A bunch of pie charts posted last week at the website of Vida: Women in Literary Arts has been causing quite a stir. They visually show the extraordinary gender disparity when it comes to books reviewed in the established print media, whether it be newspapers or literary magazines.

Here's a sampling of the ratios of male to female authors reviewed during 2010:

In short, the ratio of female authors reviewed was at best about one-third, and at worst less than a quarter!

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Why do we love to read about animals? The answer seems quite simple, the library cat Dewey of Vicki Myron's surprise bestseller, the wild snail of Elisabeth Tova Bailey's memoir, or John Grogan's dog Marley each offers more charming and inspiring company than the average critter.

I couldn't imagine a life without animals. My life involves the science of observing moody monkeys and apes, a tendency to get slimed rather than sublime in the company of snails, and the herding of a horde of seven fractious cats at home. So, to read an engaging animal book for me is to escape from the litterbox-and-hairball detail for a while.  

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At last, a theme song for all of us who'd rather not be interrupted when reading a book!

"Don't You Ever Interrupt Me While I'm Readin' a Book" by prolific YouTuber Julian Smith...

I know you're never supposed to say never (who knows what life will bring) but here's something that I will never-ever do. And I mean it. I will never join a book club. I don't care if an Ivy League English professor moderates the discussion or it's filled with literati.

I'm not a club person to begin with and, honestly, I just don't get the whole notion of having one about books. Why do I want a gaggle of readers dictating my literature? Picking a book--I mean truly immersing in one--is one of the few things in life that comes without any ties. Everything else has strings attached. I must meet deadlines (and read relevant literature for them). I'm obligated to my husband, four children, two dogs, three goldfish, and one tortoise--all of whom require varying degrees of food, walks, and nurturing. 

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4045 votes were cast by BookBrowse subscribers to decide the 2010 BookBrowse Award winners. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote!

The winners are ...

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I just came across this early interview with J.K. Rowling (probably from late 1998 or early 1999). She's sitting in the now famous Edinburgh House cafe in Edinburgh where she wrote the early Harry Potter books. She looks, frankly, exhausted, but hugely excited to have sold 30,000 copies of her first two books - especially as her agent told her, "there's not much money in children's books." She goes on to say that she's always wanted to write but "my realistic side had not allowed me to dream about half of what has happened to me," - this in reference to her agent selling the first two Harry Potter books to eight countries so, as she says with huge excitement, "it will be translated in France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy and Finland ... I love the idea of saying I'm big in Finland!"

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