Men - do you read books written by female authors?

[_Russ_]

Can't think of any, well not knowingly. Its not a policy or anything more than likely because I read very little fiction and all the reference texts on mechanical engineering and aeronautical subjects are written by men (least from my experience)
Maybe Aliases though...is P. K. Dick a women?

 

[_Russ_]

Jan Morris ?​

Jan Morris - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Met her a couple of times and have a copy of Conundrum but never picked it up, I should give it to someone.
Anyone here want it?

 

[rutabowa]

is P. K. Dick a women?

no, you can't use Phillip K Dick to count towards your female author quota.

Ursula K Leguin would tho (second most mentioned female author on the thread after Enid Blyton)

 

[Wilf]

Maybe Aliases though...is P. K. Dick a women?

Not only not a woman, but also not an alias!

 

[hitmouse]

Gone through my finished list of books read in 2023, and the breakdown is:
8 nonfiction books by women, 8 nonfiction books by men, 4 nonfiction books that were either anonymous or by a mixed-gender group of authors.
6 fiction books by women, 13 fiction books by men.
And (I think) two books by nonbinary authors, both of which, appropriately enough, are slightly tricky to fit into the fiction/nonfiction binary.
Surprised that my ratio is so much healthier for nonfiction, since the last time I tried doing a similar bit of counting it was completely the other way around.
There's also a really striking gendered split in the list of nonfiction titles - of those 8 nonfiction books by women, 7 had titles containing the words sex, dream, love, dance or desire. Admittedly I was interested in trying to read around some questions around sex and feminism that mostly women write about, but feels pretty notable even so, especially when my nonfiction books by men tended to be called things like Anti-Fascist, The Making of the English Working Class, Our Trade Unions, Black Marxism... not much dreaming, desiring, dancing or sex going on there.

 

[hitmouse]

Just idly done a breakdown of my 2022 list to compare, that one comes out as:
8 nonfiction books by women, 14 nonfiction books by men, 3 nonfiction books that were written anonymously or by a mixed-gender collective.
10 fiction books by women, 11 fiction books by men.

 

[iona]

Pretty even split for me from that thread.

Three male authors, plus two books that don't have named authors but were largely written by men. One of the men was trans, as were both the editors of that book. Five female authors.

More books by female authors as I read more than one book by some of them. Both the nonfiction books were entirely/mostly written by men though. One was written decades ago - might have a look at some of that organisation's more recent publications to see if there's a better balance of male and female contributors now.

 

[nogojones]

I was trying to get a better balance this year, but still didn't quite get 50/50.

For fiction 11 female, 12 male

for non fiction 12 female, 13 male, and one not known

 

[Signal 11]

My list for the year came out close to even too.

 

[Pickman's model]

Gone through my finished list of books read in 2023, and the breakdown is:
8 nonfiction books by women, 8 nonfiction books by men, 4 nonfiction books that were either anonymous or by a mixed-gender group of authors.
6 fiction books by women, 13 fiction books by men.
And (I think) two books by nonbinary authors, both of which, appropriately enough, are slightly tricky to fit into the fiction/nonfiction binary.
Surprised that my ratio is so much healthier for nonfiction, since the last time I tried doing a similar bit of counting it was completely the other way around.
There's also a really striking gendered split in the list of nonfiction titles - of those 8 nonfiction books by women, 7 had titles containing the words sex, dream, love, dance or desire. Admittedly I was interested in trying to read around some questions around sex and feminism that mostly women write about, but feels pretty notable even so, especially when my nonfiction books by men tended to be called things like Anti-Fascist, The Making of the English Working Class, Our Trade Unions, Black Marxism... not much dreaming, desiring, dancing or sex going on there.

Maybe pop some Freud on your reading list this year

 

[Winot]

12 men / 11 woman this year.

1/29 The London Problem - Jack Brown
2/29 Ephemeron - Fiona Benson
3/29 NW - Zadie Smith
4/29 Spring - Ali Smith
5/29 A History of the Bible - John Barton
6/29 Falconer - John Cheever
7/29 Diary of an MP’s Wife - Sasha Swire
8/29 Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban (reread)
9/29 Purity and Danger - Mary Douglas
10/29 Einstein’s Monsters - Martin Amis
11/29 Greenvoe - George Mackay Brown
12/29 Material World - Ed Conway
13/29 Journey by Moonlight - Antal Szerb
14/29 Reginald McKenna: Statesman among Financiers, 1916-1943 - Martin Farr
15/29 The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before its Triumph - Albert O. Hirschman
16/29 Milkman - Anna Burns
17/29 The Ballard of Peckham Rye - Muriel Spark
18/29 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
19/29 The Kids - Hannah Lowe
20/29 Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life - Emily A. Austin
21/29 Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 - Ian Black
22/29 Crush - Richard Siken

23/29 We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

Very very odd American Gothic tale recounted in a matter of fact way. Reminded me of The Wasp Factory.

I'm finding I'm reading more female poets.

 

[hitmouse]

Maybe pop some Freud on your reading list this year

I would be quite interested to read Poor Freud once Angel actually finishes/publishes it.