Last month, New York Times bestselling author Karen Abbott published a nonfiction book called Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, with its subject four fascinating women who became spies during the Civil War—Belle Boyd, teenage rebel and "Secesh Cleopatra"; Emma Edmonds, dressed as a soldier, her nom de guerre "Frank";…

Last week the National Book Foundation announced its "5 Under 35," four of whom were women. Now it's announced the finalists for the prestigious National Book Award — and these include a lot of ladies too.

VIDA has counted up the female writers — and female-authored books reviewed at a variety of publications — and these charts detail their dismal results (dudes are in red). So what's behind this inequality?

Writer Susan Orlean is generating a lot of discussion with this Tweet: "Is it just an accident there are so few female literary non-fiction writers? The focus necessary plus the travel & odd hours makes it tough."