I recently subscribed to a newsletter, Shelf Awareness – after hearing about it from Bookishly Fabulous, hoping that it would give me some really good books to look into. Not just the “popular” ones, but the good ones that I’m missing when looking at the sea of books available.
Today they sent me a newsletter spotlighting a website’s anniversary, ReadingGroupGuides. As part of their celebration, they had put together the top 10 reading group guides:
Overall Top 10 (by votes)
Download a PDF of this list!
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett: A spirited debut that explores the Civil Rights movement through the relationships between a young white woman and two black maids.
Reading Group Guide »- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: An elderly man reflects on his younger years as the veterinarian for a travelling circus during the Great Depression, and the many relationships he formed with man and beast alike.
Reading Group Guide »- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
Reading Group Guide »- The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls: Walls recounts her harrowing, nomadic childhood as the daughter of eccentric parents struggling with substance abuse and often flouting the law.
Reading Group Guide »- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert: Gilbert chronicles the end of her marriage and her year abroad in search of happiness, perspective, spirituality and love across Italy, India and Indonesia.
Reading Group Guide »- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: A novel told in letters between an author and a resident of the small, British island of Guernsey detailing the German occupation of the island, and its aftermath.
Reading Group Guide »- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: A teenager embarks on a quest to learn more about the mother she hardly knew, navigating the tumultuous racial landscape of the South during the 1960s.
Reading Group Guide »- Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: A compelling portrait of France under occupation during World War II, revealing the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode even in today’s society.
Reading Group Guide »- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See: Two women form a lifelong friendship that is thrust into peril against 19th-century China’s rigid caste system and treatment of women.
Reading Group Guide »- The Red Tent by Anita Diamant: A rich interpretation of the little-known Bible story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, and the life of ancient womanhood.
Reading Group Guide »
Having read only one of these, but having heard of six of them, I was disappointed to see that a majority seemed like “chick lit”. I have a different opinion of chick lit than others – and I know that. Wikipedia characterizes chick lit as a “genre fiction within women’s fiction which addresses issues of modern women often humorously and lightheartedly.” I characterize it as any book that centers around a group of woman characters who are simply living life and learning from it. This excludes romances, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction.
Considering this list was created via voting, it really makes me wonder – what do men read? Are they reading these books that I consider “chick lit” or are they just not voting? Do men join reading groups? Do they discuss the books? Do they prepare guides – or follow them?
On Amazon I found a book, 100 Must-Read Books for Men, and as you can see – the cover emulates James Bond. Is this a good representation what men are reading? Or is this just one man’s opinion? I’m really curious to know what titles are listed – but I’d have to buy the book for that. The synopsis says, “With one hundred titles fully featured and over five hundred recommended, there is something for everyone: from the macho to the sentimental, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, old age, childhood, power, seduction, courage, and adventure.” Something for every man.
Perhaps the truth is that men are not as easily categorized as readers as women are. I’ve never heard of a “man lit” genre before (or, as I would jokingly call it – “dick lit”, hahaha!) so maybe they’re just all over the board. Or maybe it’s just anything that’s not chick lit and that’s why chick lit has a place in literature.
I remember reading, shorting after they re-designed the covers to Diana Gabaldon’s series – Outlander (here you can see the original style and the current style), how thrilled the male readers were because the books were originally marketed as romances but they were by no means your common romance. This series might be a bad example, because no one can really “categorize” it – but it’s an example all the same.
Another thought is also that literature centering around women is more accessible than literature centering around men. Men are supposed to be tough. Not cry. Not feel. Blah, blah, blah. Who wants to read a novel that is written, about life, that has no emotion to it?
I caught The Secret Life of Bees on cable, it was a pretty good story. Recommended. I’m more into sci-fi like The Ringworld Trilogy, Terry Pratchett, Asimov, Pohl among others. I catch stuff outside of that occasionally. Just read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Fraction-Whole-Steve-Toltz/dp/0385521731/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 recently and it was a pretty good rambling tale. best of rvacations or to read during a few days off. I’m a bit of a voracious reader, I will read just about anything. Got started on teh Redwall series and whipped through them all.
I just scanned this post because I am at work…
BUT I see “The Red Tent” on that list, and I loved that book so much that I read it twice and then loaned it out to people to read. I highly recommend it.
Well, my hubby likes to read Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Terry Pratchet, and Neil Gaiman. He read The Red Tent but felt that he didn’t get the whole experience because he wasn’t a woman. He likes histories and political discussions but also reads alot of manga and comics like LXG and Hellboy.
I’m sure there is some dick lit out there but isn’t being marketed as such, since, like you said, men aren’t supposed to get to get all touchy-feely emotional. I’ll have to ask Mike tomorrow (when he’s actually awake) and see if he’s read anything he’d consider “dick lit”.