embark on their own journey or adopt a new outlook on life. Thus, many self-help books, health and fitness books, and religion and spirituality books fall into the inspirational genre as well.

The majority of inspirational books intersect with the religious genre, particularly the Christian genre, consisting of faith-based content written to inspire the reader. In inspirational religion and spirituality books, characters typically find inspiration through a spiritual journey or by encountering a higher power. An example of an inspirational religious book is “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent, which intends to inspire readers to believe in Christianity. Religious inspirational fiction may also be called “clean fiction”, being free of explicit content that goes against one’s faith. Thus, religious inspirational books and young adult books often intersect as well.