The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks (Sam Maggs)

Release Date: May 12th 2015

Synopsis:
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.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
Let me just start by saying that this is a must read for every fangirl (or fanboy). Although this is mostly aimed at fangirls, I wholeheartedly believe fanboys could take a lot from it, not only in terms of tips for conventions, new books and fandoms, but also in the matter of understanding your fangirl friends.
Overall, this is basically a how-to guide, a Bible, almost, for fangirls all over the world, veteran or new to a specific fandom. I am relatively new to most pop culture fandoms, but with this I feel like I just read a manual on fan culture.
The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy covers everything that matters, honestly. It teaches you how to start crashing into the world's favourite fandoms, how to fangirl over them, how to show your love, how to pack for, handle and react at conventions, how to speak fanfic language, how to deal with online friends and trolls and how to be proud of your gender and fangirl-dom.
Sam Maggs was able to write such an empowering, honest and funny book that teaches you the ways of the world and how to make it a better place through your love of Sherlock and Harry Potter.
It's written in an insightful, inspiring, hilarious and true manner, making you feel like you are part of all of it, and, most importantly, that your input and your existence in the geek world matters.
This is, most of all, a way of showing you that your passion for the things you love and your imagination and creativity can change the world and improve your life, if you just embrace it and don't let yourself get defeated by the haters. It features interviews with women that have made fangirl their jobs (kinda) and grown into loving what they do and sharing it with the rest of human kind.
While reading this I felt like I had finally met someone who understood the true awesomeness of being a nerd in real life. It was my favourite part of the book, besides its useful information on all of the things. I felt included while laughing the whole time.
The perfect book to read at all times, and I can't recommend it enough to everyone who is curious about the huge part of today's culture that are fandoms.

A Free Man (Michel Basilières)

Release Date: May 1st 2015

Synopsis: 
An unusual and remarkable dystopian novel
A Free Man is a satirical tall tale presented as the drug and alcohol fuelled conversation of two old friends getting reacquainted over one night. It’s also a boy-meets-girl story of the worst kind and a time travel story about a future where the world is ruled by robots and humans are vermin. When timelines cross, the world as we know it bends . . .
Skid Roe is completely self-absorbed and delusional. His struggle to exercise free will is constantly hampered by the physical manifestation of his inner demons and by the norms and rules of contemporary life. He’s both aided and hindered by Lem, a robot from the future whose good intentions leave Skid on the run from a shadowy state security agency.
A surreal, beautiful, and powerful literary mash-up, Basilières’ long-awaited sophomore effort is inventive and darkly funny.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
My first impression of this book was a bit mixed and I couldn't help but feel rather confused and, to be honest, turned-off by the beginning. However, from the very first page there is just something in A Free Man that makes you keep reading, something so obscure and fascinating that you can't realise it until you finish. That something, for me, was the thought-provoking message that was deeply rooted in the overall story, which was as weird and bizarre as it was possibly the most provocative idea I have read about in a very long time.
The main idea of this book is to consider and ponder about the future and what it may hold for us, humans, as a species, through the story of an extremely curious set of characters. That theme was dealt in such a peculiar way by the author that you are kind of distracted from that plot in favour of another major theme: drug use. I couldn't help but wonder, all the way through, if that was actually a real story lived by the main character, Skid, or just product of his drug-fueled delusions.
There was a massive group of bizarre and almost grotesque characters, sub-plot lines and elements all throughout the story and I must give kudos to the author, Michel Basilières, for his extraordinary storytelling technique that he demonstrated in A Free Man.
There is a lot going on, but it felt like it just went by in a flash, leaving us there to deal with the aftermath of what we had just witnessed. That was one of the best parts about this, as I'd never before felt like I did after finishing this story. I felt almost like I should keep it hidden, not tell anyone I'd read it because it was so strange and rude.
As far as characters go, they were all definitely flawed and incredibly complex in a way that is impossible to describe, not to mention utterly cringe-worthy and detestable.
When it comes to thinking about the future, I believe this book adopts a certain Orwell-esque approach while thinking of what will be of our world and ourselves in hundreds of years. Like I mentioned before, this was one of the most thought-provoking dystopian books I have ever experienced and I reckon it will feel that way for a lot of people. Absolutely recommend this, despite it's strong language and heavy themes.