Read Women discussion

Introduce yourself here!

I'm Louise, I'm from the UK. And I started this group because want to broaden my reading to include more women authors. I read pretty eclectically and I do a lot of impulse buying of books whenever I'm in a bookshop - often based purely on covers and blurbs - but only when I started a 'read women' challenge recently did I really notice just how few of those impulse buys were written by women. I think there's a real disparity in how men and women's books are marketed and I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of gems because of it. So this is my attempt to improve my breadth of reading, find new authors that I love, and to support other women.

I am Melissa and am from the US. I am also an eclectic reader but my absolute favorites are SciFi/Fantasy. I have been trying to read more books by minorities and other countries from just the US and UK and I figure this group could help me in that goal.

Hey. Thanks for joining!

I'm hoping we'll get an interesting mix of authors and genres once I get the book of the month up and running properly. One of my recent (well last few years) discoveries was that one of my local bookshops has a great translated fiction section, so that will definitely be a nomination theme at some point. As will sic-fi/fantasy - cause I'm a sucker for those too.

Hello! I saw Louise's post about this group in the feedback group and thought I'd check it out. Turns out I already have a friend here! Hi Melissa!

I'm the odd one out as I've always read far more female authors then male ones. Even my classics shelf is 50/50 women.

Hello Amber. :)

Good to see you here!

:)

Hi. I was looking for a group like this because I'm reading In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker and it made me wonder about women writers. I am considering a goal to read exclusively fiction by women (making exceptions with book club assignments) during 2016. We'll see. I'm particularly interested in works by women of color.

Hi, welcome to the group, Elsie.

As you can see we're still a little small. But that just means every members suggestions have greater weight at the moment! I'm trying to read more women of colour myself at the moment too. What sort of fiction are you into?

Hi Elsie. :)

Hey everyone! I'm from the U.S. and I find that I've always read a good amount (surprising really when I think about it) of female authors, but the same female authors. So, I'd like to add some different female voices.

I've been browsing the challenges and think they're brilliant. I'll have to get on to an actual computer to jump into some.

I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons with you all, thanks for the invite, Louise!

I'm always looking for friends to share books and reviews with, so please add me if you'd like!

Louise wrote: "Hi, welcome to the group, Elsie.

...What sort of fiction are you into?"

I'm mostly drawn towards historical fiction.

Oh, cool. Any good recommendations?

I have to admit historical fiction is something I don't delve into all that often. While a lot of the books I like are set in the past, I normally seem to prefer those that use fictional characters rather than genuine historical figures, so the really popular Philippa Gregory type stuff that gets pushed in the bookshops has never quite appealed.

Hello, I live in Texas and love finding new women writers. I am also lucky enough to know a few women writers. Looking forward to making discoveries and trying new things I might not have thought to read on my own.

Hi, welcome to the group, Valerie.

We're still small at the moment, but already I'm picking up a lot of recommendations for women authors I don't think would have otherwise been on my radar. And if there's any authors you think we should be reading, the nomination thread for our December read is still open for another day before I put the poll up.

Hi,

For a while now I have been making sure that at least half the books I choose are by female authors...I am skewed the other way now, of 90 odd books I read this year (so far) more than half were female authors.

Now I am working on reading feminist books (not just female authors) and picking authors from other cultures than mine or who can challenge my world view somehow. I still read some stuff purely for escapism of course!

:)

That's awesome! I'm still not quite meeting 50% of my overall reading (a lot of the series books I read seem to be written by men), but when picking up books by author's I've never read before, women do now outnumber men.

I'm with you on trying to read outside your culture though (both men and women). Started an aim for myself this year of reading at leat 10 works in translation, which I've been (mostly) enjoying.

Hi guys :) thought I'd join as this looks really good!

I'm pretty sure I read more men than women and the authors I intend to read all of their works are men. But I'm especially pleased when I find an author I like who is a woman and I came here to learn more about the good women writers. I apologize in advance that I'm not especially good about reading group reads and participating in such discussions, but I like more generalized discussions about authors and look forward to them.

Hi everyone. I'm from Canada, and as a female writer I guess I have a bit of a particular interest in women authors. I have several old favourites in the world of woman authors, and in recent years have discovered some wonderful new ones.

Hi Everyone,

Elizabeth mentioned this group to me as I am currently reading only women writers for the tasks in a challenge group she is a Mod for.

I'm from Australia, studied literature at University, and then found I couldn't even look at a book for about 3 years. By the time my daughter turned 3 I found my reading mojo again, and as she is an avid reader herself it is easier to keep up with my reading now. Admittedly, she probably reads more women writers than I do!

I had already decided to read 50% women writers for 2016, as well as reading more globally, so suggestions to assist with these combined goals would be more than welcome.

I read fairly widely, but tend to jump between books more often than I used to, so am often lagging behind in a group read due to having 5 or 6 books on the go. Long books and non-fiction do tend to slow me down, but I am trying to push myself through those mental barriers!

Hi!

