Task 6: A Book By A Person Whose Gender Is Different Than Your Own

[Ramona]

I just finished "Looking For Alaska" by John Green for this category and I HIGHLY recommend it. I read it in a few sittings over the course of 24 hours! I liked it much more than A Fault in Our Stars but it was emotional and gut wrenching as well. It would also work for the YA category.

[Suzanne]

Ramona wrote: "I just finished "Looking For Alaska" by John Green for this category and I HIGHLY recommend it. I read it in a few sittings over the course of 24 hours! I liked it much more than A Fault in Our Sta..."

I thought it was much better than A Fault in Our Stars, too!

[Laura]

I just happened to finish Fat Boy vs the Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach as part of my YALSA Hub Challenge (youth media award winners & choices).

I definitely read more books by women than men. This was the first book this year I read that was written by a man (well, that wasn't a comic book).

[Nicole]

Since there are so many books written by men, I decided to make sure that this man was also a person of color, so I am going with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

[Elizabeth]

I read a lot of books by men, so I decided to read something by a man on being a man: Iron John by Robert Bly. Of course, I went more toward poetry and myth than sociology!

[Valerie]

I just finished American Sniper.

[Stephanie]

Fulfilled this challenge by reading Curfewed Night. It could fit several other topics in the challenge, but being male in Kashmir seems like such a unique experience that I had to put it under this category.

Very informative non-fiction with some truly beautiful writing.

[Christina]

For this challenge, I read Red Rising (and then I read Golden Son). It was okay, but surprisingly it wasn't as good as I expected. I'll probably still read the third book when it comes out, but not one of my favorite YA books.

[Jayne]

I have completed Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman as my Book by an Author of the Opposite Gender. The more I read his books, the more I love his style and the atmosphere he creates through his use of words. While most of his characters in these stories are male, he creates females (for example, recreations of Snow White & Rose Red) who are fascinating. The relationships his male & female characters have are intriguing.

[Heidi]

Just finished to complete this challenge. Not a bad book, but not one that I would highly recommend.

[Martha]

For this challenge I read An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine.

[Jennifer]

I read a book with two authors of a different gender than me -- Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. So funny.

[Srividya]

Finished Us Conductors for this task

[Mary Sue]

I just finished by Kevin Leman. A topic that interests me since I have 3 daughters - the perfect case study on birth order.

[Brenna]

I just finished . Wonderful book. Just wonderful.

[Nicole]

I went with Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, to fulfill this challenge.

[Bobby]

I just finished A Room of One's Own, by Virginia Woolf. It is not only a book by a woman, but a book that describes the obstacles women authors have historically been faced with. I also just recently finished Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë.

[Adrianna]

Mine will be Flowers by Algernon by Daniel Keyes. A modern Classic.

[Mj]

I finished reading The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King on March 8th for an author of a different gender.

It's a non-fiction booked packed full of facts and information on how natives have been mistreated in North America (both in Canada and in the U.S.). It blows a lot of myths out of the water and is well worth reading if you aren't as familiar as you could be with native history in North America. I've read a number of aboriginal books and learned a great deal from King's book which is not surprising as he is a life long scholar and native activist, who's been been a university professor on both sides of the 49th parallel.

The book was one of five finalists selected for 2015 Canada Reads - this year's theme being what book should everyone read to break down barriers. It also won the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize - an award that recognizes the pursuit of excellence in the literary field of non-fiction.

[Lauren]

Ooof I got The Library at Mount Char from net galley and it blew my mind. Written by Scott Hawkins. If you can find a copy, read it ASAP-if not, read it as soon as it comes out!

[Sophie]

This is perhaps a little too easy to complete. I guess I'll submit Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey.

[Brian]

I read (well actually listened to) Night Film by Marisha Pessl and really enjoyed it. Recommend it for any lover of mysteries more concerned with the why (of everything) than the who.

[Jennifer]

I guess I'm going to stick 11/22/63 into this category. I love Stephen King. I know that is probably cliché in the book-lovers world, but I do. But geez o' Petey he is long-winded! Every time I read one of his books I am begging for the end to come about 2/3 of the way through. This is probably one of my favorites of the King books that I have read. What a brilliant idea and execution for a novel. Highly recommended. Five stars.

[Karen]

Well, this isn't too difficult -- most of the books I read happen to be written by men.

Hence, I give you "The City of Falling Angels," by John Berendt. If you've read his "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," this is written in a similar vein. Like the earlier book, this uses a crime as a jumping-off point -- in this case, the burning of Venice's centuries-old opera house, which is thought to be arson -- and as with the earlier book, Berendt moves to another city (Venice here) and gets to know the characters who live there. Still, though, it's fascinating and Berendt is a truly engaging writer.

[Judith]

Karen wrote: "Well, this isn't too difficult -- most of the books I read happen to be written by men.

