Maybe you need to read different books. Inasmuch as you NEED to do anything… if you don’t like them it’s ok, we all have our preferences. Without knowing which are those 2 favorite books or whether you prefer a particular genre, I don’t think anyone can really get to a conclusion on your preference for male protagonists.

Just analyze your reading habits and the books you didn’t like - are they the type authors churn out by the dozen a year? Are the heroines one dimensional stereotypes? Do the authors appear to have no idea what a woman feels or think like? Are they sexualized gratuitously?

There are quite a few very well written stories with and about women. I really liked Elena Ferrante’s Brilliant Friend series, Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, Madeline Miller’s Circe. I just learned she’s written another one about Galatea, so I have that on my list. Another one on my list is Cecily by Annie Garthwaite.

If you are in for a little heartbreak (not the romance type) any one of Toni Morrison’s novels has great women protagonists very well written.

Or if you prefer funnier reading: any one of Terry Pratchett’s Witches series. Start with Equal Rites if you want to be consistent, it’s the first where Granny Weatherwax appears. Witches Abroad is hilarious with the 3 of them.

Or it might just be you. By this time we all know each and every one of us have unique experiences and we don’t have to identify with a character just because we are the same gender or from the same part of the world or whatever is supposed to make us uniform. I remember Maia Rudolph once saying that, since she lost her mom very young and grew up with her dad and a handful of brothers, as a teenager she always felt like she didn’t know how to be a woman and use all the nice smelling creams and make up and whatnot. Turns out all she had to do was be.