It seems to me that the interest in much of my reading is to see a mind observing and reflecting on the world, and that is why I find memoirists such as Alvin K

It seems to me that the interest in much of my reading is to see a mind observing and reflecting on the world, and that is why I find memoirists such as Alvin Kernan, Iris Origo, John Lukacs, and Richard Gabriel so much worth reading. Certainly that is much of the appeal of the novels of Austen, Trollope, Wharton, Stendahl. It is my impression that women tend to read more fiction, men more non, and that can tell which sex stocked a bookshelf.