Design dilemma I can't get past

Hello -- I'm a self-taught newbie. I appreciate any help you can offer.

Using MySQL and PHP I'm designing a database for my website, which is all about books. My database structure is going to wind up being very similar to Amazon (tables for Authors, Titles, graphics, etc).

Where I'm having trouble is with Categories (or Genres). Any one book can typically fall into as many as 8-to-10 categories. How best can I relate a specific title (e.g. "Moby Dick") to more than one category (e.g. "Literature > Thrillers > Seafaring" as well as "Animals > Mammals > Whales")?

Do I need separate tables for each primary category (Biography, History, et al) and then more separate tables for each sub-category and sub-sub-category?

Thanks so very much for any help! Received on Sat Dec 28 2002 - 22:37:21 CST