Book Nerds Across America

Book Summary
Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. 

Flo's Review
It can be hard going into a book when you have super high expectations. Rainbow Rowell is a fantastic author. I really enjoyed Fangirl. I LOVED Attachments. But I didn't like Landline. I have a copy of Carry On, but I haven't read it yet. So that leaves me with Eleanor & Park. I had heard so many great things about this book, so I was definitely excited when I was able to get a hold of the audiobook, thus bumping it up on my TBR.

And I liked it. I did. It was cute, and I will go into what I loved about it momentarily. But did it blow me away? Nah. It was hard reading Eleanor. I absolutely understand why she was so insecure, but it was just exhausting to read her. Over and over and over Park affirmed her, but she kept continuing to fish for compliments.

This book was in slow motion, in a good way. In a VERY good way. The pace while reading it didn't feel like a pace at all. I felt like I was there with them, living the moments. I felt like I was Eleanor. I felt like I was Park. Rainbow doesn't just show us a scene. She doesn't just tell us a scene. She immersed us into every single detail. I can remember scenes in that book as if they were moments that I lived in my own life. I don't think I have ever read a book that did this so, so well.

If you like Rainbow's books, then you should read this one. If you like YA contemporaries, you should read this. If you like reminiscing about the 80s, you should read this. If you like reading about and reliving the awkwardness and wonder of first love, you should read this. Most importantly, if you want to read some of the best writing I have ever read in my life, I think you should read this. 

Book Summary
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. 

Flo's Review
I wanted to own this book as soon as I learned of its existence. Proud fangirl right here! The amazing folks at Quirk Books were kind enough to send me a copy for review and it came with me on a trip I took this past weekend. I immediately fell in (back) cover love:

Unfortunately, that was where the love ended. I didn't dislike this book -- not at all. I just don't understand the audience. The reason I wanted to read it is because I am a fangirl; and I think that other women who identify themselves as fangirls will want to read it for the same reason. But that means that I already knew a large majority of the information in the first half of the book. The first bit reads a bit like, "How to be a fangirl"...but I'm not sure who needs that? I guess I just don't see a wannabe fangirl happening. If you want to be a fangirl, you are a fangirl. You're not like, "Oh, I like a bunch of stuff but I don't really know how to fangirl...I need a guide." There is a great quote and unfortunately I can't think of who said it first, but basically it goes: "You're a writer, if you write." The idea is that just because you're not famous or you're not published, doesn't mean you're not a writer. If you want to be a writer, and you write, then you're a writer. I feel like the concept of a fangirl is similar.

Then the second half of the book turned from "How to be a fangirl" into "How to be a feminist." There's certainly nothing wrong with that...it just wasn't what I was expecting. Reading the "Book Summary" up top, I didn't think I would be delving into a feminism 101 book. Again, please let me reiterate -- there's nothing wrong with that at all. I support feminism. The book has some good information and tips on how to be a feminist. I just didn't think that was what I'd be reading.

Finally, there are short interviews with famous fangirls. The same questions were asked, and regrettably this resulted in what seemed like the same answers being given. But I will admit that I was unfamiliar with the majority of the famous fangirls interviewed. Had I known who they were, I probably would have found this part cooler.

I finished reading this book on the plane and put it in the seat pocket in front of me. When I got home, I discovered that I didn't have it, and it is probably still there. I like to think that I was subconsciously taking part in Rock the Drop, albeit a few days late.

The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy will definitely be a good piece of literature for cultural historians in the future. It has some good tips for conventions, along with some good websites and ideas for the reader to feed her inner fangirl. 

Book Summary:

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now. Maybe that was always besides the point. Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her. When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything. That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . 

Is that what she’s supposed to do? Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

Flo's Review:

Jacque and I were lucky enough to score ARCs of this one at BEA this year. We reviewed Fangirl last year and both really enjoyed it, so we were definitely excited to make Rainbow's new book for adults one of our read alongs. I enjoyed a couple of things about this book: First, the concept is really cool. I have always been fascinated with the idea of time travel so the idea of making a phone call to someone at a time in your past is so cool and so intriguing. Second, I loved Seth and Scotty. Namely Seth. The scenes at the office with those two were by far my favorite in the book and often had me chuckling out loud.

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF (did not finish) for me. There were two reasons that I couldn't really get into it. First was all of Georgie's internal dialogue and the dismal state of her marriage. It was written really well. Too well. I read to escape, and I find it hard to enjoy a book when the main character is miserable the whole time. Frankly, it brings me down. And that's not what I want to be feeling as I read. Anxiety of a struggling marriage? Too real. I don't want to turn to fiction for that. I can call one of my girlfriends and listen to her over-analyze the state of her marriage instead. That's not fun for me to read, and I (mostly) read for fun.

Secondly, the book is largely made of flashbacks. I've ranted before on my feelings about flashbacks. I understand why they can be necessary. But if it gets to the point where the story doesn't seem to be moving forward at all because all the authors keeps doing is flashing back, then I cannot deal. I need a story to have forward motion to hold my interest, and quite simply, you can't keep moving forward if you keep looking back. 

I tried to keep reading, but in the end I decided that if I'm going to spend time reading a Rainbow Rowell book, it should be Eleanor and Park, which I've heard from so many people is made of amazingness, but which I haven't read. 

Jacque's Review:

This is one of the books that I was really excited to pick up at BEA this year.  I loved Fangirl and couldn't wait to read her latest release.  When Flo told me she had to pull the plug after about 16 chapters, I was a little nervous. 