Warm welcome to all new members, it's great to see new people joining up, and with diverse reading tastes too. Looking forward to talking books/authors with you all. And I am planning to get a few more discussions going and active this year in addition to the monthly book reads. Do feel free to post and create threads for anything you think might be of interest to the group.

Hi, I'm Barbara! I was looking for a new challenge this year, since I'm about to finish another one and right then I got an invitation to this group, and it's perfect! I was saying to myself how much I love reading books about women and by women so...
I won't have much time to post updates or comments, but I still will participate in the challenges.

Hi! I'm Martha & I live in the Midwest of the US. Nicolle recommended this group to me. Thanks, Nicolle!! I love several genres - mystery, historical fiction, history, biography, classics. I also delve into fantasy & occasionally read a romance.

You made me curious so I checked last year's list. Of the 81 books I read, 42 were by women. So I'm happy with that total.

I probably won't participate in all the group reads, but will try to join in on some.

Hi, I'm Alexia, I'm originally from the UK but live in Germany. I read mostly in English but also in German. Favourite women authors would include Hilary Mantel, Margaret Atwood, Jean Rhys, Charlotte Bronte...

I've been watching my proportion of women writers for a few years now, particularly as inspired by the #readwomen hashtag on Twitter. This year I want to put a particular emphasis on women in translation and really broaden my horizons.

I've only just resurrected my long-dormant Goodreads account, so I'll be following along and seeing how it goes :-)

Hello, Shizuku here! Greetings all the way from Alabama. I'm a mom of two, and wife to a veteran.
My favorite type of books are a mixture of Fantastical and Action. I've mucked through countless Paranormal Romance and just haven't found the perfect hero.
I resemble Sheska from Full Metal Alchemist. I'm also a very emotional reader and have a tendency to throw books clear across the room. I rarely buy my own copies new, and buy secondhand.

My New Year's resolution was to:
1. Be more sociable.
2. Tackle the 1001 Books To Read Before I Die list(this has been a crash course in so many subjects, for me. This has also included lots of Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters.)

@Alexia
Dragon Rider, Inkheart and Igrain the Brave were written by German writer Cornelia Funke. Ever heard of her?

Wickedshizuku wrote: "Hello, Shizuku here! Greetings all the way from Alabama. I'm a mom of two, and wife to a veteran.
My favorite type of books are a mixture of Fantastical and Action. I've mucked through countless P..."

Hi Wickedshizuku! Yep, I read the first of the Inkheart trilogy in the original German last year (Tintenherz, it's called). I must say I'm not a big children's/YA reader (well... I make an exception for Harry Potter!) and I did not love it but I did like the quotes from children's classics at the beginning of the chapters!

Hi, welcome to the group everyone! Great to see a few more faces and diverse reading interests. And don't worry, I don't expect everyone (even me) to take part in every group read - the plan is for them to cover a lot of different genres and themes so I wouldn't expect every book to be to everybody's taste. Just join in the ones you want to and enjoy discussing women authors, books, and related subjects in the rest of the group.

@Alexia - Women in translation is actually our group-read theme for March, so if there's any particular authors you're interested in reading as a group, the nomination thread will be up next week.

Oh, great!

Hello, I am Rosemary from the UK. This looks like an interesting group and I was glad to be pointed in this direction by Elizabeth (thanks for the invite, Elizabeth!)

I read a mix of classics, YA and general fiction, although I tend not to read the latest releases because of cost/waiting times at the library. I am always a little behind the times. I am working my way through the '1001 books to read before you die' list, and a similar list of fiction recommended for teenagers.

I think I read about 50:50 men:women but I could be wrong. I haven't counted. It will be interesting to see how it goes this year.

Hi, thank you to Elizabeth for the invitation. I'm also from the USA and my book preferences are the the Classics, Literary Fiction, and Thrillers. But I'm up to reading almost anything unless it has vampires or zombies in it. I joined the yearly challenge and hope to read 40 books written by women.

I was also invited by Elizabeth.

I already read more women than men, but I'm always open to discovering new (to me) authors.

I won't be joining in all the monthly group reads (unless they all happen to be books on my TBR list), but I'm looking forward to spending time here and joining in the discussions.

Hi!
I see that there are at least 2 other Barbaras in this group. Of course we know that this identifies us as middle aged! My local book club, which has around 20 members, boasts 5 Barbaras!!
Thank you to Elizabeth for the invitation. I know that this will be enjoyable.

Louise wrote: "Women in translation is actually our group-read theme for March, so if there's any particular authors you're interested in reading as a group, the nomination thread will be up next week. "

Looking forward to that - I do have a title I'd like to read in March that would work for that and will join in if it wins. (Or maybe I'll learn about another that will fit!)

Lovely to see some of my friends here. I hope you'll find it as pleasant as I have so far. (Nicolle invited me - what a great chain word-of-mouth there is going on!)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Lovely to see some of my friends here. I hope you'll find it as pleasant as I have so far. (Nicolle invited me - what a great chain word-of-mouth there is going on!)"

