While organizing my books I became self-conscious about how stereotypical of a reader I am. My books are pretty much all written by men and on themes that one could call typical dude books. I read sci-fi, typical dude existentialist or philosophical literature like Huxley, Lem, Dostoyevskey and Camus. A lot of modern classics that have a pretty male audience, a bunch of actual philosophy, history and other nonfiction.
I wanted to expand my reading both in terms of genre/themes but mostly in terms of authors, specifically i want to read some female authors. As I've done some research online the authors I will start with is Ursula K Leguin and Clarice Lispector. These authors write very much in the genre and themes I typically enjoy.
I was wondering if anyone have advice for me for female authors to check out. In general I'm more inclined to read classics (probably mostly modern classics). Mostly fiction and that is interesting, engaging likely to stick with you in some way rather than just entertaining for the time reading. Or books that is built on a very cool premise (like The dice man).
I am also curious about other peoples experience with this phenomenon of people reading exclusively by people of their own gender (I think it is more common with men but to a lesser extent with women). Is it frequent? Why does it happen? Is it a bad thing?
by Eastern_Ad1765
29 Comments
Try Anne McCaffrey. Not just Pern. She has several sci-fi series that I think would fit your usual style.
I’d recommend giving Octavia Butler, particularly Parable of the Sower, a try.
Lois McMaster Bujold, probably start with *The Warrior’s Apprentice*
Willa Cather.
The first 15 lives of Harry August – Claire North
For sci-fi/dystopia : Yoko Ogawa, Margaret Atwood, Mary Shelley.
For essays : Virginia Woolf, Yosano Akiko.
For something classic : Jane Austin, The Bronte sisters, Donna Tartt.
For magical fiction : Ursula K. Le Guin, Erin Morgenstern.
Octavia butler
NK Jemison, especially her broken earth trilogy
ETA, I read somewhere a while back that most women tend to read across genders whereas men tend to read from their own gender.
I’ve only read the one book by her but Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kimgsolver
I think it’s pretty common to default to dude books, they are mostly what’s taught in school and recognized as important. I put my books into LibraryThing years ago and realized 97% of my books were white men so I first made an effort to read more women, then translations, and there is a whole world out there!
Modern classics, I would pick Half a Yellow Sun, A tree grows in Brooklyn, We Have Always Lived In a Castle, and Parable of the Sower, Station Eleven.
My younger brother has this thing he does that I really admire.
He doesn’t like to know anything about a book going in, he won’t read book jackets or look stuff up online. He just wants to read a good book and be surprised. He reads a lot off of blind recommendations.
We were at Powell’s bookstore in Portland and he walks up to a random femme-presenting employee and says “yo I was wondering, can you tell me what your favorite book is? I want to read someone else’s favorite book.”
The lady got very excited and said “omg yes it’s actually right over here!” And grabbed a nearby book then started to explain it.
Little brother interrupted and said “nope that’s fine, thank you! I don’t want to know any more!” He brought it home and was very pleased with his purchase, he has since got my mom and sister to read it too.
Book was Monk & Robot by Becky Chambers.
I’ll eventually probably read it too. To be honest I have a pretty bad case of “boy book brain” myself.
Barbara Kingsolver. I’d start with Demon Copperhead. You will not be sorry!
Ursula K Leguin for scifi.
In order from more “pop fiction”/fantasy/sci-fi to more serious literary fiction/modern classic: Susanna Clarke, Donna Tartt, Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood (Oryx & Crake series for more sci-fi), Marilynne Robinson, Toni Morrison. And of course there’s a number of pretty readable older classics like Bronte sisters, mary shelley, etc. If we are including YA dystopian scifi, Lois Lowry is a classic.
Yea it’s bad. There’s a strong history of female voices being quenched or suppressed – women had to be published under male pseudonyms to be acceptable reading material by men. Women’s art, science, philosophy and literature was and is still often considered inferior to that of men (look up blind orchestra auditions for a recent and eye-opening example). It’s often an unconscious bias but it is very persistent.
