Reasons to be Cheerful

I've been reading a stack of books these past few weeks (well at least its been a stack for me). In no particular order then;

• Love Me by Garrision Kellor
• I Claudius by Robert Graves
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders by John Mortimer (vale as of last month)

Two have been recent releases (the John Mortimer novel was his last and finally draws out the details of oft mentioned Penge Bungalow Murders as well as how She Who Must Be Obeyed and Rumpole got married) while the others are literary classics that are quite polar in style and subject matter. The Robert Graves book I found for $5 at the Bangalow Market while I was up in Byron recently, while 'The Big Sleep' is the second Pip Marlowe I've read in the past few months.

So, an opinion; I suggest that the book industry is still alive and well and that a book can capture the publics imagination (bear in mind I am very anti-television, so somewhat biased) witness the effect of Harry Potter. What I also suggest is that when I peruse the shelves of my local library or bookstore, I am struck by the amount of appalling rubbish etched onto murdered trees. Most of which is written by women.
As a rule of thumb I can tell if a book is worthwhile from the gender of the author, the age of the author and the first paragraph. I have been mistaken before, special mention to 'The Winter Queen' by Boris Akun, but this intuition usually serves me well. The book industry however knows their market better than I do and have good evidence that the majority of book buyers are women. [LINK to an interview with Ian McEwan]
Ergo print what your readers want to read.

I however find the quality of modern writing to be low and of little literary value. Of course not every book published is written by a woman and I would be as guilty as Peter Reuhl of stereotyping to invite you to seriously entertain my proposition. But I remain unsatisfied by new titles, the majority of which are penned by women authors, and as such I retreat into the vast a satisfying back catalogues for succour. Where are the new books for me? Am I an Early Adopter of new genre's and therefore worthy of market attention?
The answer to the second question is no; I am very conservative in my choice of reading and have to be coaxed into trying something new. So perhaps the answer to my issue with new titles is obvious, why not give them a chance?
My new challange for this month therefore is to read and review a recent release for your benefit.
Watch this space, open to suggestions.