In terms of gender I did have somewhat of a preference when growing up, although I can only see this in hindsight really. I never picked up or dropped a book based on the gender of the author or protagonist, but I did find that written women were much more relatable than written boys or men.

When I was younger it would be something like Matilda, or the Inkheart series. When I was older It was a lot of YA like the Hunger Games series, or The Mortal Instruments series. While I never turned away from books written by or lead by any one gender I did usually come away with, if not positive feelings, then neutral feelings about the protagonist when it was girl/woman.

When it came to written men, I found that I had a hard time relating to the boys/men in books. This sentiment is growing less true as I age, and didn't necessarily impact the verisimilitude of a book. I didn't, and often still don't relate to men as much as I do women.

The most relatable character, in terms of my own gender, that I read when I was younger was Holden Caulfield. Not in exactness, but more in his thought process. It was the first time I read a boy that was closer to my experience. He thought about girls, but he had other anxieties besides that occupied him. He overthought everything, and he had problems that dogged his thoughts stemming from very real things and others not so real. I haven't read the book in ages so I can't be any less vague, Sorry.

As for yourself, I'm not sure. We read what we find, or what we look for based on our preferences. Maybe the sphere of reading you're searching just doesn't have many well written women. Do you have any tittles you mind dropping in the reply?

I'm not sure if I gave you the discussion you're looking for, but these were the thoughts that came to mind after reading your post.