JL was talking about the weird gender ghetto of women’s books, and how some people only read books by girls, and some people only read books by boys. Not that I’m going to say there’s anything wrong with that, but if you only ever read books by persons of your own gender how are you ever going to FIND OUT HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES (thinks), and PLOT YOUR TAKEOVER!?

So, I looked at my last, um, 92 books I’ve read and was sort of surprised that I came out with more books by female writers (or female pseudonyms). The final count was Boys: 41, Girls: 51. I thought it would be close to equal, but I really thought the gentlemen would have a slight edge. I love old books, and they are almost always written by the manly. But nearly all the modern books, particularly the SF/F, were by women. These books tend to be smaller, and faster reads, so maybe that explains the higher count.

Does this mean that I turn to men for substance, and women for light entertainment? If so, I’m horrified. Some women writers are definitely a balanced breakfast: Iris Murdoch comes to mind.

And now, some 90’s nostalgia.