Review: The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy

Published on by Rachelle

Fangirl

  • Author: Sam Maggs
  • ISBN: 9781594747892
  • Genre: Non-Fiction

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sam Maggs mentions in The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy that her book is the only one written for geek girls and fangirls; however, that’s not true.  In 2011, Leslie Simon wrote a book called Geek Girls Unite.  That being said, The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy is much more up to date, includes even more geeky awesomeness, and is all around better suited as a guide to entering the geek world no matter what amount of knowledge you might have about it.  I’ve been a geek my whole life, and I bookmarked multiple pages concerning things I had no idea existed.

Since the copy I received was an uncorrected ARC and I don’t have a published copy to compare it to, I won’t go into details as to what is or isn’t in the book.  However, I will say that the one problem I had with it is that it assumes the reader can afford their fandom(s).  As someone who often can’t afford to buy a graphic novel or materials to make a decent cosplay outfit, I would have appreciated the inclusion of something like what Omar and Mia do in their 2 Broke Geeks videos.

Overall, this is a great book for any geek girl, no matter what your fandom is or how knowledgeable you are about what the geek world has to offer.  If you’re a broke geek, check to see if the book is at your local library and then take lots of notes.  After you’re done, head over to the 2 Broke Geeks Youtube channel to find out how you can celebrate your geekiness without having to live off of 3 for $1 microwave burritos from the grocery store.

Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Published on by Rachelle

Lies

  • Author: Scott Lynch
  • ISBN: 9780553588941
  • Genre: Fantasy

I purchased this book.  Actually, the Boyfriend bought it for me as part of our deal to get me through the Spring semester.  I read it as part of the Gentleman Bastards read-along.

I’m ambivalent about The Lies of Locke Lamora.  On the one hand, there were quite a few parts of the story that kept me reading, but, on the other hand, there were several when I easily put it down to read other books.  I sometimes cared about the characters, but I also felt that I hadn’t gotten to know them well enough to be invested in them.  The world building was fantastic, but there are a couple graphically violent scenes that put me off my lunch and made me reconsider continuing.  I could continue with the waffling, but I’ll spare you.  The main issue I had with this book is that I was apathetic about the story and the characters more often than not.

I wanted to love The Lies of Locke Lamora.  I’ve read nothing but great things about it.  It even has praise from George R.R. Martin right on the cover of the paperback edition I have.  I looked forward to reading it, and I got excited when I heard about the read-along.  Now I just feel “meh” about it, and I’m probably not going to bother checking out the next book from the library.  It’s very rare that I feel this way about a book.  I either like it, love it, or hate it, and I usually have lots of opinions as to why.  This book, however, is like one of those relationships you stay in far past their expiration date because you don’t have a good enough excuse to end it.  I actually feel kind of guilty.

Due to a lack of solid feelings one way or another about this book, I’m not sure who to recommend should read it.  I love Game of Thrones, and so I assumed I would love this book too, but I didn’t.  If you’re a fan of darker, grittier Fantasy like Game of Thrones, try this one out for yourself.  I sincerely hope you have better luck with it than I did.

#FitReaders Check-In #27

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for June 29th – July 5th.  I was still dealing with the stomach bug until Sunday.  Though I feel much better, and I’m walking more because of where my class is in relation to where I park, I’m not going to push myself to reach my goal.  As long as I do better than I did this past week, I’ll be happy.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 19,668/56,000
  • Miles: 8.08/21
  • Flights of stairs: 33/70
  • Active Minutes: 14/210
  • Total Money Donated: $10.79

Tuesday’s Tunes #4: It’s All About the Books

Published on by Rachelle

This Tuesday’s Tunes is a little different.  Instead of a Spotify playlist, I’ve put together a playlist of book-related videos on Youtube.  Click on the image and enjoy!

