Talk To Me Tuesday: Female V Male Main Characters

Talk To Me Tuesday is a new meme held by the lovely  Melissa @ I Swim For Oceans where we discuss anything and everything literary related in an open form of honesty.

I LOVE this idea for a new meme as discussions are some of my favourite posts on book blogs and including more of them on my blog was one of my goals for this year so I decided to take part. Thank you for hosting Melissa! If you want to join in and link up visit the post HERE on I Swim For Oceans.

This week's question is: Do you have a preference between male and female MCs, and why?

I have to admit that I haven't actually read many books with a male MC (scanning my bookshelves quickly I can only see one) so perhaps I haven't given books written like that a fair chance but I more naturally pick books with female protagonists. I suppose I've always thought that I would understand their thoughts and feelings better. I like reading about girly troubles e.g. friendship or activities e.g. shopping because I have experienced or felt more similar things.
 Also, in my favourite genre YA historical fiction and the boarding school books I've read a lot of, it's quite rare that the main character is a boy so I think it definitely has something to do with the choice available. I find that many children's books that I used to read more had boys as main characters if it was in the action adventure or mystery genre.

For me to enjoy a book, I have to connect with and get to know the main character and if the main character is male, it really depends on their individual personality as girls are often more emotional. The author and their writing plays a part in this too. This really applies to books told in the first person more than the third. For instance I love Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian, which is told in the third person.

I really like books that have the best of both too for example alternating between the point of view of the female protagonist and the male protagonist. This worked really well in No Shame No Fear by Ann Turnball and the two characters narrating had a romance. 

 However, I just finished reading Annexed by Sharon Dogar yesterday, which is the story of Anne Frank's time hiding in the Annexe through Peter's eyes. I enjoyed it  and it was actually really refreshing to read a book from a male perspective.  I haven't found the main character any more difficult to relate to, however much of the book is focused on Peter's feelings at being shut  up in the Annexe and not everyday activities of a 'typical boy.'

Thinking more about this question has made me more open to reading books with a male main character and I just discovered Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman, which is in the first person. Hopefully, I will try it as part of A Tapestry Of Words' Out Of Your Comfort Zone reading challenge.

I think there need to be more books told from the perspective of male protagonists in the YA market and this might encourage more boys to read too. Although I think my favourite books will always have girl main character/s!

How about you?