Heather Allen

As you all know, I’ve been spending some time in the online dating world. It’s horrible and I hate it. All the men start to sound the same and I know deep-down I’m not going to be attracted to them if/when we meet in person. And as a book nerd, when I am looking at a guy’s profile, I will automatically look for the books they have read. Buzzfeed recently had a post about a woman who noticed that men will only list white male authors as their “favorite books.” And she would encourage them to message her if they had read books by women. Most of them said, “Does J.K. Rowling count?” To answer this question for myself, yes, J.K. Rowling counts. I think most people automatically think of Harry Potter when they respond, but did you know she’s written other books? Check out The Casual Vacancy and the Coroman Strike Series writing as Robert Galbraith when you get the chance. And I KNOW that the Harry Potter books are great, I think they should be everyone’s favorite books. But that’s it? That’s the only woman you read that you liked? No adult books? As a reader, I think it’s important to read outside your comfort zone, broaden the selection of reading, and gather some new perspectives. That’s all I’m asking. Your favorites will still be there.

And ever since that article, I have also noticed the same observation in many dating profiles.

To be clear, if a guy says he doesn’t read, I’m not going to like him –just outright.

For the guys who read, please also consider reading women (or for that matter, men who are not white). I think these reading choice comes from a few places, 1) Popular white male authors is more indicative of the larger issue of the lack of diversity in publishing. 2) you believe the stigma of Fiction written by women is somehow less-than in terms of your reading preference. If you’re going to be high-brow about it, below are some writers you can check out without sacrificing your masculinity! These lists are in no way comprehensive and I cannot claim that I have read all these authors, but I’ve read most, and plan to read all of them. And they are critically acclaimed elsewhere so I know that they have a strong readership. Also, I’ve divided them by Literary Fiction and Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors because those are the two genres I see the most on OkCupid (holla at me SFF nerds!). If you click on the name it will take you to one of their more popular books.

Literary Fiction (women):

1. Donna Tartt
2. Helen Oyeyemi
3. Jacqueline Woodson
4. Roxane Gay
5. Isabel Allende
6. Sylvia Plath
7. Toni Morrison
8. Kate Atkinson
9. Virginia Woolf
10. Jami Attenberg
11. Julia Alvarez
12. Zadie Smith
13. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
14. Jhumpa Lahiri
15. Alissa Nutting
16. Celeste Ng

SFF (women)

1. Margaret Atwood
2. Erika Johansen
3. N.K. Jemisin
4. Ursula K. Le Guin
5. Ann Leckie
6. Octavia E. Butler
7. Nnedi Okorafor
8. V.E. Schwab
9. Naomi Novik
10. Emily St. John Mandel
11. Isabel Yap
12. Robin Hobb
13. Nalo Hopkinson
14. Sherri L. Smith
15. Grace Lin
16. Charlaine Harris 

I have seen a few profiles that have women listed as favorite books, so it’s not all men. It’s just most of them, and that’s why I’m making this post.

Happy Reading!