Hence, I give you "The City of Falling Angels," by John Berendt. If you've read his "Midnight in the Garden ..."

I started this book but couldn't get into it. I rarely give up on a book, but this one was one that I couldn't finish.

[Robin P]

Jennifer wrote: "I guess I'm going to stick 11/22/63 into this category. I love Stephen King. I know that is probably cliché in the book-lovers world, but I do. But geez o' Petey he is long-winde..."

It's the only book by him I have read, and I thought some parts were awfully violent and creepy, which didn't make me want to read his more typically scary stuff. b\But he sure can tell a story! And I loved how he described the land of "long ago".

[Bonnie G.]

Just joined so I am plugging in books I have read this year that fill the various tasks. I read more men than women, so I will just mention my last -- Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and it was really fun!

[Jennifer]

Robin wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I guess I'm going to stick 11/22/63 into this category. I love Stephen King. I know that is probably cliché in the book-lovers world, but I do. But geez o' Petey..."


This has to be one of the least violent and creepy of his books. If you don't like that, I really don't recommend reading any more. He writes some downright disturbing stuff sometimes.

I, too, loved the description of "long ago"! :)

[Jennifer]

Katherine wrote: "Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton. Hamish Macbeth finds women so mysterious, he is somewhat afraid of them. This series is so enjoyable, as an English cozy should be. ..."

I've read a few of M.C. Beaton's books. I don't know why I assumed it was a woman......

[Judith]

Jennifer wrote: "Katherine wrote: "Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton. Hamish Macbeth finds women so mysterious, he is somewhat afraid of them. This series is so enjoyable, as an Englis..."

M.C. Beaton is a woman

[Jennifer]

Judith wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Katherine wrote: "Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton. Hamish Macbeth finds women so mysterious, he is somewhat afraid of them. This series is so enjoya..."

Okay. Now I'm all confused. Your name is Katherine. I assume you're a woman. The task is to read something written by a person of a gender different than your own. And you chose M.C. Beaton, who is also a woman. :)

[Katie]

I read "The Night is Mine" by M. L. Buchmann for this task. Here is my review:
https://bookmouseblog.wordpress.com/2...

[Jen]

For this task, I read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. I'm a gal, and he's a guy, so it worked out nicely. Plus, I really enjoyed the book! ★★★★½ from me. :-)

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

by

[Lindsay]

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Excellent!!

[Liz]

Listened to Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman, following the suggestions in this thread to find a "manly" book. It was wonderful!

[Elizabeth]

I read Steinbeck's The Pearl, which was decent and had been on my to-read list (and my shelf) for some time.

[[deleted user]]

Nicole wrote: "Since there are so many books written by men, I decided to make sure that this man was also a person of color, so I am going with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."

I just finished reading this one and it was good! Be prepared though because it's heartbreaking and there are some violent scenes, but overall, I think it's a good pick for this category.

[Loreen ☕️]

An easy enough task since there are so many male authors out in the world. So, to help make this task a bit easier I chose the book based on length. Also, because the title is interesting. I'm reading .

[Sam]

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Recommended to never touch this by a friend, actually quite enjoyed it.

[Paulette]

Big fan of Erik Larson (you can tell he really does his research) and highly recommend his narrative non-fiction style in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

[Miss Jones]

For this task I read, "The White Boy Shuffle" by Paul Beatty. So far this book was the funniest book I've ever read. It was hilarious.

[Diane]

I've been wanting to read , and since it is written by Anthony Doerr, I decided to count it for this task.

[Bonnie G.]

Miss Jones wrote: "For this task I read, "The White Boy Shuffle" by Paul Beatty. So far this book was the funniest book I've ever read. It was hilarious."

This just went on my TBR. Thanks! I can use a laugh :)

[Kathleen]

This was the easiest task to accomplish. Of the multiple books by men I've read this year, the first was Funny Girl by Nick Hornby. Bonus points because it was an author whose gender is different from my own writing about a character whose gender is different than his own?

[Denise]

I figure I would wait until the end because this would be easy but since I still have a few harder challenges to complete I will count "The Good Soldier Švejk " by Jarolsav Hašek

[Jeannette]

I read Ernest Cline's Armada for this one ages back, but I'm just catching up with checking off my list!

[Rachel]

I'm reading Enter Title Here, and loving it so far! This is such an odd prompt to me, because it seems to imply that people don't read books written by people of other genders.

[Jen]

That's a good point, Rachel. For myself, I tend to read mostly female authors (I think). But that's just because I like romance in my fiction and women seem to be slightly better at including romance in the urban fantasy books I read. But I also love to read Neil Gaiman, Jim Dresden, Brandon Mull, and others, and I positively adore Simon R. Green. (And I know I'm forgetting to name someone else who writes books I love, but darned if I can remember his name. *sigh* The curse of a poor memory.)

:-)