Tag: Friday Reads

Friday Reads: THE FANGIRL’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Sam Maggs

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Friday Reads is a new series on Write, Edit, Repeat. I’ll only be blogging about my favorites (no room for negativity here), and I’ll end with a writing prompt. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and then you won’t miss out. Adult fiction, YA fiction, MG, graphic novels, picture books—I’ll cycle through them all, sometimes posting monthly, sometimes weekly.

For the archive of Friday Reads posts, visit bit.ly/LaraReads.

I also allow guest reviews! Today I’ve got Caitlin Vanasse reviewing The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs.

Read her review, then enter for a chance to win a copy of the book!

First Impressions

The Cover

Fangirl_final_72dpi

The Blurb

Fanfic, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more—it’s never been a better time to be a girl geek. The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy is the ultimate handbook for ladies living the nerdy life, a fun and feminist take on the often male-dominated world of geekdom.

With delightful illustrations and an unabashed love for all the in(ternet)s and outs of geek culture, this book is packed with tips, playthroughs, and cheat codes for everything from starting an online fan community to planning a convention visit to supporting fellow female geeks in the wild.

Reading

First, thank you so much to Lara for letting me borrow on her blog today to review The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Geek Girls by Sam Maggs.

When I heard that Sam Maggs, editor of The Mary Sue, was writing a guide to girl-geekdom, I was quite intrigued. As a girl who grew up watching Captain Janeway on Star Trek Voyager, borrowing my brother’s Nintendo Power, and reading every essential comic collection my library had, I’ve considered myself a geek girl (or a nerd) for quite sometime. When I had the opportunity to request a copy for review from Quirk Books, I was more than a little excited. (Disclaimer: I requested and received this book from the publisher, Quirk Books, for review.)

The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy is a reference book in four sections: An introduction to different fandoms, an introduction to girl geek spaces on the internet, a guide to conventions, and a section on geek girl feminism. Interspersed between each section are super short (3-question) interviews with prominent women in geekdom.

I found this to be a good reference; there were definitely things I already knew, which I think will be true of most readers, but there was plenty of new information and things well said in a way that I found really helpful for figuring out how to express them myself.  My personal favorite section was the one with advice for conventions (probably because I’m at a point where I’m just starting to think about going to conventions, and so it was the most helpful personally), but I think depending on where the reader is, different sections might be more useful.

Right before picking this up I saw a review mention that the feminism section seemed a bit tacked on.  I think the meat of that section was actually really great. It contained an extensive list of recommendations of great female characters in various forms of media (books, movies, television, anime, comics, and manga) and a short section on being critical consumers of the media we love, both of which I think any geek girl would be interested in. But I think the transition to that section was really poor. Rather than suggesting that Fandom can, in some ways, be what we want it to be, it felt pushy rather than convincing. It was really a disservice to the chapter and ill-fitting considered with the tone of the rest of the book.

I also felt that the interviews, although a nice element to break up the chapters, were too short to really provide much substance. They weren’t really personalized, were fairly superficial questions, and were less than a page each. They function more as a list of interesting women in geekdom to follow than interesting content on their own.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book and could see myself referencing it or lending or gifting it to friends.

But, because I received this finished copy from the publisher I’d like to give you an opportunity to have it.  I’m giving away the finished copy I was given. I did read it, so it’s gently used, and I’ll be shipping from the US, so this giveaway is only open to US shipping addresses. But if you’re interested and eligible please do enter below!

About Caitlin

Caitlin Vanasse was raised on StarTrek Voyager and Bill Nye as well as princesses and puppies. Never afraid to call herself a nerd, you can find her on the internet talking about books on Youtube at BookChats and retweeting all manner of things on Twitter @CaitlinVanasse.

Recommendations

Follow Caitlin’s YouTube channel, BookChats, for plenty of book recommendations from this geeky girl reviewer, or read The Fangirl’s Guide for recommendations. Also read the comments here for favorite female

Writing Prompt

Two options today:

A. Write a short creative nonfiction story or poem about a geeky experience you’ve had.

B. Choose two fictional females and write a short story or scene in which they meet.

Giveaway

If you live in the US and would like the chance to win a copy of The Fangirl’s Guide, please click here to go to the Rafflecopter page. There are many ways to enter!

Friday Reads: SMILE by Raina Telgemeier

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We bought a house! Posts will be pretty sporadic while we clean and pack and move, but this summer will be full of goodness. I’ll be participating in #PitchToPublication as one of the freelance editors, and I’ll be hosting #70pit the first week of July. So get those manuscripts ready for some full requests! For now, here’s a quick review of Smile, a middle-grade graphic novel memoir by Raina Telgemeier.

smile

Everyone in my family adored this graphic memoir.

I was reading it in my hammock outside and kept laughing. Soon my husband came over (he’s the one with orthodontic experience) and began reading with me, laughing and reading his favorite quotes aloud. Then our son came and joined us, reading along.

The toddler wasn’t particularly interested, though. I’m thankful, because the hammock was already dragging on the ground at that point.

