@ vescucci,

You did come across as a little "chauva" but not in a bad way at all, only in the nicest way possible. .  . well as nice as chauvanistic can be. jk. 

You know what? Now that I think about it, I actually don't read that many male authors. I read a lot of romance or romantic suspense and I guess mostly female authors write that, but I DO read non-romances too and even those are mostly by female authors.

I have read Iris Johanssen's romances and suspense novels, they're ok, I don't dislike them, her suspense are wayyyy better than her straight romances. Christine Feehan does tend to be a bit emotional but I like her. Patricia Cornwell is also ok, but for me, meh. . . ditto with Faye Kellerman. It's not that I don't like them, but I wouldn't voluntarily pick them out to read. I agree with you completely about Tami Hoag, if she wasn't so heavy-handed with trying to be dark and authentic Cajun, she'd be a lot better. I actually am NOT a Harry Potter person at all. . . I tried, I really did, but it felt like jazzed up Enid Blyton to me. . . to be fair sha, I only tried the first one.

I'd never noticed there was such a gender-bias on my bookshelf. (I actually got up to go do a quick audit). I do read male authors (Carl Hiaasen, Maxx Barry, Ken Follett, Mike Gayle, Ben Elton, Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer, Stieg Larsson are some of the modern ones, and I have a lot of male classics writers from back during the romantic era when men confidently wrote emo stuff), but it's true my reading material even of a non-romantic nature, is dominated by female authors.

Why? Well I think it's because male authors tend to state the facts, and write about actions, and events etc, whereas female authors tend to be a bit more flowery and write a little more about how people are feeling and maybe have a bit more emotional depth (I know it's a massively unfair generalization and it's not to say male authors don't have this too. . . give me a break ok, i only just realized i don't read (many) books by men!!!).

Ok suggest to me some male authors I should check out. Other than a Ken Follet (Pillars of the Earth) re-read, the only 2 books by male authors on my to be read list are a celeb tell-all by the former editor of Heat magazine and Christopher Buckley's Thank You For Smoking.

"Don't ask" applied generally. What other 2 "you-know whats" would exist in a paranormal romance of nowadays?! If you still don't know, I'm certainly not telling.   

Lol, at least you're honest. I'm no chauvinist actually and you aren't either. I just like what I like and men write it more. Same goes for you I guess. My bias wouldn't have been noticeable if most of the women weren't vicariously living their fantasies through their characters and pissing me off in the process. If I only preferred the male authors, e for better. Now I look at any book by a woman with distrust. Before the amazons come kill me let me illustrate. I like somethings and don't like some other things. Men write the things I like mostly and women write the things I don't like mostly. So it won't be long when my brain will start associating what I don't like with female authors . Enchanted by Nora Roberts was actually great. Only romance novel I've ever read and liked (apart from a few Barbara Cartlands) though I was 16 at the time. I tried to read One Fine Day by Daniel Steele (possibly the most overrated human on earth) and I read it halfway and dropped it. She holds the record for only book I intentionally didn't finish. Anne Rice is another woman who catches my fancy.

I only read Half Blood Prince cuz the movie wasn't out yet then. It was very good considering that it is supposed to be a children's book. I didn't touch any of Tolkien's books either cuz I'd seen the movies.

Carl Hiaasen is one of my favourites. Funny as hell. Sidney Sheldon already writes like a woman. But he has got a charm that I can't resist. I actually learn of human nature from him. ALL the people recommending Steig Larsson to me are women o. Fear don dey catch me and I don buy two of him books. Ken Follett might be one of the few authors that EVERYBODY likes. Jeffrey Archer is up my alley, yes sir! All the rest, I've not even heard of let alone read their books. I guess it's no use recommending guys like Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy (who loves his toys) Michael Crichton and the rest of them.

I'll just recommend a few books and a few authors (if they have a lot of books I think you'll like).

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. I'm recommending this to iice more than you sef. Fantasy (but no kissing and handling) that BLEW me away.
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. This one is a gamble and who knows? You might like it.
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. Now this one, I'm positively sure you'll like.

Mario Puzo's books are all good.

Lemme stop here for now jare. Wetin I dey write since sef?

Hush iice. You're in love with her husband, that's why you avoid her. Woman on the side wey actually wan stay on the side. Hmmn . . . . . . . . interesting.

Just did a checklist of my collection.
More than 90% of books were written by men.

Puzo, Archer, Sheldon, Grisham, Koontz, Baldacci, Robbins etc.
I think i only have a few Mary Higgins Clark novels.

I generally prefer the style of male authors.
I'm really not into all those knight in shinning armour stuff.

The Edge Of Desire by STEPHANIE LAURENS

Ok women write non-romances too!!! I have lots of them. I actually like thrillers and action written by women better. I don't like Danielle Steele either, so melodramatic, I just can't deal! But anyway. . . I like Carl Hiaasen too, he's really funny!!! I just haven't read him in a while.

