You don't know how a gas barbie works? Well what good are you to me then? Oh, you're good at keeping one going...well, that's alright then, especially seeing as you eat the blue ones last (I do too!).
Sci-fi and woman protagonists...I'm guessing you might like Sherri S. Tepper.
Grass and
Raising The Stones are two of my favourite books. Technically not fantasy, but I'm not sure the distinction matters with these two.
Historical fiction...
I, Claudius and
Claudius, The God is the only experience I can think of. I'm not generally a history fan, though I've kept the above on the bookshelves because I enjoyed them so much, despite myself.
I've got
Pillars Of the Earth (Is that "historical fiction"?) but I've yet to read it.
Biographies...not much, but I really enjoyed David Marr's
Patrick White: A Life (while never having actually read a Patrick White book).
Fantasy...the standards mostly (LotR, Eddings, Donaldson, et cetera), but there's a lot of it in my past, same as sci-fi, and no doubt a lot in my future too.
Welcome aboard, Joss. Keep those BBQ skills up to scratch, and if you hear of anyone who knows how a gas BBQ works, let me know.
Cheers,
Marc