1 minute
As I am writing my memoir, I have made an effort to read more of the same genre over the last few months. I have just finished Barack Obama’s first memoir, and have began reading James Baldwin’s.
But something struck me as I was looking at the Kindle store’s top 100 memoirs — that I tend to skip memoirs by women, not even looking at the synopsis. Then someone suggested that I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir, which I mentally dismissed – after all, why I would read ‘Eat, Pray, Love.
Also, of the total of 30 books from my top 10 lists (fiction, non-fiction, and introspective), only two are written by women (and this has been pointed out to me before).
Furthermore, since 2015, I have been tracking the books I have read, and the numbers of a year and 9 months of reading are no better there.
| Gender Of Writers |
Total Books Read |
as % | My Average Ratings |
Goodreads Average Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 87 | 84.5 | 3.69 | 3.88 |
| Female | 16 | 15.5% | 3.75 | 3.97 |
| Total | 103 | 3.72 | 3.92 |
The why of this is something that requires more thought, but frankly, its heading to excuses country. As
a solutions oriented person, I am going to try to alternate the books I read to address this pattern. I
have put a pause on Baldwin, and am reading Maya Angelou’s
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
I am also going to read ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ – anyone have a copy?