Worlds Without End Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge

A few months into the year, I discovered Worlds Without End, a site dedicated to critically acclaimed books of genre fiction. The site is a great source of literature, flaunting the motto “We don’t want you to ever have to read a bad book again,” and featuring a booktrackr that identifies where your reads fit on the many lists of great books out there.

This year, WWE featured the Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge, encouraging readers to discover the many books written by female authors. Personally speaking, I choose a book because it intrigues me and sometimes specifically because the author is a person of colour, but I had not chosen books specifically because of the author’s gender. I know some readers discovered their reading collection grossly devoid of female authors and I love that this challenge opened their eyes to all the incredible women who are and always have been writing genre fiction. WWE’s reviews certainly reflect that now, thanks to this challenge.

As it turns out, I already had several books by female authors under my belt, but the challenge introduced me to so many more. Not all of them ended up as part of my challenge, but a lot of them definitely ended up in my to-be-read pile. And now that I’m finished this challenge, I can’t wait to find out what next year’s challenge will be!

~WENDY

I’ve always lived by the tenet: “Read what you’re interested in…but also keep an open mind.” You’ll never know what you’re missing unless you encourage yourself to experience things, and that is what I love about Worlds Without End’s Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge.

I believe there will always be a place for challenges like these, for they introduce us to new books by authors we’ve never read before. More importantly, they also ensure that the speculative fiction by talented women do not go ignored — because sometimes, readers might not even realize they are doing it.

Throughout the years, I’ve always maintained a reading list with a good mix of books by authors of both genders, but participating in the challenge was still important for me. For one, it was a lot of fun — trying out new authors always is, as well as getting the opportunity to procure more books — and I also finally got to read many of the titles that have been on my to-read list for a while. All in all, I would say this challenge was a great success.

~MOGSY