Are there gender differences in how people seek out book recommendations? asked 774 days ago by Sarah S. - 2 answersI just spent the evening with my cousin who is a brilliant pulmonologist and research scientist. She was telling me how she recently read the Help (which both of us really enjoyed) and subsequently had a long conversation in the hospital with a cardiothoracic and general surgeon (both female) about the book. I think that women are much more reliant on friend recommendations than men. I also think that among intelligent, highly accomplished female professionals (outside of the literary/writing world), there is a tremendous desire for what I like to call, 'smart chick lit.' You know what I mean -- books that look like chick lit, but are actually smart and well written. One of my favorite examples is the girl's guide to hunting and fishing by Melissa Banks. I think this same audience would love to have access to the less mainstream and more intellectual subsets of this genre. Thoughts? In my experience, men often only read books that relate to their career, whereas women read for pleasure as well as to learn. That's why I tend to swap book recommendations with female friends rather than male friends. It's also why my husband swaps book recommendations with colleagues and male friends rather than me or any other female friends. I think it has more to do with purpose and personal taste. I can't comment on the 'smart chick lit' genre as I prefer to avoid books that purport to be specifically for women. Incidentally, what other subsets of the 'smart chick lit' genre do you know of? Hi Sarah, I couldn't agree more about the need for those kinds of books! The Time Traveller's Wife would, I guess, be another example of smart chick lit. Would love to hear recommendations on others... I'm working on a novel which will hopefully fit the bill, too!
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