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Original poster

Do men like fiction?

77 replies

tobee · 08/08/2025 21:31

Deliberately provocative title to attract attention! 😃

What sort of fiction do they read? I saw something today from an American news outlet (forget which) about the Netflix series of Thursday Murder Club and it got me thinking,

So many best seller books seem to be written by women. And I assume they are read by women. So like books by Liane Moriarty and Lisa Jewell. Or Taylor Jenkins Read.

Do men read classics? The latest Booker winner? Or celebrity written fiction?

But am I wrong? Do men read Sci Fi and Fantasy for their fiction? Or what?

What do men look for in a book? Is it true that women read way more than men?

Or is there no obvious difference between the sexes?

OP posts:
StationManager · 08/08/2025 21:37

My dad reads loads. And all kinds of genres. When I was growing up he read a lot of traditionally “male” thrillers, things like Len Deighton, Tom Clancy.
He got me into Lee Child. In fact, he’s got me into loads of authors. Sharing books with my dad is one of my great joys. As he’s aged he’s been reading a bit more widely. Probably because being retired has given him the time to do so. He reads a lot of historical fiction now. He introduced me to the Shardlake series and to Ken Follet. He’s just finished all the Philippa Gregory books, so he does read fiction written by women too.
My ex-partner read a lot of traditional horror, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Herbert.
They are the only two men in my life who have been readers. At least of fiction books. My BIL reads and collects comics. My current partner reads one book a year, when we are on holiday! My son read a lot when he was little, but not at all now. Which is a shame.

EssentiallyDecluttering · 08/08/2025 21:34

Mine has loved the Thursday Murder Club books, He also likes Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, historical fiction such as the Sharpe books, Pillars of the Earth series. And all the Tolkein books. Does seem to prefer male authors.

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