Indeed! It's really great to see so many new people, and it'll only add to the conversations! You all motivated me to do a count of my male:female books from last year and I came out less even than I had thought. I would have thought I read mostly female because I make a conscious and overt effort to read female authors, but my numbers put me at probably around 60:40! It kind of bums me out. Oh well, I'll try harder in this new year :) Comics are really my downfall...

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Lovely to see some of my friends here. I hope you'll find it as pleasant as I have so far. (Nicolle invited me - what a great chain word-of-mouth there is going on!)"

And I invited Nicole!

Seriously though, thanks both of you. I don't have a huge goodreads network and started this group mostly because I was looking to join something like it and it seemed there was a gap that needed filling and was hoping it would grow organically from that. I really appreciate you both having invited your friends to join in.


And welcome to all the newbies I haven't welcomed yet! Very good to see you all here.

Hi all. I'm Rachelle and I joined upon invitation by Elizabeth ( thank you). I do find I read a lot of women but it's the same and I'd love to broaden my horizons. I am an ardent book buyer and I too buy based on cover and blurbs usually. Ive lucked into many a favorite author that way! I look forward to being introduced to more favorites in this group!

Hi goodreads friends!!! :)

I'm Kim and I thank Nicolle for inviting me to join this group.

I read solely by interest and generally without regard to author or genre. But I liked the idea of tracking the number of women authors read this year and have identified quite a few candidates from my TBR. I look forward to getting additional recommendations from you all, and to discovering books I might not have tried otherwise.

Hi! I'm from Portugal! I saw a poll while looking for Chimamanda and thought what a lovely idea this group was :) i'm starting to read more women and especialy more feminist authors, hope some great discussions come from our readings :) (forgive my posible bad english)

Hi! I'm from the U.S. but have lived most of my adult life here in Tokyo, Japan. I'm a life-long book addict and a life-long feminist and this group seems like a great fit. I teach English at a couple of universities and I focus mostly on women writers and writers of color. Gender, Race, and Environmental Issues when the students are not Literature majors. Intersectionality is my motto these days.
It's all connected and I'm really happy to find a group that gets that!

Greetings from Ohio where winter has finally woken up and it is time to hibernate with books.

Elizabeth invited me as well. Thanks Elizabeth! Global reading and translations have been my focus but I also added women this year. January is a full schedule for me but many of them are women authors. I have always read quite a few books by women, the same women, but they are primarily what I would call "relief" reads. Something to cleanse the brain after an intense read, yet enjoyable. Nora Roberts aka JD Robb, Amanda Quick aka Jayne Castle, Jayne Ann Krentz, Susan Wittig Albert.
Some mysteries such as those by Louise Penny.

It may not always be possible for me to read the group read but I will try. This group sounds like it will be quite enjoyable.

Happy to find this group! I'm Kathleen from the US, love reading many things but classics the most. One of my favorite books is Wuthering Heights; one of my favorite authors is Margaret Atwood.

I've decided to make 2016 a year of reading women, and have signed up for a number of challenges trying to include only books by women. In the process I've found such amazing stuff! I've just started Kitchen (which is great), so I would love to participate in the group read next month!

Hello everyone! I am Sarah from Germany and I love several genres, mostly fiction. Last year nearly 50% of the books I`ve read were written by women. I`m looking forward to increasing this number in 2016.

A lifelong goal I`ve set for myself is to read at least one book by a female author of each country - I was happy to find this group`s "Read around the World"-challenge and I`m curious about the suggestions I will get here.
I`ve just discovered Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - this month`s group read "Half of a yellow sun" is still on my to-read-list though.

SarahJaneSmith wrote: "A lifelong goal I`ve set for myself is to read at least one book by a female author of each country"

Welcome, SarahJane! Nice goal!

Hey Everyone,

I realize that I hopped into the discussion without introducing myself. Please excuse my rudeness. Ops! I'm Brooke, living in San Francisco with my husband and husky (Summit), but having grown up in California and lived for a few years in Israel. Currently I am in a doctoral program for Chinese medicine.

Now that I am busy with school I am having a hard time finding time to finish books in a timely manor. Considering that I am one of those people that reads ten books at a time... I figured out that a book group would help keep me on track. And similarly to other people here, I read either not enough female authors or the same ones repetitively. So, I hope this brings some new stories into my life!

Thank you all.

Hello all. I am from Iowa, USA. I have been active on Goodreads since 2006 or so. My oldest daughter Madeline is known on Goodreads for her Shakespeare parodies.

I am in a real-life book group (since 1994) that reads mainly women authors. I look forward to your ideas and suggestions!
Cynthia

Welcome all. It's so good to see people from so many different backgrounds joining too. Looking forward to discussing books with all of you.

Joseph: I can't speak for whoever invited you, but I can only assume you were invited because they thought you might have an interest in reading and discussing books written by women. I doubt there was anything more nefarious to it than that.

^Ha, but yes it is hard to carry certain humor over the interwebs.

and welcome everyone! :)
I'm seeing a lot of desire to read women from different cultures and nations; this is a beautiful thing!

Joseph (Millennium Man) wrote: "I am probably here to serve as an example?"

Be afraid, be very afraid.