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I was skimming through this "Top 100" list of SF/F books () and the comments and found it surprising that people complained the list was mostly female authors (apparently around 90 of them were). I was kind of curious about those posts, wondering if they walk into a bookstore and instead of skimming titles they skim author genders to decide if they should check out the blurb next? I mean, why are we even counting these days?

I bookmarked the list anyway since the few I'd read I also enjoyed, and so many I'd never even heard of before, not that I need another list of books to read, still sorta working on that top 100 NPR one :)

Anyway, this post really wasn't about that top 100 list (though I'd love to know how many you've read! For me, 15). Here's the weird coincidence part:

Then I glanced at the pile of books I picked up from my last run to the library on Friday...2 Bujold (well, one omnibus)...2 LeGuin...2 Lowry, and I just finished reading the four divergent books by Roth. I did pick up a Neil Gaiman graphic novel, but one could argue that book is really about the art and not the text, so Colleen Doran. I've also been working my way through Donna Barr's Stinz comics since January, reading one section a week. I've also got a Laurel K. Hamilton book planned next, and the last two Riddlemaster books by McKillip are in that pile too. Oh, and the only non-sff book in that pile is by Kathy Reichs.

Daniel Abraham and Stephen King are apparently the only males I intend to read in the near future (other than Tite Kubo whose Bleach series I've been reading since the start of the year)

However, if I go back over the 74 books I've read this year, there are only 8 female authors (mind you 35 of the 74 are all Bleach..., followed by 10 french unicorn/fairy books and 7 Oz books). I might have counted China Mieville as a woman, but I saw his photo on the dust jacket ;)

I thought that was kind of funny that my reading plans were "biased" without making the slightest effort or thought in that direction, but at the same time was just a temporary fluke in my overall reading.

Taken from other perspectives, there is no pattern at all - SF, Fantasy, Mystery, Adult, Children, YA, cats, humans, vampires, fairies, centaurs, progressing in a series, starting new series, standalones, male leads, female leads, non-human leads...

Take a look at your to-read pile, any unexpected patterns to be found?

I must be an embarrassment to females everywhere! Out of 81 in my TBR pile, only 20 were by female authors. My read pile, on the other hand, has everything Bujold has ever written, a slew of McKillip and CJ Cherryh books, and many other female authors. I really don't put too much stock into male vs female authors, though; the tale's the thing.

I have to admit I'm a bit wary of woman writers because they tend to put romance in everything, and I can't stand romance. I tried a bunch of female YA fantasy authors (Sarah Maas, Marie Lu, Kristin Cashore, Cassandra Clare) in a row and hated them all.

But I usually don't pay attention when picking up a book.

The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner is excellent; you might try that. That's one of my fall-back series to read when I'm in need of good absorbing story-telling. Not everything is as it appears in those books, and the romance is more behind the scenes and isn't angsty/raging hormones. Another series I love is Janny Wurts' "The Wars of Light and Shadow" , although it's massive. She's writing the last one now, and I am looking forward to it as much as the 3rd in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller series. I'm sorry for the lack of links. I'm on the app right now.

I love The Thief series; I need to finish that up. That's romance done right.

I don't look at the sex of the author when I pick up a book but a quick look at my bookshelf reveals a lot of women. It's true I like romance but I read plenty of books that don't have it or if they do, they don't have that much. Juliet Marillier can have some but it's usually not overwhelming, Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky trilogy had some, but it was more of a sideline to the main story. Jeanette O'Hagan's books sometimes do and sometimes don't. It's a mixed bag.

I occasionally look at the sex of an author for certain genres. It's not definitive, but if the MC is a guy & it's a mystery, thriller, or S&S type fantasy, a female author is a mark against my choosing it. I usually won't notice if a guy butchers a gal's character, but my wife will & vice versa. It's tough handling the opposite sex well & I like as much realism as possible.

Well, this was revealing. I guess I am more biased than I realized. My TBR list is about 90% male (Abercrombie, Rothfuss, Abraham, Sanderson, Bancroft, to name a few). There are a few female authors on my list, though, namely R.F. Kuang (The Poppy War), Mary Doria Russell (The Sparrow) and Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife).

Last year I signed up for the group's Female Author Challenge, so an easy total for last year is 25 books by female authors out of 75 SF/F books read. I suppose I should deduct some anthologies from the total books, since they are generally mixed genders. (I didn't take the Female Author challenge this year because I felt weird sorting books to read based on the author's gender. There was a time when a female SF/F author was a rarity, but not today.)

My GR to-read list is 268 books long, so I'm not going to even try to sort by gender. Of the top 10, only 2 are female authors (I had to visit 3 websites before I found R.J. Barker's gender. Male.)

I'm pretty sure that among living authors who I am likely to grab their next book, the majority are male. (I'm counting James SA Corey as male, even though they identify as "they" :) (If I look at the 2nd ten on my TBR, it's 50%-50%, but I never get down that far without reshuffling.) Among short story authors, I'm probably the other way around.

Of Andrea's list from , I've read only 24. (I was really surprised Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou was one of them. YKK is really, really obscure; introduced me to the concept of mono no aware.) Since it hasn't been published in English I wonder how Nicoll thinks readers will take his recommendation?)

I'll add that almost all of last year's 36 pro-author-ish 2019 Hugo Award finalists were by female authors (including all 6 in the best novel category finalists.)

I don't pick books based on the gender of the author.

Audrey wrote: "I have to admit I'm a bit wary of woman writers because they tend to put romance in everything, and I can't stand romance. I tried a bunch of female YA fantasy authors (Sarah Maas, Marie Lu, Kristi..."

YA is a whole other thing, I find the romances there can be overwhelming and very...well...YA. You know the girl spending the whole timing complaining she's not good enough for that amazing perfect guy. Or the girl always falling for the bad guy and reforming him rather than going with the good guy, or otherwise forbidden romance...must there always be angst?? Or the love triangle. So I supposed that would be one place where I too would intentionally bypass something (by a woman, with a female lead, meant for girls...but I usually check reviews first to see if it's really drenched in sappy romance or if maybe there's a real plot in there).

Adult books are usually not so in your face, though I must admit Bujold's first couple Vokosigan books came of as YA with adult characters! But I still love the series since they are a little more adult about their romances.

G33z3r wrote: "There was a time when a female SF/F author was a rarity, but not today."

I'd say SF probably hasn't reach parity yet, but Fantasy might be close

G33z3r wrote: "I had to visit 3 websites before I found R.J. Barker's gender."

Until I read the TOR post, I through Julian May was a guy...Julian, not Julia? Huh. And I didn't even attempt to guess at the other manga authors I've read, not knowing anything about Japanese naming conventions. So between pen names, and foreign names, and just unusual names, I wouldn't see why people would bother to guess and miss out what could be a really good book regardless who wrote it.

You're spot on about YA. With adult books, I don't care as much.

James S. A. Corey is two guys, which is why they're a "they."

My to read list is about 50:50. I don¡¯t consciously choose either sex authors, going more on recommendations or previous experiences of an author. Janny Wurts is among my favourites and seems to be continually overlooked and under stocked in bookstores. Melanie Rawn is also excellent and the book she co-wrote with Kate Elliot and Jenifer Roberson was awesome (The Golden Key).