For the Love of Books Youtube Playlist

 

What are you favorite book-related videos?  Leave a link in the comments 🙂

Monday’s Minutes #27

Published on by Rachelle

Currently Reading:

  • Harry Potter and Philosophy
  • Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, for the Classics Club.
  • The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins – a review book.
  • The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari

 Harry 80 Library Dragon

Finished: The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, The Origins of the Modern World by Robert B. Marks, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.  The first two I read for my World History class, and the third I read just in time to complete the Once Upon a Time IX challenge.  I also finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs, both of which I’ll be reviewing sometime this week.

River Origins Midsummer Lies Fangirl

Challenges:

  • COYER: None of the above books qualify since I was either reading them before the challenge started, or I’m not writing reviews for them.
  • Show Your Shelves Some Love Progress: 23 out of 51.
  • Outdo Yourself Progress: 40 out of 66.
  • Netgalley/Edelweiss Progress: 11 out of 50.
  • SF/F Bingo: I finally filled a new square!  The Lies of Locke Lamora is a perfect choice for “Heists & Cons”.

S&S Bingo2update11

Total pages read for the week: 1,111

Total # of books for the year: 41.  A stomach bug and a three-day weekend allowed me to knock my page count out of the water.  I start my second class of the Summer today, which means I’m that much closer to completing my degree.  It also means I’m closer to having to spend the majority of my free time job hunting.  My anxiety about the transition from college to being an adult again is ramping up, so my reading is probably going to shift to old favorites and comfort reads, most of which are middle-grade Fantasy.  While I definitely need a break from the academic world (I’m so tired of having most of my time taken up by class work), my inner kid is throwing a tantrum and screaming,”I DON’T WANT TO ADULT!!!”  Also, I’ll be leaving behind an amazing library.  Excuse me while I curl up in a ball, put my fingers in my ears, and sing “La la la, I can’t hear you.”

Top Commenters: This week my Top Commenter was Shaina @ Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?

Sunday’s Sundries: TBR Jars

Published on by Rachelle
Sundries - Dominic Hartnett
Image: Dominic Hartnett

Felicia at The Geeky Blogger’s Book Blog has been working on a project to get her books in order.  Her updates on her progress inspired me to finally get my book life more organized, too.  I scanned all of my physical TBR books into Goodreads and then worked on getting all of my books (including my ebooks) into a spreadsheet.  I chose to do that instead of manually adding most of my ebooks, which aren’t Kindle books (Goodreads has an option to add all your Amazon book purchases without having to look them up one at a time).  It still took most of a day, since I copied and pasted the information from my order histories into a spreadsheet and then had to straighten it all out.

I was shocked to discover how many ebooks I have.  I figured that I had maybe 150 or so, but I found out I have over 400 ebooks that I’ve never read.  Over half of them were free, and 100 of those were bought within the past 12 months.  In fact, from the very first ebook I’ve ever bought, up to today, I’ve acquired more free ebooks in the past year than I have at any other time.  I’m certain that’s because I’m participating in the #ShelfLove No Book Buying Challenge.  I can’t pay money for books, but I can get all the free books I want.  Apparently, my brain took this to mean I was in a book famine and therefore I had to hoard all.the.books.

2015-06-27 23.26.04

Since I can’t see my ebook collection in the same way as my physical books, I decided to make a TBR jar for them.  I also did the math on how long it would take me to read all those books and decided to unsubscribe from the daily emails I receive full of free ebooks being offered.  If I continue to read 65 books a year like I did last year, it will take me over six years to finish my mountain of a TBR pile.  If I also continue adding 100 new ebooks every year, that mountain will continue to grow.  The phrase “When I die, I’ll be found next to a stack of books I was meaning to read” is very fitting to this stage in my book life.

I also made a TBR jar for my physical books, but for a different reason.  Do you ever stand in front of your TBR pile/shelf undecided about which book to read next?  I spend at least 10 minutes waffling between books I know I’m likely to send to the used bookstore and books I’ll probably want to keep forever.  The TBR jar takes the question out of what to read next.  Whatever comes out of the jar is what I’m reading.