I can now see why I don't read many male authors. I've tried Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Michael Crichton and others in this vein and I think the reason why I'm not so into them is because I find them to be a bit too "boys-and-their-toys" for my tastes like into the technicality and engineering of things that really I'm not too interested in. I mean I like spy/intelligence novels if like I feel the human-emotional motivation is as strong a point as the technicalities of the spy world. But I kind of get it, different interests etc-  e.g. I'm not into the intelligence world for it's sake, like it's not my thing, but the "whys" of it, like why would someone get into it and do the things they have to do and their relationships on an emotional level with others within that underground community, that would be interesting to me. . . anyway I'm rambling and probably not making  sense, but hopefully a little bit. . .

For the recommendations:

- I actually have the Tim Powers book at home (not mine), I've flipped through it and I'm a little unsure, but I'll give it a fair chance. I'll read it next.
- Schindler's Ark, I was like "hmm. . .  sounds familiar" just looked up and saw it's Schindler's List, no!!!!!! My gosh! WHy??!?! I read that in my teens (because the film just didn't traumatize me enough!), NO! Thank you, though.
- The Pat Conroy, there's a film of it too right? I think I might have seen some of it ages ago on like M-Net. I Amazon-ed it and I'm nervous about it (seemed a bit male Danielle Steele-ish), but I'll look out for it and give it a shot too.

iice:


Only harry potter i've read is Prisoner of Azkhaban. . .since so far it's my favorite of the movies.

I'm surprised!! You strike me as a Harry Potter-type somehow, I don't know why. But anyway, good to know. . .

@ topic,

Comanche Magic- Catherine Anderson

I never got the results of your stock taking, lol. I really am curious. What percentage of your books are written by women?

Ah, you're making more sense than you think. You're really honest. I like how you make no apologies for liking what you like. I always subconsciously prepare a stupid pep talk only to find that I don't need it.

Lol at the recommendations. We sharply differ in tastes and I feel we might only have classic writers in common. Let's talk about those. For someone like you, I sense Wuthering Heights will rank, say, in your top ten. And you'll be a massive Jane Austen fan, as am I. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was outta this world when I read it. Do you read Margaret Atwood or that woman with the Poirot novels?

It seems like whenever you fall on hard times, selling your books will keep the candle burning and the stove running. Chai!

iice is not so much Harry Potter. Not nearly as dark as I'd like and same, I think, goes for her. Prisoner of Azkhaban was the darkest before Half Blood Prince which is a close second. LOTR is what you should be surprised about if she hasn't read them. The books were too tedious for me and I'm not fond of maps.

Lol, that one is too shocking for words. The idea like Lord Voldemort should not be named.

You managed to pick the wrong Le Carre. That one is thought provoking and not terribly entertaining. It affected the way I think now but it's not an entertaining book at all. The film is good anyways. Try the Smiley trilogy.

I liked Scorpio Illusion but I understand Parsifal Mosaic's insipidity. Half the book was used to chase one crazy Jenna over half the planet and the other half to uncover who Parsifal and Ambiguity are.

I think you've read Chancellor's Manuscript. I can see Nolan doing that one.
The Icarus Agenda, The Matarese Circle, The Matarese Countdown and Apocalypse Watch are more of the better ones especially Apocalypse Watch. People just dey die all over the place

Presently, i read all the comments/reply in naira land and success magazines.

SEX singles straight talk by Sam Adeyemi

vescucci:

I never got the results of your stock taking, lol. I really am curious. What percentage of your books are written by women?

Ah, you're making more sense than you think. You're really honest. I like how you make no apologies for liking what you like. I always subconsciously prepare a silly pep talk only to find that I don't need it.

Lol at the recommendations. We sharply differ in tastes and I feel we might only have classic writers in common. Let's talk about those. For someone like you, I sense Wuthering Heights will rank, say, in your top ten. And you'll be a massive Jane Austen fan, as am I. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was outta this world when I read it. Do you read Margaret Atwood or that woman with the Poirot novels?

It seems like whenever you fall on hard times, selling your books will keep the candle burning and the stove running. Chai!

iice is not so much Harry Potter. Not nearly as dark as I'd like and same, I think, goes for her. Prisoner of Azkhaban was the darkest before Half Blood Prince which is a close second. LOTR is what you should be surprised about if she hasn't read them. The books were too tedious for me and I'm not fond of maps.

Probably about 90% of my books are written by women. Wuthering Heights is okay, but I prefer Charlotte Bronte to Emily, she was wayyyyy more optimistic, if you can call either sister that. . . so more Jane Eyre than W.H. Ah as for Jane Austen>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>sliced bread. LOVE HER almost to the point of mild obsession! She's definitely my favourite!