As for the actual content, Raina (the main character) goes through middle and high school, relaying her dental and social dramas. Telgemeier (the author/illustrator/adult) managed to fit a lot into a single volume graphic novel. Secondary characters were drawn in the 2D cartoony style but weren’t flat caricatures of people.

smile-inside

Click to view sample pages on Amazon.

Telgemeier can pack so much emotion into one facial expression—she’s insanely talented as an illustrator! But her storytelling is also finely crafted. We’ve got subplots, conflicts, friends and foes, self reflection. Life lessons aren’t a prerequisite for me in juvenile literature. Smile does have them, but Telgemeier never lectures her audience. Teen Raina is conversational, assuring and inspiring.

Recommended for 5th and 6th graders, and for anyone who’s survived middle school and/or orthodontia.

Friday Reads: THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall

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My resolution for 2015 is all about organization. That means introducing new blog series, switching some style guides, and improving reader experience! You’ll notice that “Write Lara Write” is now “Write, Edit, Repeat.” Same URL to keep things simple (writelarawrite.wordpress.com), but a new name, since this blog is about the crafts of writing and editing, not my personal writing site (which is coming…eventually).

And since it’s not just me anymore, I’m opening the blog up for guest posts! Apply here.

Friday Reads is a new series on Write, Edit, Repeat. I’ll only be blogging about my favorites (no room for negativity here), and I’ll end with a writing prompt. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and then you won’t miss out. Adult fiction, YA fiction, MG, graphic novels, picture books—I’ll cycle through them all, sometimes posting monthly, sometimes weekly.

For the archive of Friday Reads posts, visit bit.ly/LaraReads.

Today I’m reviewing The Conspiracy of Us, a YA romantic thriller by Maggie Hall, and one of the most highly anticipated YA reads of 2015.

First Impressions

First Impressions walks through my method of judging books by their title, cover, and cover copy before I pick up a book.

The Title

“The Conspiracy of Us” is a strange, yet evocative title (I’ll be using the word “evocative” a lot when talking about covers and titles—sorry/not sorry). The word “conspiracy” suggests the thriller genre akin to The Da Vinci Code; “us” suggests romance or a close relationship. Since this is a romantic thriller, the title is extremely effective with its word choice.

The Cover

Consp

If you couldn’t tell this was a thriller from the word “conspiracy,” you’ll get the worldwide-thriller vibe from the cover. The city overlays, the compass—travel. The skewed phantom text shadowing the title implies mystery or possibly some chase scenes.

And we’ve got the subject, a teen girl in a gorgeous ball gown. Intrigue! Mystery! Travel!

Then you look at the tagline: “An ancient puzzle. A trail of clues. An unwanted destiny.”

So basically a teen girl is part Chosen One, part Indiana Jones. If there’s remotely a connection to Indiana Jones or Han Solo, I am so there.

The Blurb

Instead of breaking down the blurb like I did with After I Do and Maybe in Another Life, we’re going to do the 69 test instead, because it was such a great representation of the book, that’s what the publisher put on the back cover:

Elisa led me to a three-way mirror, where a girl who hardly looked like me stared back in triplicate. In the silver gown, the girl looked more serious, more elegant, then they changed me into the gold dress again, and she was glamorous, striking.

I found myself hoping fiercely that my mom would let me stay for the ball, and even a little longer. Meet the Saxons, find out more about my father’s family and the rest of the Circle. To feel like I belonged in this strange, fascinating world.

“You have to choose eventually.” Elisa smiled. In the mirror, the gold sequins shimmered. But there was something about the silver. It belonged on me.

Aimee unzipped the gold dress and left me to get out of it, following Elisa downstairs to wrap the silver one. I watched it go. I couldn’t believe that, just like that, it was going to be mine.

I was about step out of the gold dress when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. “Elisa?” I said. “Aimee?” There was no answer.

In case it was one of the men come to escort me down, I zipped the dress up.

The girls were nowhere in sight, but the man who had let us in stood at the top of the staircase.

“Sorry, I’m not ready yet,” I said. I smiled at him, and he reached into his jacket pocket.

He pulled out something that, for a moment, didn’t register. It was too discordant with the marble floors, the dresses, the Bach chiming from the speakers.

It was a knife.

Read more about Maggie’s 69 Test here. And participate in #70Pit in July to share your page 69 or 70 and possibly win edits or get agent requests!

Reading

This was a fun novel to read. If you go in expecting the prophecy and Chosen One tropes (they’re implied right there on the cover), then you probably won’t expect this to be something that it’s not. What it is, is fun. And there really are similarities to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with the Chosen One storyline like The Mummy Returns. Like those movies, there’s slow building romance (yes, please), plenty of sexual tension (all PG-13), some melodrama in parts, chase scenes, murderous bad guys, kinda murderous good guys, and adventure.

Those movies are called popcorn flicks. Not quite sure what the book equivalent is called, but keep your arms inside the vehicle and enjoy the ride.

Recommendations

If you like The Conspiracy of Us, you might like books by Ally Carter.