The way to combat it is like any other prejudice – seek out writings by women in genres you enjoy – further to that seek out women writers of colour. You will not enjoy all of it – some will make you uncomfortable or it’s just not your cup of tea, but it will all expand your mind and develop a more sophisticated literary palate. Maybe branch out to some poetry or plays.
As a sidebar – you asked about women but do you read mostly white male authors? If so (even if it’s 80 or 90%) think about why that is and how that has limited you.
I’m glad you are asking the question – as a woman when I was dating if a man gave me all his favourite writers and they were all white men I had a very accurate sense of his character. This type of man usually likes to talk more than they like to listen – this curiosity says good things about you.
These might be too contemporary for what you’re after as were released in the last 15 years or so, but I’d heartily recommend:
– Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk (also ‘Flights’ by the same author, which is more philosophical in nature)
– There Are Rivers in the Sky – Elif Shafak – I read this fairly recently and it’s really stuck with me.
More generally I’d recommend pretty much anything by: Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, or Jeanette Winterson
Not a classic, but something I think you’d enjoy based off what you said here is Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh. It looks at morality in war in a scifi setting. I think it’s interesting foil to a book like Ender’s Game. Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang explores similar themes in a wildly different setting
> I am also curious about other peoples experience with this phenomenon of people reading exclusively by people of their own gender (I think it is more common with men but to a lesser extent with women). Is it frequent? Why does it happen? Is it a bad thing?
I’m a woman and I read almost exclusively books written by women. Mostly fantasy, with the occasional scifi, mystery, or romance thrown in. I didn’t intend for that to happen, but it was just a thing that happened naturally. I read a couple of books by female authors, followed them on social media, they then recommended other female authors, etc. Once I realized I was mainly reading females authors, I opted not to change anything. Scifi/fantasy is a pretty male dominated space, so I don’t have a problem with focusing my energy on authors who are less likely to get hyped up by the community.
I’m also now hyperaware of how often male authors handle gender issues badly or write female characters poorly. After reading so many well written female (and male) characters in books written by women, it’s exhausting to have to slog through poorly written female characters
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier – a classic and one of my favs. Gothic psychological mystery basically.
I Who Have Never Known Men – Jacqueline Harpman – excellent dystopian book – a quick read
The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood (or handmaid’s tale too) – loved this – it’s a unique set up of two stories happening in parallel one of which has some sci fi elements
In addition to Ursula Leguin, I recommend Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, Jeannette Winterson, Audre Lorde, Barbara Kingsolver, bell hooks. There’s a ton of modern classics, actual philosophy, history and non fiction by these authors and it will give you a nice introduction to contemporary women authors
Ann Leckie’s Ancillary trilogy is among my favorite sci-fi series, up there with Pandora’s Star, Dune, and Ender.
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.
I had a similar realisation to you in my 20’s. I’d been reading a hell of a lot of Sci Fi (most of Asimov’s back catalogue as well) and realised I hadn’t read a book by a woman in ages. My mate, who is also a massive Sci Fi nerd, recommended it to me when I mentioned this to her and I loved it. A brilliant piece of Utopian/Dystopian Sci Fi.
I also read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin, another legend of Sci Fi around the same time and that was great too. She is a fantastic writer and you’ll find many other great books in her bibliography, but Left Hand stood out for me.
For a non Sci Fi recommendation, The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante is one of my absolute favourite books I’ve read in recent years. It is split into four novels but is really one big novel and it is superb, telling the entire life story of a woman and her relationship with her closest friend who grew up in late 40’s/50’s Naples through to the modern day. From life growing up and living in poverty of post war Naples, to life in the Bourgeoisie and wider politics of Italy, the book is a masterpiece and truly epic. It starts off with My Brilliant Friend; the whole thing was turned into a fantastic HBO of the same name. Can’t recommend both enough.
