In lieu of my own post today, I'd like to direct you to two eloquent posts by women who read speculative fiction/SFR.
The first is Science Fiction Romance by author Ella Drake (METALMARK) (via CONTACT - Infinite Futures). She takes us on a journey about her adventures in SFR:
Let me start where it all began. In my dad's book collection. Like any good dad, he made sure to build my Nancy Drew collection and when the time came, Jane Austen and the Brontes, but he also gave me hard cover Stephen Kings for birthdays and Christmases when I got to my teens. But most importantly for my future as an author, he gave me full access to his book collection. He was a SFF book club member and his cup runneth over with Asimov, Herbert, Silverburg, Heinlein, and yes, a few female authors like Andre Norton.
The second is Women in SF&F Month: Janice From SpecFic Romantic (via Fantasy Cafe) who blogs about her introduction to female authored speculative fiction:
When Kristen asked me to post here for Fantasy Cafe’s Women in SF&F Month, it got me thinking about the authors that I first read when I was discovering this genre. I grew up somewhere where we didn’t have the biggest library, but by the time I graduated high school, I knew the four rows of shelves that housed the Fiction section backwards and forwards and I’d tried ALL the SF&F I could get my hands on.Enjoy!
Joyfully yours,
Heather