The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy

I adore Sam Maggs' writing and full disclosure, worked with her as a consultant on a different book. She is a caring and inclusive feminist. This book was fun and lovely. For newcomers to fandom, there's a lot of useful entryways to the world of fan culture and how to connect with it. I think if you are a long timer to fandom, there won't be too much new here, but if there is even one area of fandom life that you are wanting to break into, skipping to that bit will teach you things you didn't know. It also includes an interesting 101 look at the way fangirl culture interacts with feminism and inclusivity that I loved. I would have liked some nuance in places during this section, but it's an effective primer.
Overall, really sweet and interesting book, good for entry level discussions.

This book is so dumb.

I admit I was a bit disappointed with this one. I have been a self professed geek girl for a long time now and instead of the same old, same old stuff, I'm looking for the hard to find information. Maybe say, the best place to learn about indie comics or little know corners of the internet that showcase some great geeky things. The mainstream stuff is fine too, but its easy to find out that information without too hard a search online.
This book felt like it was aimed toward 12 year old wannabe geeks, and that just isn't me (so maybe that's why it didn't appeal). And although I think in essence it is a good idea to have something for those young up and comers and there were some good things in this book that are good to impart to them (ie, convention/internet etiquette and dealing with trolls), there was just a whole lot of fluff in it too.
I felt it was a little contradictory when in the opening of the book we're told that you can be geek of something without having to prove it with clothes, figurine collections or an anime hoard, but then a huge portion of the book at the beginning is about all these things.
There was a lot of talk about shipping characters and which ‘category' you fit in for your fandom. I'm apart of so many different fandoms, that I'd hate to be labeled just under a single entity, yet the book kind of pushed that.
I guess I was expecting more of a book that maybe catered more to long time geek girls, full of all the unique things that make up who we are and the amazing variety of things there are to geek out over - there is SO much more than just the mainstream fandoms.
I'd hate to even recommend this for new and young geek girls, as think there is way more to being a geek than just following the trends. Half the fun is seeking out little known things that excite you, whether its popular or not. Encouraging the younger generation to seek out new and upcoming artists, directors, authors, etc. is so important. Not to say you can't enjoy the popular things too....but in a book that professes to be a Guide and Handbook for Geek Girls, I expected it to go beyond those things and really showcase what makes us special and unique and that's not what I got.