Thoughts on the Reading Habits (or Lack Thereof) of Males and Females

Take a look at Amazon's Best Seller list. Or that of the New York Times, or the Washington Post. Do you notice anything? Concentrate, now. What stands out?

Women drive the publishing industry. That's my take-away, anyhow. Women readers probably outnumber men by three-to-one. Maybe even four-to-one. At least in the mainstream fiction genres and in periodicals. I see women reading all the time: on buses and trains and airplanes, in waiting rooms, on lunch breaks, everywhere. If I see a man reading, it's usually a newspaper, and it's usually the sports page. (Guys might be reading stuff on their smartphones, I guess.)

Here are some off-the-cuff observations I have about this phenomenon:

- Women read romances, mysteries, fantasy novels, and mainstream fiction.
- Men read thrillers (military and murder), hard sci-fi, and graphic novels.
- Nobody seems to read Westerns any more.
- In non-fiction, women read relationship books, personal-improvement books, "How To Be Thin" books, and "spirituality" books.
- In non-ficiton, men read about history, sports, business, finance, and science.
- Music geeks of both sexes read about music, but only guys read guitar magazines.
- For every ten women's magazines (People, US, Good Housekeeping) men have one (Guns and Ammo, Road and Track).
- Women have so pussified vampires that they no longer bear any resemblance to fearsome blood sucking ghouls like Varney and Nosferatu.
- I am the only man I know who has an e-book reader (a Kindle). I know about twenty women who have one.

What think you, Morons? Am I on or off base here? What are y'all reading?

posted by Monty at 07:59 AM

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