2015-07-04 19.32.37

I don’t know where I got the image that I used for the labels, but I used “Algerian” font and named them “The Hobbit’s TBR Library” because the boyfriend nicknamed me Hobbit ages ago.  I used sticker printer paper to make the labels but then had to use a bit of clear tape on each end because it apparently doesn’t like sticking to acrylic.  I then spent hours cutting up the printed spreadsheet pages into strips so they would look like shredded newsprint.  I probably spent way too much time on these, but I figured they’re going to be in my life for at least the next six years so they might as well be pretty.

Do you have a TBR jar?  Leave a link to a picture of it in the comments.

Thursday’s Things #7

Published on by Rachelle
1001 Things
Original Image: Viktor Hertz

#ShelfLove: Update and My Fave Book So Far

Published on by Rachelle

showyourshelves_zps8f6e8b06-png320x480

I finally got around to scanning all of my physical TBR books into Goodreads late Friday night, and I spent most of Saturday putting together a master list of all of my unread books in every format.  I discovered that I have a whole lot more ebooks than I thought.  It turns out I have over 300 of them.  Combined with my physical books, I have over 400 books I’ve never read!  It’s going to take me a long time to read all those books.  I’m now in the process of making a couple TBR jars so that I have a constant reminder of just how many books I already have to choose from when I’m looking for something “new”.

“Somewhere in this process you will come face-to-face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy.  Your mind is a shrieking gibbering madhouse on wheels barreling pell-mell down the hill utterly out of control and hopeless.  No problem.  You are not crazier than you were yesterday.  It has always been this way and you just never noticed.  You are also no crazier than everybody else around you.  The only real difference is that you have confronted the situation they have not.” ― Henepola Gunaratana

Now that I know my TBR pile is more of a small library than anything else, I’m even more likely to stick to my goal of not buying any books this year.  The exception to that is The Outlandish Companion, Vol. 2 by Diana Gabaldon.  I haven’t taken any more books to the used bookstore, so I’ve still only got $21.67 saved up towards buying it.  However, my box of books is nearly full, so I’m sure I’ll have enough money to order it by next month.

Speaking of “Outlander,” is it any surprise that my favorite qualifying #ShelfLove book so far this year is The Fiery Cross?  Click on the title to read my mini-review.  Also, let me know your favorite book (or books) of the year so far in the comments.  If you have a review of it, leave the link, and if I already own that book, I’ll move it up on my list of books to read sooner rather than later.

#FitReaders Check-In #26

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for June 22nd – 28th.  I don’t have much to say about this past week that I haven’t said for the past several, except I came down with a stomach bug over the weekend.  It’s still affecting me, so I’m probably not going to make my goal this week either.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 31,108/56,000
  • Miles: 12.78/21
  • Flights of stairs: 52/70
  • Active Minutes: 66/210
  • Total Money Donated: $9.98

Monday’s Minutes #26

Published on by Rachelle

Currently Reading:

  • The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks by Sam Maggs – a review book.
  • The Origins of the Modern World by Robert B. Marks
  • The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, for the read-along.
  • Harry Potter and Philosophy
  • The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Fangirl Lies Origins Harry River

Finished: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, which I reviewed on Thursday.

Raven

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update10

Total pages read for the week: 355

Total # of books for the year: 36.  My amount of reading has been slightly less than usual because I’ve been spending my time when I’m not working on school stuff, organizing my book life.  I completed tasks off my mental to-do list from creating a master TBR list to going through the ridiculous number of book blogs I follow to weed out the ones I’m no longer interested in for various reasons.  Many of my tasks are still works in progress, but I’m hoping to get everything done before I lose steam or life becomes too crazy to do anything that isn’t necessary.

Top Commenters: This week my Top Commenter was Shaina @ Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?