If you’ve followed my reviews for any length of time, you may have noticed (consciously or subconsciously) that I mostly review books by female authors.

This isn’t altogether surprising.

I mostly read Christian fiction, and Christian fiction authors tend to be women—perhaps because the genre is dominated by romance authors, and romance authors tend to be female. Look at photographs from a romance writer’s conference, or a Christian writer’s conference. Both are dominated by women.

Yet many of the original trendsetters and stalwarts of the Christian fiction genre were men: James Scott Bell, Jack Cavanaugh, Frank Peretti, Gilbert Morris, and Michael Phillips.

There are some male authors I consistently read and enjoy. These include James L Rubart (speculative fiction), Charles Martin (women’s fiction), and Richard Mabry (medical thrillers). I’ve read and enjoyed science fiction from Randy Ingermanson and Adam David Collings.

But I’ve recently picked up books by some new-to-me male authors, and been less than impressed. They were in a genre I usually enjoy, but I couldn’t get into these books. I didn’t make an emotional connection with any of the characters, and I ended up leaving them unread. Twice. Yes, I tried each book twice, but never made it more than a third of the way in before I gave up and went to do something more fun, like clean the bathroom.

That’s not to say I enjoy all books by female authors.

I’ve had a handful of did-not-finish titles from new-to-me female authors in the last few months as well. I’ve also read a few books I won’t be reviewing, simply because I didn’t connect emotionally with the characters. But I have noticed this is less likely to happen in a book by a female author—it’s as though women are more likely to focus on character and emotion.

So I guess I prefer books by female authors.

What about you? Do you prefer books by male authors? Do you prefer female authors?

Or does it not matter, as long as there is great writing and a great story?

This question came up in one of the Facebook groups I’m a member of.

Do you ever skip to the end of a book and read the final pages?

Some readers in the Facebook discussion were happy to admit they did. Others consider even the thought to be anathema.

I think I’m somewhere in the middle.

Many genres are designed for dipping and skipping. Non-fiction is one–many non-fiction books are designed to be dipped in to, depending on what topic you’re interested in. We often read poetry one poem at a time, and not necessarily in the order they appear in the book—even though that was (presumably) the in which order the poet intended us to read them.

And the Bible—even if we are using a sequential Bible reading plan, we probably dip in and out of other books as we look for guidance on specific subjects, or as we listen to Sunday’s preacher.

But novels are written to be read from beginning to end. It can feel like cheating to jump ahead.

But I have done it on occasion. Have you?

Sometimes I’ll skip to the end when I’m worried the story won’t end like I want it to. For instance, the hero and heroine have to end up together in a romance novel. We know that when we begin. We’re not reading for the ending, but for the journey. But there have been times when the author has got me worried and I want to be reassured the characters will get their happy ever after.

Other times I’ll check the ending when I’m not enjoying the novel. Then I’m skipping because I want to know the end, to decide if I’m going to make the effort to finish the book.

I do skip less often since getting my Kindle—perhaps because it makes a conscious effort to tell the machine to go to the last page. It’s not a simple flick the way it is with a paperback.

Do you ever skip to the end of a novel? Why? Or why not?

How many books do I read from an author before deciding not to read any more?

Like most readers, I have likes and dislikes.

My perfect novel is romance (except Amish), especially romantic suspense. I enjoy a fast-paced thriller (as long as I’m not led to believe it’s actually romantic suspense, in which case I’m likely to feel short-changed in the romance department). I enjoy space opera and dystopian fiction, but I rarely read pure sci-fi or fantasy. Fiction tends to dominate my reading: non-fiction tends to be writing-related.

I also have preferences around writing styles. I like first person point of view, and while I enjoy both plot-based and character-based novels (depending on my mood), I don’t like it when the interior monologue starts interfering with the pace. Like bringing it to a complete halt.

I sometimes read a novel by a new-to-me author, and don’t enjoy it. I’m then left wondering if I should read another book from that author. Is that one book is representative of all their writing? Or might I enjoy other titles? Do I give them another chance?

How many chances?

How many books do I read from an author before deciding not to read any more?

How many do you read?

I’ve been in online conversations where people have posted that it’s unfair to an author to refuse to buy, read or review their books based on one bad experience. I can see the value in that argument, and I can think of authors where I’ve loved some of their books, and loathed others. And I often read the books I didn’t enjoy first. I would have missed out if I’d chosen not to read any more books by that author.

(As an aside, I often find if an author writes in more than one genre, I’ll love one but not the other. For example, I like Carla Laureano’s contemporary romance novels, but haven’t read her fantasy novels because I don’t enjoy fantasy. I like Lori Wick’s historical fiction much more than her contemporaries.)

But there is another side to the argument.

I can think of another author who I like and respect as a person (well, I’ve never met her so perhaps I merely like and respect her internet persona), but I don’t read or review her books. I used to: I like her characters and I like her plots but I don’t like her style of writing. It simply grates with me, which means my reviews were solid three stars.

Anyway, this author received a review on Amazon where the reviewer commented that while she’d read several books by this author, she didn’t like the author’s writing, so could only give the book three stars.

The author asked why the reviewer was reading the book—and reviewing it—if she didn’t like the author’s writing.

Good question.

And it persuaded me that it’s okay to choose not to review books by some authors. This particular review wasn’t mine … but it could have been.

I don’t like authors venting on social media about less-than-glowing reviews. Such comments often patronise or insult the reviewer, and/or make the author look insecure and a little mean.

Anyway, I was impressed beyond words when I checked the author’s Facebook page a couple of hours after her initial comment and found she’d removed the comment and posted an apology, saying God had impressed on her that her original response was inappropriate.

But none of this discussion answers my original question: how many books do I read by an author I’m not enjoying before deciding not to read any more?

What do you think?