Comments on: Talking about Chick Lit (Again)

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:52:49 +0000

This battle of the sexes thing really makes me scratch my head. I've been told that boys/men probably wouldn't pick up my book if they knew it was a woman writing it, even though there are lots of likeable manly guys in the story. I often wonder why it's perfectly acceptable for women to walk around with books by men and men seem to shy away from books written by women. I'm not talking about just chick-lit(I'm not really into chick-lit but then again, I'm not into chick-flix either. Give me X-Men and Terminator any day over 28 Dresses and Wedding Wars) still, I understand the attraction and recognize that there are some outstanding writers in those genres.

To compare two series that I very much love: The In Death series by J. D. Robb and the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coban. They both feature loveable characters that pull at your heart strings, they both have a supporting cast who are real and enhance the story and both have story lines that pull you in and make you stay. But if I have say who I'm more emotionally attached to…it's J. D. Robb. Maybe it's because her characters go the full spectrum of emotion and that's what I relate to or maybe it's because she has more books to offer in her series, but I never thought it was because she's a woman.

By: bookwormchris

bookwormchris — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:26:16 +0000

I'm terrible at lists of books I like. Well, there are some up there in my top whatever. I have a terrible time choosing favorites though. I like my lists of the books I read in a given year (since I started it last year, there are only two.)

Last year it was very skewed towards male authors, although there is some ambiguity as to how you categorize a few of the books (anthologies, multiple authors, etc.)

This year it is approximately equal between the sexes. (14ish of 28, and there are three books which I read excerpts from but did not read completely, which are not included. Yes, they were written by women. One of my classes would likely be categorized as "Chick Lit" also know as Austen, Then and Now.) Of the many books I have lying around to be read, I would guess most were written by men. I started reading the YA books (fluid genre itself) first, which means I only have about half of Maureen Johnson's books left, most of John Scalzi's books and a smattering of other books to read.

Who writes my books is less important than whether I like them or not. (Just now wondering what the breakdown is for books on my lists which I read for the first time.)

And I need to go write something because my comments are coming out quite long.

By: AudryT

AudryT — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:42:21 +0000

Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Tolstoy, George Elliot, Twain, Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, Poe, Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Frost, Moorcock, etc. The list could go on for miles.

By: Jordyn

Jordyn — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:27:55 +0000

Ah, love this! One of my pet peeves is when I see a review (on Amazon or wherever) about a YA or children's book that says "this would probably be a good book for teenagers/children" but then goes on to say that it really wasn't written very well and isn't a good book. But, you know, it's fine for kids/teens.

By: Kristy Colley

Kristy Colley — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:20:22 +0000

Large round of applause. I loved Maureen's blog; I think it has more grounding, even sans research.

What's with the stigmas? What's with the slams? Literature would be better without it.