As I slowly integrate myself back into the bookish community, one of the things I wanted to focus on again was discussion posts. I always enjoy reflecting not only on my reading habits but also on the reading habits of others in the community.

Let’s Talk Bookish has always been one of my favorite weekly memes because it typically requires more depth than other memes. It almost feels like a journal, where I can write out all of my thoughts on a topic. I may not go back to doing this weekly, but I would like to do 1 or 2 a month to start!

This week’s Let’s Talk Bookish prompt is about celebrating women and women authors.

The Prompt: March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is also International Women’s Day. In honour of this month celebrating women, let’s talk about the women who’ve shaped our reading lives. Was there (or is there) a woman in your life who sparked your love for reading? Who was the first woman author you remember loving? Do you tend to read more books by women authors and do you think that’s for a reason?

Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme where, each Friday, bloggers write posts discussing the topic of the week. It is currently by Aria @ Book Nook Bits and Dini @ DiniPandaReads.

Was there (or is there) a woman in your life who sparked your love for reading?

I absolutely love this question. It is important to remember the reasons you became interested in something, and this question made me take a trip down memory lane (something I haven’t done in a while).

The most obvious answer for this is my grandma 💖 According to my mom, I have been a reader since I was a toddler, and a huge part of that was because I would sit and read with my grandma constantly. She always had a book in her hand when she was at home, and apparently, she would read everything out loud to me, even when I didn’t understand what she was talking about.

As I got older and started reading books on my own, I remember always talking to her about what we were each reading. She read everything, and I actually got a lot of book recommendations from her as well.

My grandma passed away when I was in 7th grade, but I still have the copy of Eclipse she was in the middle of reading with her bookmark in the exact place she left it (I guess I convinced her the Twilight series was the next best thing to read). I have picked up the book from my shelves many times, but I can’t bring myself to take out the bookmark.

After my grandma passed away, I never lost that love of reading, but I never really found another mentor who loved it as much as I did (at least, none of my teachers were vocal about it with me). I now have many friends who love reading too, but my grandma was definitely my biggest inspiration.

---

Who was the first woman author you remember loving?

I remember my first book obsession being with Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene (a series I read constantly with my grandma). We owned books 1-20 before I switched to borrowing them from my local library. The library ended up ordering almost all of the books because I was going through them so quickly. Since it’s been twenty years, I do not remember anything about the books, but I have thought about rereading some of them.

Actually, I did read almost all of the Boxcar Children books by Gertrude Chandler Warner in second grade as well. I can’t remember which came first, but I was obsessed with both series!

The next author I remember loving was Suzanne Collins. I devoured the entire Hunger Games series in a week. I specifically remember having to go to my little brother’s hockey game (and let me tell you, as much as I love him, 8-year-olds playing hockey was not fun), and I snuck my Kindle into the game so I could finish Catching Fire.

The Hunger Games is a series I never stopped loving. I continue to reread the series every few years, and I have read the latest additions as well. It is a book that will stay with me forever, especially because I can take away something new from it every time I reread (I will warn you: rereading it as an adult makes it hit SO much harder once you understand government and society).

---

Do you tend to read more books by women authors, and do you think that’s for a reason?

I definitely read more books by women. Last year, 47 of the books I read were written by women, and only 15 by men (two books had multiple authors and three were by non-binary authors). In 2024, I read 85 books by women and only 10 by men.

The main reason for this is likely that my most read genre in both years was romance. Romance is primarily written by women, so naturally, most of the books I read were from women.

Since I have gotten into horror, I have started reading more books written by men. I am interested in what my stats for this year will be now that I am a little burnt out on romance. So far, only 4 of the 12 books I’ve read have had men, so actually, not much might change.

I mean, naturally, as a woman myself, I am drawn to women’s stories. Not only that, but I feel like the books advertised to me are mostly by women. It could just be that those books get advertised more as a whole, or it could be that my “for you pages view that as my preference. I am going to try to be more mindful of what is being shown to me on social media, just because I am interested in what is advertised in the book communities online.

---

I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this topic. Share some of your favorite women authors in the comments below!

Until next time, xx