Writing Prompt

The main character, Avery West, is destined to be important, but she resists her destiny. Write about either 1) a time you were anxious about an outcome you knew was coming but had no power over, or 2) a time you rejected someone else’s plan for you.

Cover Reveal: MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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I know the protocol for offering cover reveals is to make you read through a bunch of text in anticipation and finally reveal the cover at the end.

Well, I’m a graphic designer and reader, and my first encounter with a book is usually with its cover. So I’m starting there, with my first impressions, just like I did with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s After I Do. Then we’ll talk about the story.

First Impressions

The Title

“Maybe in Another Life” is another great title from Reid. Seriously, this woman should teach a class on evocative titles. To me, it sounds like something any woman might say while daydreaming. “I’m unsatisfied with my current life. Maybe in this other, hypothetical life, I’d be more satisfied.”

But then we see the cover…

The Cover

MIAL_Reid_cover

So what does the cover tell us? It’s all in the subjects and the symmetry. This book is about a classy lady with a decision between two parallel choices, either one of which you, Reader, would probably love to escape to.

Take away the aqua and the modern font (which hearkens to style magazines), and this might be a memoir or a stuffy novel about a museum curator. With the typeface and color choice, we know it’s Women’s Fiction.

How efficient is that? I’d like to give the highest of fives to the designers that work on Reid’s novels. Every one of them seems to say “Women’s Fiction is legit Lit, y’all!” (and it’s true).

And just in case you didn’t get the gist of the contents from the image, there’s a tagline which, yet again, is evocative and ties everything together.

Are you excited for this book? Because I am. I’m ready to preorder right now …

PREORDER:

IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Apple | Blio | Google

But if you really want to read the blurb before ordering, then …

The Blurb

From the publisher:

At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college, but on the heels of a disastrous breakup, she has finally returned to her hometown of Los Angeles. To celebrate her first night back, her best friend, Gabby, takes Hannah out to a bar—where she meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.

It’s just past midnight when Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. Ethan quickly offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay.

Hannah hesitates.

What happens if she leaves with Gabby?

What happens if she leaves with Ethan?

In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into surprisingly different stories with far-reaching consequences for Hannah and the people around her, raising questions like: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?

Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him.

Let’s break this down.

“Hannah Martin” Anybody else think Hanna Marin from Pretty Little Liars? Just me? Okay.

“high school boyfriend … Hannah hesitates” The fact that she hesitates tell me there’s still something there between Hannah and Ethan. I’m not a fan of on-again, off-again relationships, so I’m hoping that the “something there” is mostly attraction with some underlying drama that will give off plenty of heat, but no HEA for those two.

You should all know by now that I’m not super into romance, and that my favorite movies have “happy for now” endings rather than “happily ever after” ones. But I do have a not-so-secret affinity for Hilary Duff movies. So if these two end up together, I want it to be Sweet Home Alabama style, with a clear, good reason they broke up and an ending that’s a no-brainer that they need to be together. None of that “we couldn’t handle being apart from each other for more than a month, so we broke up” nonsense.

“In concurrent storylines”. Aww yiss. I love me some nonlinear storytelling.

“with far-reaching consequences” Double yesss. Fiction without consequences is just irresponsible. Curious George is horrible. But seriously, I am a fan of chain-reaction plots. Just because I don’t believe in love at first sight—attraction, OF COURSE. Have you seen my husband?—that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy stories about fate. The fact that this is a cause-effect sort of plot lets me know there won’t be random coincidences.

“soul mate” I’ll buy it. “The One”? No. I’ve known too many widows. But I like to think that my husband and I are linked more than just mentally, socially, and physically.

Reading

You’ll have to wait until I read it for me to give a review! But now you know what kind of expectations I have going into it.

Author Chat

You can follow Taylor Jenkins Reid on Twitter @tjenkinsreid. I’m sure she’ll be interviewed about Maybe in Another Life soon.

Recommendations

I haven’t read it yet! But Reid herself recommended books by Emily Giffin or Amy Hatvany after I enjoyed After I Do.

Writing Prompt

Write about a decisive moment in your life, and what happened as a consequence. Turn it into a story, a short blurb of a memory, or a flow chart. Or ask a friend or relative about a seemingly insignificant choice they made that ended up changing their or someone else’s life.

An example: A man switched from a music major to a history major, which meant he spent five years in college instead of four. His fifth year was the first year a “colloquium” class was offered—an independent study tied to a spring break trip to Ireland and the UK. It was my freshman year, and I also signed up for the trip. We were low on numbers, and needed a couple more students to sign up before the trip could be booked. He invited his brother, a Junior history major, whose topic of choice was the historicity of King Arthur. My topic was Arthurian literature. We became study buddies, then friends, then more than friends, and now we’re married. I introduced my now-brother-in-law to one of my college roommates, and they were married last November.

So there you have it. A “major” change that didn’t actually affect his career at all, but certainly affected his family. Now he has a wife, a sister-in-law, and two nephews because of it.