iRead: The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy

I couldn’t have loved this short and adorable guidebook to being a fangirl by Sam Maggs any more. Seriously. I found myself squealing, “yes!!!,” multiple times while reading certain passages and often read them aloud to my husband (to his constant chuckles). It basically contains everything needed to know about living the fangirl life, except what made this book special is that it spoke about fangirls in a positive light. Oftentimes the word is used in a derogatory manner, and I really appreciated that this book celebrated the fangirl with constant reassurance that you do not have to apologize for your strong feelings, uncontrollable actions and quirky habits. Paired with interviews with some pretty important ladies in the geek world and an entire section dedicated to feminism, it is the perfect gift to either give yourself or that geeky girl in your life. In fact, I plan on circulating the book around my circle of geeky girlfriends.

My absolute favorite part of the entire book though was the section dedicated to #thatconlife as I have affectionately hashtagged it. It detailed every single detail of convention culture whether you are a newbie, a cosplayer or a seasoned pro. Whatever Sam discussed, she was right on point – down to the con crud (I suffered from this illness a few years back after SDCC, and it was beyond awful) and post-con depression (I got this pretty bad after last year’s SDCC).

Basically, pick up this amazing book if you would label yourself as a geek girl, are dating a geek girl or would like to (wink wink). It’s a quick and enjoyable read with a lot of resources that are sure to make you smile and squee (sometimes all at once)!