I Desperately Need More Men (from Books) in My Life

While staring at the mountain of books stacked on my dresser, I realized that all of them had something in common.

They all feature female main characters.

This would be a bigger issue if I was reading the same kinds of books, but I'm really not. Sure, most of them are YA, but I have everything from paranormal to historical fiction to mystery to romance. I kid you not when I say that ALL OF THEM are lady-centric.

Now, part of this makes sense. I am of the lady persuasion (in case you were wondering), so it can be argued that I naturally migrate toward books about "people" I have something in common with. Apparently this thing is being female.

Another notable commonality is that the majority of these books are written by women. And women writing female characters makes perfect sense--you write what you know. I'm not saying that women are incapable of writing great male characters because I am ABSOLUTELY NOT saying that. Hello, female writers have blessed us with Jace, Cassel, the Salvatore brothers, MR. DARCY, and a slew of swoon-worthy others. I'm just saying that it makes sense for women to create female main characters and then, from there, surround them with amazing male characters.

But I digress.

What this all boils down to is my desire to read more books about male main characters. And if it's a book written by a man, awesome. If not, that's awesome too. So, I implore you, dear reader, to suggest books about dudes for me to read. Because I desperately need more men in my life.

Holly Black's White Cat: It'll Sneak Up on You

About a week ago, I found myself in a reading lurch--I was having a hard time finding books I could just get lost in. Reading had become a chore, and even though I actually enjoyed the books I was reading, they weren't books I was excited to hunker down with and just read until there was no more to read.

After telling a friend of mine about my situation, she suggested that I read Holly Black's White Cat. With no reason not to, I went to my local library and checked it out. Once I was home, I proceeded to sit on my couch and read the entire book cover to cover. Here's why: 

White Cat, about a seemingly normal boy with a not-so-normal name (Cassel) and a seedy family history, is a creative mixture of the fantasy, gangster, and con-artist genres. The story takes place in the United States, in a sort of alternate time (I equate with the "sideways world" in LOST) where everyone is required to wear gloves due to the presence of "curse workers"-- a subset of preternaturally gifted people who can affect things from dreams to luck to emotions to appearance with just the slightest touch of their hand. Cassel comes from a family of curse workers, but unlike them, has never shown the signs of possessing an ability.

After Cassel wakes up standing on the roof of his boarding school's dormitory, swearing that he was lead there by a white cat, he starts to second-guess everything he knows, and comes to find that his family knows more than they'll say.

I found myself swept up by this story, but didn't realize I was at the time. When I finished the last page, and closed the back cover, I sat there digesting what I had just read and realized that it was a work of brilliant storytelling. Ms. Black allows the reader to go on a well-paced journey with Cassel, and by the time you realize just how enamored you are with the book, it's almost over. It's sneaky that way.

Lucky for us, this sneaky book is part of a series!

Have you read White Cat? Tell me what you thought of it in comments!