Georgie is in her mid 30's and is the mother of two young girls.  She works long hours as a comedy writer for a television series while her husband, Neal, is a stay-at-home dad.  He does an amazing job of taking care of the girls, the house, cooking, and in general holding the family together.  Just before Christmas Georgie and her writing partner, Seth, pitch their dream show to an interested network.  Now they need to write a few episodes to present at a meeting just after Christmas.  The only problem is that Georgie and her family were planning on traveling to Omaha to visit Neal's Mom for the holiday.  Georgie decides to stay in L.A. to work while Neal takes the girls as planned.

Georgie and Neal's relationship has been strained for a while and this may be the last straw.  Georgie tries to call Neal's cell phone several times after he leaves, but she can't get through.  She finally resorts to using her Mom's landline to call Neal's Mom's landline and miraculously she is able to reach Neal.  There is one apparent catch.  Neal sounds a lot younger than he does now.  He sounds like he did when they first started dating and his Dad is apparently still alive. (He died several years ago.)  Rather than finding a time machine, Georgie has a phone that takes her back to Neal as he was in 1998.  Will she be able to repair their relationship now that she knows how things play out 15 years later?  That is exactly what Georgie attempts to do.

The flashbacks allow the reader to see how Georgie and Neal's relationship developed and where things went off track.  The concept of a landline taking one back into the past is an ingenious idea in this cellular world.  Much like a Walkman or a VCR, children today probably don't even know what a landline is.

The only complaint that I have about this book is the fact that we don't get to know Neal very well.  We witness Georgie's struggles, but we don't know how the separation is affecting Neal.  Is Georgie reading more into the situation than is necessary?  Is she overreacting?  We don't know because we have no idea what Neal is thinking.  

The separation is a reality check for Georgie.  She begins to realize what is most important in her life and I was happy to see her take action.  The ending was perfect, but I don't want to give away any spoilers.  If you enjoy Sarah Dessen's books, I would highly recommend Landline.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!



While at BEA, we were also lucky enough to pick up a signed audiobook of Landline. We'll give it away to one lucky commenter below who answers this question:

If you had an opportunity like Georgie to talk now to someone in your past, who would it be and what would you say to them?

Don't forget to include an email address with your comment so we have a way to contact you if you win. Good luck!

Jacque's Review:

Fangirl is about a set of eighteen year old identical twins, Cath and Wren, who are heading off for their first year of college.  They both wrote Simon Snow fan fiction growing up and have a large following.  Wren has decided to move on to boys, drinking, and partying once she is on campus while Cath is still living her life via the Internet.  She attends her classes, but she would rather spend her free time locked in her dorm room writing about Simon Snow.

Cath's roommate, Reagan, is a junior and eventually starts to help Cath come out of her shell.  Cath  becomes friends with Reagan's ex-high school boyfriend Levi, which becomes a little awkward as Cath realizes they may be more than just friends.  Levi is the complete opposite of Cath.  He is very outgoing and friendly.  Cath thinks that because he is two years older he is far more worldly and experienced than she is. There is no way they could have anything in common, right? WRONG....

The one thing that I really liked about this story is that it isn't a "boy meets girl they fall instantly in love" sort of story.  Levi and Cath are friends.  They have issues like everyone, but they learn from their mistakes and grow from them in the process.  I was "rooting for them" (if you have read the book...you understand the significance of that sentence) and I was very happy with how it ended. 

At the end of every chapter there was an excerpt from one of the Simon Snow books or from some of Cath and Wren's fan fiction.  Cath also reads several sections of her fan fiction to Levi throughout the book.  It was interesting to hear parts of the story, but I found them to be confusing at times.  Do these books really exist?  Maybe it is because I don't know the story or the characters that I couldn't really appreciate those sections as much as I probably should have. 

I did love the rest of the story about Cath, Wren, Reagan, and Levi.  They are all such unique characters, but they all needed each other in some fashion.  This is the first book of Rainbow's that I have read.  I really enjoyed her writing style and will definitely read more of her books in the futures.

Flo's Review:
I have had so many misses with this book. First,  I saw it on Netgalley. I read the description and thought, "Ehh.." and didn't request it. Then I was literally in the line at BEA for Rainbow Rowell's signing, but I got out to go to Holly Black's line. (I was #199 or #200 in that one, so I kind of don't regret that.) Finally, with all the raving I was hearing about this book, I suggested to the Book Nerds that we make this our October read.

I've never read any of Rainbow Rowell's books, but I've seen and heard great things about both Eleanor & Park and Attachments. Now, after reading Fangirl, I hope to read the other two as well. There were two things in particular that made this book great. First: the characters. Hands down, Rainbow's strength as a writer -- at least judging by this book, which is the only one of hers I've read -- are her characters. They are so quirky and real and lovable. Mostly quirky! At first I thought Cath was a little extreme, but the more I learned about her history and growing up -- aka her parents -- it made sense. Levi is officially on my Fictional Boyfriend List. I loved all the description about him and how lovingly Cath saw his imperfections. She thought that they were beautiful and so I did as well. Also, Levi's personality was just amazing. He was the perfect gentleman -- always chivalrous, always letting Cath know how he felt, but never pushing her. I need Levi in my life! I mean, I used to live in Lincoln, NE and why wasn't he there when I was?!?!? Granted, I was like 10 years old, and Levi is a fictional character, but that's just details.

The second thing that made this book really great for me was the actual fangirl part. It is no surprise that I am a fangirl. I fangirl New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments...and on, and on, and on. I was literally laughing and smiling at some of things Cath said -- like, at one point she said something to Reagan about how's she big in the fandom and I was thinking, "I know!" I, by no means, am a Magicath in any of my fandoms, but at the risk of sounding arrogant, I do think I am recognized in at least some of them. Reagan was basically like, "What?!?!" and that made me laugh -- because I know that I sound just like Cath when trying to explain some detail of the Hunger Games fandom to some of my friends.

I completely understand why this book got all the hype it did. I read it in a weekend and enjoyed the ride the entire time.