>I am also curious about other peoples experience with this phenomenon of people reading exclusively by people of their own gender (I think it is more common with men but to a lesser extent with women). Is it frequent? Why does it happen? Is it a bad thing?
It’s been studied. Women tend to read along more even gender lines, men tend to heavily favour men. Yes it’s a bad thing. It’s subtle misogyny in action. By being aware and actively working to change your reading habits you’re already ahead of the curve.
Some modern classics that might interest you:
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Kindred by Octavia Butler
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
The Secret History by Donna Tart
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Bel Canto by Ann Pachett
Not classics but recent scifi/spec lit that might interest you:
Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall by Suzette Mayr
The Employees by Olga Ravn
Valid by Chris Bergeron
Severance by Ling Ma
You might like Marilynne Robinson, Doris Lessing, and Anna Kavan.
For non-fiction with a philosophical bent, try Annie Dillard, Joan Didion, or Simone Weil.
Louisa Luna—check out her Alice Vega series for a great thriller.
Also Attica Locke.
Lois McMaster Bujold
She writes The Vorkosigan Saga, Penric and Desdemona, The Sharing Knife and more.
NK Jemison is spectacular– her Broken Earth series is scifi/fantasy/speculative fiction, and I’d say it’s some of the best writing I’ve ever read. I’d call *The Secret History* by Donna Tartt a modern classic. Catherine Lacey is writing books that are insanely creative and interesting and different.
The rest of this comment is going to engage with your questions! I think it *is* a bad thing for men to only read books by men! I’d also say it’s more of an issue to me than women focusing on books by women. Men are certainly overrepresented in “the classics,” for one, so even women who are prone towards selecting books by women certainly *have* read a fair number of books by men. In my experience, women reading books by women are usually attempting to make up a deficit.
More broadly, I believe reading books by people with diverse lived experiences is a key to making sure your own worldview doesn’t get too narrow. No author can exist or write fully outside of a vacuum of their societal norms, you know? Reading books from women, people of color, people from other countries (and of course any combination of those things!) will bring in new perspectives, whether or not the book is ABOUT new perspectives.
I’d also say that in a time of increased male conservatism and sexism, men who take the time to read books by women, watch movies with female directors, listen to music by women, etc–just engage with women in the culture!–are going to be at less of a risk for getting redpilled. If you (general you, not OP you!) are only engaging with people who are like you, it gets easier and easier to disregard and disrespect the people who aren’t.
I’m glad you’re thinking about it and making an active choice to seek out a wider range of authors! I’d also recommend visiting a local bookstore if there’s one in your area, and either talking to a bookseller or checking out the displays.
Senconding Bujold and Leguin. Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy and The Jade City by Fonda Lee for fantasy. Also some military fantasy: Valor’s Choice by Tanya Huff and The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis.
I thought Catherine Coulter approached romance in her FBI novels in a way that was very relatable to me as a guy.
Her male protagonists tend to be protectors in a way that’s absent from a lot of media today. Might be interesting for you to check out. It’s.. pop fiction? Is that a thing? An easy read for a plane ride? That kind of thing
I’m a guy, and my favorite sci-fi author is Lois McMaster Bujold. The Vorkosigan Saga is a great space-opera series with a good amount of variety.
Other authors you may want to look into:
* Ursula K. LeGuin – One of the most accomplished and influential sci-fi authors of all time. Her works tend to be more philosophical in concept and literary in style.
* C.J. Cherryh – Not my favorite, but her Alliance-Union universe is very well regarded. Her stories are probably more political, and she’s great at world building.
* Connie Willis – The go-to author for historical sci-fi. She’s also won more major sci-fi awards than any other author (11 Hugos, 7 Nebulas, 4 Locus, and others). The Oxford Time Travel series is fantastic.
* Octavia Butler – I haven’t read any of her works, but my wife loves her. She’s known for her near-prophetic social commentaries.