I’ve seen this before (you, too, probably), but I don’t know where it originates. With apologies to whomever put it first into this form, I thought this would make good blogfodder for today.
So… either add a new term to the list, or comment on some of the terms marked below.
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Enchanting…………………………………………..There’s a dog in it
Heart-warming……………………………………A dog and a child
Moving………………………………………………..Child dies
Heart-rending………………………………………Dog dies
Thoughtful…………………………………………..Mind-numbingly tedious
Haunting……………………………………………..Set in the past
Exotic…………………………………………………..Set abroad
Audacious…………………………………………….Set in the future
Award-winning……………………………………Set in India
Perceptive…………………………………………….Set in North London
Provocative…………………………………………..Infuriating
Epic………………………………………………………Editor cowed by author’s reputation
From the pen of a master…………………….Same old same old
In the tradition of ………………………………..Shamelessly derivative
Spare and taut……………………………………..Under-researched
Richly detailed……………………………………..Over-researched
Disturbing……………………………………………Author bonkers
Stellar…………………………………………………..Author young and photogenic
Classic…………………………………………………. Author hanging in there
Vintage…………………………………………………Author past it
An inspiring collection…
Mad Genius Club 
7 responses to “Book Blurbs – Glossary of Terms”
Also Epic … long! Really, really long!
Profound: Editor can’t figure out what it all means, so it must be
Martinesque: Really, really long series, and we’ve been waiting half a lifetime for the next book
yeah, pretty much.
Insightful: Has lots of footnotes [nonfiction]
Ground-breaking: no one has done this before and for good reason [fiction or nonfiction]
A fresh treatment: rehashes the same fairy tale/classic novel yet again, probably gender-flipped.
Feminist retelling: Author completely missed the point of the original story
Complex: The author learned to write from a drunk parrot.
Organic: Resembles what comes out of the back end of male bovine (see “Organic fertilizer”).
“Unputdownable” — slow-paced, but just barely interesting enough that you don’t just flat-out quit.
“With an ending you won’t see coming!” — because the author never set it up properly and/or just pulled it out of thin air after writing himself into a corner.
“Spicy” — lots of smut.
“Reimagined” — author couldn’t think of anything original.
“Modern retelling” — written and/or edited by a diversity consultant.