Play Book Tag discussion

This UK article has, as a client of mine says, "a lot to unpack." It struck me as a great starting point about gender, readers, writers, and publishing.

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/201...

I related to a great deal discussed. I find my book discussions with men not only to be infrequent, but shorter and less apt to be about the writjng style, than those with women. Obviously there are exceptions...Jason comes to mind immediately.

And I have long wondered if the marginalization of genre fiction like romance and cozy mysteries is both because women are their primary readers ... and authors. Of course, there are westerns and male bodice rippers, but those seem slightly higher on the scale.

Another thought, perhaps one of the reasons women are the readers and discussers is because they are the primary teachers and homework supervisors of children..as parents and older siblings.

I haven't read the article, but I've been in two community association book clubs (so anyone from the community can join), and it's always been women. No men.

and another likens reading to “secret eating.

William Thackeray called fiction “sweets” – to ensure a balanced diet

I loved these comparisons to food-very true for me.

I also connected with the 2 authors who herald women as "The Gatekeepers". So very true-it is a rare male sibling, at least in my world, who has this tiresome job thrown at them (and yes, I was that sibling who got stuck with it).

I read in public all the time-so many doctor visits gets you into the habit of grabbing a book before leaving the house. Although I do not commute, I always read in the car as my husbands driving habits make me crazy. But if I were commuting, I would be one of those with my nose in a book. The people who comment on what I am reading are 90% women. However, if I see anyone reading, I always try to get a peak at the cover and comment if I have something to say about it, or wonder if it is as good as the hype. Normally women will engage me, while a man will give me a shrug or a grunt in reply.

I do talk books with one of my Doctors. He saw me reading one of his high-school favorites (it was fantasy) and we talked in length about it at that appointment. The next appointment he told me that I had pushed him to pick that series up and re-read it. Now at my appointments he is always asking if I am enjoying what I am reading, do I think he would like it, etc...I feel very happy that I had a hand in setting this busy man back to reading, a path he had strayed from.

I haven’t read the article yet, but my first thought is this:

I love me a man who reads! A man who reads is a man who thinks, cares, and deeply loves! A man who reads has vision and reflection, and who prizes connection and imagination! A man who reads is a man of both the world and the heart!

I spent years of my life teaching young children to read, and it always interested me that my colleagues rarely talked about their personal reading choices. Favorite television shows (especially Survivor) were great lunchroom topics, but all of these women who lives were dedicated to getting children to read weren’t actually reading much for their own enjoyment. When I was working and raising children, I felt starved for time to read anything that contained more than one syllable words. I think that women sometimes gravitate to those easier books, chick lit, cosy mysteries, regency romances (yes!) because they require less attention and effort than more literary choices. They’re predictable relaxation from stress and fatigue.

Now that I see these same women at regular brunch or lunch get togethers, most of us are reading more challenging books. We have some great book discussions, a bit like PBT, where there’s no specifically assigned title and the choices are wide ranging. ( And the Survivor fans are still discussing the show and participating in the Survivor pool)

This is an interesting article, but since I come from a different sort of family, I know that my dad has read and liked novels by women--for one thing, he's a fan of Miriam Toews and some other Canadian female literary authors. That said, my mother is the one who usually buys those and he rarely reads novels now that he's in his 80s.

This is why it came as a surprise to me when at some point as an adult I discovered that my reluctant-to-read books brothers were quite normal growing up and my husband doesn't read novels. He did read all of the Hardy Boys books to my son, and a couple of other newer children's novels, but never reads any on his own.

When I talk books with some of the men I know IRL, it usually fits what the article said. I have known only a few men who like to discuss literary books, etc. My mother is part of a book club, but not my dad. Even in pbt there are more women than men, but the men here break the mould.

My husband is a reader ... and when he was working he loved Danielle Steele books! He could easily get one at any airport around the world, they were fast reads and perfect for those long trans-oceanic voyages.

My youngest brother is also a reader, though he gravitates to history and biographies.

One of the book clubs I participate in has several men who are regular attendees, though the women far outnumber the men, I really appreciate their input. This group is run by the English faculty of a local university (book discussion open to the public). And there is one male professor who takes a turn leading the discussions.

Just this Saturday my Hispanic book club met to discuss a book written by a local author. He attended the meeting, and two other men came to discuss and hear his remarks. So we had 4 women and 3 men. I'm really hoping those guys come to another discussion!

Lucky you!

I haven´t read the article, but my husband loves to discuss books (I´ve also been with him for 20 years on wednesday, I´m holding on to this one ;) ).
I run 2 children´s book clubs at work (library) and there are actually both girls and boys, which makes me happy (slightly more girls than boys but not a lot).
There are several book clubs for adults that meet at my library, and almost all of them are women. I know some men prefer non-fiction, and maybe if you had discussion groups with those books more men might join?
More or less all my colleagues, both male and female, like to discuss books (and anything else really). But we work at a library, and I know that´s not the norm.

Maybe it is because I read science fiction and fantasy more often than "literary" books, but my personal experience is that my male friends approach me more with book conversations than my female friends. They see what I am reading and want to talk about it and they give me all sorts of great recommendations on similar books they have enjoyed. It probably wouldn't have come up if I wasn't already reading books that they have liked though.

I'm back to say that this got me thinking so much that I called my parents to see about my grandparents to see how this played out.

My mother's parents:
her father was rather intellectual despite only a gr 8 education--read poetry, literature, Icelandic sagas, and could read in both English and Icelandic
her mother was very bright not not intellectual (this isn't bad, just who she was--she wasn't a deep thinker and not everyone is), and read lighter novels (bear in my mind that it was my mother who had all of the heavy Canadian literary novels at our house, so this is based on her perspective) But I know she could read Icelandic (she wrote in it) but am not sure what she read in that language

My father's parents
he and I both remember that his mother read fiction in English, German and Russian (turns out she only knew enough Ukrainian to get by)
he thinks his father must have read Russian novels (he would have in school), but can't remember much of that and since his father died when I was 12 I don't remember what he read

I come from a rather book reading background, I know, even though both my parents grew up in families that did NOT have much money.