I HAVE read Margaret Atwood (I own The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin) and she's ok but I find her a little heavy-handed in attempting to be symbolic or meaningful or thought-provoking somehow. . . I dunno. It's like with Paolo Coelho, he writes good things, but I feel like he too can be a little self-indulgent with beating the reader over the head with the symbolism and "meaningfulness," do u know what i mean? Anyway, to me, it can seem a little pretentious, but they're talented anyway, so one lets it go.

Ah my books are not for sale o. I'm a pack rat when it comes to books. I still own books from when I was like 4 years old. . . so there's a bit of a somewhat unreasonable emotional attachment to them.


Really, iice, you're into LOTR, that's interesting!!! Again you didn't strike me as an LOTR-type, but it kind of makes sense, I guess. I think maybe the LOTR people I've met have just been more the type that are super into it in a nerdy, "LOTR-reenactments-are-my-life" sort of way, and perhaps that has skewed my thinking about you LOTR fans. Ah well. . .


@ topic,

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (with some Betty Neels on the side)

Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

@tatase. I absolutely know what you mean about Paulo. I read his The Alchemist recently and you just described how I felt better than I could. Asides from the fact that I consider myself a little advanced in esoteric reading, that book was just amateurish and full of meaningless meaningful stuff. It is like talking of a silver lining, what about the gigantic black cloud?

Let me on behalf of iice remark that you indeed have got her spot on. I might even go further to say that she'd make your nerdy, "LOTR-reenactments-are-my-life" friends look like they only saw the trailer of the films. So carry on with that perfectly un-skewed thought

Hmmn, I see you've picked up On Stranger Tides. Sweet

I am currently reading Biographies. They are so educative. They give insight into other people's lives which in turn helps in shaping the reader's life. Just finished the Clintons' and Branson, now on Warren Buffet. I'll also appreciate if someone could suggest some others (especially Africans) and where to get them.

Tatase:

@ topic,
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (with some Betty Neels on the side)

Ok I finally finished this. It was ok, nice enough. (Elevated from ok to nice because I like the way it ended.) I didn't dislike it. I think Powers tended to forget himself a little in going too much into the technicalities of the occult plot points in the book to the point that it took away from the plot, IMHO. And also, some of the descriptions were repetitive and made the book kind of ponderous in a way that it didn't need to be. Overall sha it was ok (not really my cup of tea but not bad); I'd recommend it to maybe people who (loved the Pirates of the Carribbean but wished it was darker and) like a large dose of mysticism and black magic with their fantasy.


@ topic,

Keegan's Lady- Catherine Anderson
&
Sizzling Sixteen- Janet Evanovich

Lol, Tatase. You're a purist.

Finished Catch-22 and it feels like the first time. How can there be a book in which EVERYBODY is crazy? LITERALLY.

I'm a little weary of reading. I'll be playing computer games instead for a while.

Jeffery Archer - honour among thieves

Ah. That's the Archer I ever bought. Hilarious

The Black Cat by EAP
[img]http://s04.flagcounter.com/count/JPIn/bg=FFFFFF/txt=FFFFFF/border=FFFFFF/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/pageview=0[/img]

Who or what is EAP? Eba, Amala, Poundo?

Most of my books are e-based, but for the time being, i have been very busy with gospels. such that i read any gospel novels that cross my path

Its good to be here.

I would like to invite all lovers of books to join me on my blog which I called Readers Focus

Readers Focus is a blog where lovers of books share their interest, desire, passion and views on their favorite books. It's also an avenue where you tell others why they need to read such an interesting book. You can also meet a study partner or an adviser on the kind of books you need to read.

NOTE
If you've not been reading any book yet, please make it a date with ONE today (at least, 10mins a day).

Kindly join and share this forum with your friends and family, letting them know it's worth being here.

http://readersfocus..com

Sigh.

iice:

Vesc, i go beat you ooo Stand at his side ke
Tim powers. . .let me memorize the name so i remember when i go book hunting.

I think i tried a daniel steele or was it a sidney sheldon back in high school. Got bored.
Only harry potter i've read is Prisoner of Azkhaban. . .since so far it's my favorite of the movies.

You SIDNEY SHELDON n its boring? What? I m a sheldon freak think ve read almost all his novels. Go read
MASTER OF THE GAME; TELL ME UR DREAMS; DOOMSDAY CONSPIRACY; MORNING, NOON N NIGHT. N comeback n give me feedback. Cant seem to read any other author, but i love MARY HIGGINS CLARK novels, ithink i ve few of them. I read JOHN GRISHIAM once didnt find it too interesting, i detest DANIELLE STEELs novels. I ve read one of ROBERT HOODLUM n SANDRA BROWN well i dont fancy thre novels.

Mario Puzo's The Godfather, I honestly believe this is the best book I've read this year