[REDCART]

I've take a lot of heat at work over the years for a comment that "The Hunt for Red October" is "a man's book." I'm sure there were many women who loved the book (and Tom Clancy's other books) but generally, there are books (subjects) which appeal more to one gender than the other. So while I'm still digging my hole, I'll say that Patrick Robinson who writes both fiction and non-fiction about Naval thrillers writes "men's books." Robinson's last book "To the Death" would make a great motion picture.

1. Nimitz Class (1997)
2. Kilo Class (1998)
3. H.M.S. Unseen (1999)
4. Seawolf (2000)
5. The Shark Mutiny (2001)
6. Barracuda 945 (2003)
7. Scimitar Sl2 (2004)
8. Hunter Killer (2005)
9. Ghost Force (2006)
10. To the Death (2008)

[Boomer]

Hey gr,

I'm a girl. And I think what you say is just fine. And you know that there will be a chick lit thread show up in this new forum and that's just fine, too.

Thanks for the list of titles. I need to get a birthday present for someone in my family who is an old Navy guy and an avid reader. I intend to find out if he has discovered this author. And if he has not, guess what he is getting for his b'day.

And we have all been around long enough to know that as books go, there are some authors who are mostly men's reads and authors who are mostly read by women. And I think you are absolutely right about Clancy.

The psychology seems to predict though that more women will branch out into those "manly" books before men will cross over into chick lit. But it does happen.

I know a guy who reads anything that ends up in front of him. If he is not with the author he loves, he loves the author he's with. His daughter-in-law had visited and had abandoned, at his house, her copy of a Judith Krantz book.

Many of the girls on here know that Judith Krantz has been writing chick lit since the 80's. And ol' Judith can steam it up a bit.

Well, this guy was out of books so he picked up the Judith Krantz. Started to read. Could not stop. Had to leave for church. Could not stop reading. Took the book along. Said he needed something to read allegedly between services because he had to help count two collections. Had finished the book by the time he got home.

So it happens, sometimes, even to the most manly readers.

But you know, I have always wondered if any of those nice church ladies saw him reading that hot book. And what they must have thought. But, then again, how ever would they know. . .

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Boomer

[REDCART]

BB, Every couple of months, my wife will pass along something she thinks I might be interested in like Water for Elephants, or Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. But it usually takes me longer to read one of hers. The exception maybe Colleen McCullough, who maybe writes unisex novels. The Thorn Birds and The Touch come to mind and would pretty much appeal to everyone. The thousands of titles in Barnes & Noble, attest to the fact that there's a lot of different reading tastes.