The Geek Girls Book Club Kicks Off Sunday!

Whether it be by Kindle or Nook, hard cover, or mass market paperback, it's hard to deny that there is just something exciting about reading a good book. Many of my favorite books are historical fiction, romance, and paranormal, but I'm willing to give every genre a try.  I'm currently reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series and am nearly halfway done with A Game of Thrones. As I said in my post on The Lord of the Rings Director's Cut, I'm a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, though I've never actually read his epic trilogy. On Sunday, I'll begin reading The Hobbit as a member of the Geek Girl Book Club.

The Geek Girls Book Club is composed of women and men from the Twitter and Facebook communities who want to show Ginia Bellafante, columnist for the New York Times, that girls like fantasy fiction too. If you've been living under a rock for the last two weeks, on April 14, the NYT published her "review" of Game of Thrones, the new HBO series based on Martin's epic fantasy fiction works. However, what was published wasn't even really a review at all. It mused as to why Game of Thrones was actually on the network and its difference with The Sopranos, a long since ended series. It also accused women of not liking the fantasy genre.

"The true perversion, though, is the sense you get that all of this illicitness has been tossed in as a little something for the ladies, out of a justifiable fear, perhaps, that no woman alive would watch otherwise. While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first. “Game of Thrones” is boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half." Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, April 14

With this review, and the outrage that it created, the Geek Girls Book Club was born. It started as a simple hashtag on Twitter. Then @NikkiSticks began organizing this wonderful opportunity for women and men who are born of the same geek cloth to come together and prove that a love for fantasy fiction (and reading in general) exists and that a woman will choose The Hobbit over a romance novel in their book clubs. There are now over 100 members of the Geek Girls Book Club Facebook group and around 70 on Goodreads. The excitement is building and on Sunday, May 1, everyone will begin to read The Hobbit.

Not only this give many an opportunity to re-read a classic, it also gives some an opportunity to read The Hobbit for the first time. I will be among the first timers and I am very excited. Leila from Within Pages will be participating in the Geek Girls Book Club as well, so keep an eye on posts from her. Join the conversation by searching #GGBC on Twitter, join the Goodreads group here, and find us on Facebook. I'm looking forward to reading this book, but I'm also looking forward to the friendships that a group like the Geek Girls Book Club will create.

Check Kentucky Geek Girl for updates on the GGBC and for more opportunities for girls to let their geek flag fly.

Stuff That Doesn't Suck (1)

I'll be doing a new (and hopefully weekly) feature here on KGG where I take a look at some of my favorite things from the week: Stuff That Doesn't Suck. I was recently turned on to this idea by my best friend Leila and I've decided to adapt it to fit the style of my blog here at Kentucky Geek Girl. Stuff That Doesn't Suck, or STDs for short, was created by Pam at Bookalicious. She does hers on Saturday, but I'm not sure that I'll nail it down to one day in particular. Anyhoo, I'm addicted to random internet browsing and finding awesome new things so I am really looking forward to this series!

Without further adieu...

Book That Doesn't Suck
At the behest of a good friend, I started reading A Game of Thrones from the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. I happened to begin reading it just before the HBO series premiere (It premieres tomorrow!!) and just before a scathing review was published in the New York Times by Ginia Bellafante. I whole-heartedly disagree with Ms. Bellafante's opinion that women do not enjoy fantasy fiction and that romance and sex was only inserted into the book (and subsequently the television show) to entice female readers/viewers. (P.S. There was such reader outcry against the review that the NYT had to disable comments on their site.) I'm only around 130 pages in, but I must say that I love this freaking book already. I think that Martin is creating a fantastic world. I don't have HBO, and I have decided to finish the book first, so I won't be watching the show right away, but I did want to post a little something about the TV series. I can't give a fair review yet, that will come later, but the only thing I can say without a doubt is: Winter is coming.

Web Series That Doesn't Suck
I absolutely love "Awkward Embraces" and I feel as if this show was made for me. I'm going to write about it in more depth in another post soon, but I did want to include it in my first STDs post. I'm a geek girl. I love Star Trek: The Next Generation, making obscure references, and playing video games and so does Jessica, the star of Awkward Embraces. The show, now in its second season, also follows her friends Candis and Lyndsey as the three friends experience dating highs and lows. Like I said, I'm going to write about the show in more depth later, but I definitely wanted to include it here! You can read more about the show here and follow the show on Twitter @AwkwardEmbraces. Watch episode 1 from Season 1 here.

What didn't suck for you this week? Let me know in the comments below!