Inspired by this I thought to look at the gender balance of books I've read. As I have digital records back to 2004, and paper ones back to 1997, this is in principle doable; as my records consist of "name, author" it's not easy. But I counted the past few years by hand.
2011 books:
54 by male authors, 26 female
2012 books:
79 male, 20 female
2013 books:
75 male, 47 female
2014 books so far:
52 male, 19 female.
Conclusion: I didn't read as many books in 2011 (so what was I doing? well, I didn't even move into an apartment until April), while this could be a blow out year.
Female author percentage ranges from 20-40%. Fiction and non-fiction lumped together. Graphic novel or manga volumes generally counted individually. Some books left out because I didn't know the author, especially RPG books.
The 2014 imbalance is due in large part to binging on all the Fables related books, so that's nearly 30 graphic novels by Bill Willingham right there.
Books in queue: Sufaces and Essences (M), Morgaine cycle (4xF), My Side of the Mountain trilogy (3xF), Steles of the Sky (F), a bunch of Spanish language books of mixed or unknown (Robin) gender.
2011 books:
54 by male authors, 26 female
2012 books:
79 male, 20 female
2013 books:
75 male, 47 female
2014 books so far:
52 male, 19 female.
Conclusion: I didn't read as many books in 2011 (so what was I doing? well, I didn't even move into an apartment until April), while this could be a blow out year.
Female author percentage ranges from 20-40%. Fiction and non-fiction lumped together. Graphic novel or manga volumes generally counted individually. Some books left out because I didn't know the author, especially RPG books.
The 2014 imbalance is due in large part to binging on all the Fables related books, so that's nearly 30 graphic novels by Bill Willingham right there.
Books in queue: Sufaces and Essences (M), Morgaine cycle (4xF), My Side of the Mountain trilogy (3xF), Steles of the Sky (F), a bunch of Spanish language books of mixed or unknown (Robin) gender.