Am I the only one who realized our club has read 47 books with male protagonists in a row?

That number hit me when I was updating our spreadsheet last night, and it made me push hard for a change in our voting rules starting next month.

3 comments

3 Comments

price.jake7d ago

It’s not just about the main character... sometimes the whole world of the book feels built around a male view. @the_mary is right that groups get stuck without noticing. A rule can shake that up, but maybe we should also talk about who is suggesting the books for the vote each month. If the same few people always bring options, you’re stuck in their lane no matter how you vote.

mary2397d ago

Yeah, we had that same problem a couple years back. I made a simple rule where every other pick has to be by an author who isn't a man. It wasn't a perfect fix, but it broke the cycle fast and got us reading stuff we never would have picked before. The voting just needed a little nudge in a different direction.

the_mary7d ago

How did your book club react when you first suggested that rule, @mary239? I tried something similar once and got a lot of pushback from people who said it felt forced, but honestly, sometimes you need that structure to actually make a change. It's wild how groups can get stuck picking the same kind of book over and over without even noticing. Your point about it just needing a little nudge is so true.