Thursday, January 16, 2014

10 Steps of Fangirling

I'm a very all-or-nothing kind of girl. I sometimes do have my "meh" moments, times where I feel lukewarm, but those aren't fun. When it comes to books, I like it when I find a book that makes me feel something, whether that's white-hot rage or floundering love. Preferably, it makes me fangirl. I tend to fangirl a lot.

So what is it to fangirl?

Fangirl - to behave like a fangirl. (verb)

Well, that doesn't really help now, does it?

Fangirl - an obsessive female fan (noun) 

But usually, people say someone is "fangirling." People have their own ways of releasing their emotions, but here's what I find is best, starting from the very beginning.


Step 1: Find a book.
This seems obvious, but you have to pick the right kind of book. Weed out the undesirables, the ones that are incapable of drawing fangirls (different than a fandom). Series usually do the trick considering that they give you more time to connect with the characters and the author's writing. But standalones are also fine, like The Fault in Our Stars. You can even fangirl over Fangirl, which I think makes it fun fangirling over a story about a fangirl. 

Step 2: Keep the world updated in your progressive adoration.
Naturally, you need to work your way up to fangirl status. While you read, share your thoughts. That moment when the guy does something that makes your heart pitter-patter? Tweet it! Update your status on Goodreads! People will likely comment on it and it increases your chance of a greater fangirling experience later. 

Step 3: Devour it.
Two words: BOOK BINGE.

Step 4: Find someone.
Internet peeps are wonderful and great to fangirl with, but they come later. You need to find someone in real life so you can physically let your fangirling emotions out. 

Step 5: Flutter, jump up and down, fan yourself, clutch your heart, make weird facial expressions, but most importantly...squeal.
Squealing involves high-pitched volume usually along with other noises such as saying "ahhh!" and repeating "oh my" and not finishing your sentences.

Step 6: Go on Twitter and use those 140 characters to the max.
YOUR FEELINGS. Emoticons are encouraged.

Step 7: Now immediately push the book on a friend via text. 
You can't wait until you're in person. They need to feel your urgency. Share the love and it'll make you feel better.

Step 8: Make more noises as you pace.
Warnings: dogs may become confused.

Step 9: Nurse your book hangover.
After you finish a book that gives you a fangirl status, you'll most likely be in a book hangover afterwards. A new book cannot compete with your fangirling emotions. Don't even try to start a new book that same day unless it's a sequel.

Step 10: Repeat and keep pushing.
Yes, it's exhausting to become invested in a book, but isn't it fun? Go find another one! It'll probably take a while to find that ONE book or series that makes you want to use all the expressive GIFs in the world again. But while you start reading again, don't forget to keep recommending your latest beloved book. Someone mentions they need another book to read, PUSH.

Just as there are different ways to eat eggs, there are different ways to express your absolute adoration of a newly discovered book. But now you know what I'm doing when I say I'm fangirling and usually that's Step 5. 

An incomplete collection of books I've fangirled over LOTS:

 Note: If series, I only included the first book.

What are books that have turned you into a fangirl or fanboy?

22 comments:

  1. THIS. I love this post! The GG books by Ally Carter are probably the books I've fangirled over the most! To myself, and to anyone within hearing or tweeting range. :) And Cinder. And The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. And the Keeper series by Shannon Messenger. And others, but if I kept listing all of the books I've become a total fangirl over we would be here all day. :)

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    1. Haha, I love hearing what books people fangirl over! Not only is it great if we have something in common, but also it's book recommendations!

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  2. Ha! This is great. Wendy and I have a tendency to text each other at 4am fangirling over a book that the other one HAS to read. Having someone in on it with you is half the fun, I think.

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    1. Now that is great! To have someone to text is key.

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  3. I can relate so much to this post! The worst part is the book hangover when you can't manage to start another book. Thanks for sharing your fangirl titles- I share your love for many of them. Fangirl is a perfect example ;)

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    1. Yes! And then after the hangover, I feel like reading, but then I'm in a slump because nothing sounds good. At least, that's how it is for me.

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  4. OMG!!!!! I LOVE THIS POST SO HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Was I expressive enough?! Did I use a sufficient amount of exclamation points?!

    I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS, SUMMER! :D

    Thanks to you, I'm re-learning what it means to be a fangirl; The Hunger Games and the Divergent series opened the doors for me in 2012. My little sister read those books along with me, so it was awesome and insane, in the best way! Then I read Scarlet by Marissa Meyer last year, and it was EVERYTHING! Sadly, I didn't have anyone in my life to talk Scarlet with, but this year, I finally do, and I got all of those pent-up emotions out into the blogosphere! It FEELS so GOOD to squeal over this series unashamedly. And with Cress just around the corner, I know the fangirling is going UP a notch or two, because I have people to turn to!

    Other series that have made my heart soar: Wolves of Mercy Falls, Fire and Thorns, Anna (duology), Cahill Witch Chronicles, and Unearthly. *sigh* :)

    Marlene @ The Flyleaf Review

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    1. Oh, Marlene, you crack me up! I love all of this. YES. So you haven't read Cress? When you do, TWEET ME. DM ME. EMAIL ME. SOMETHING ME. I'm here. Because that book. GAH, I liked it better than Scarlet!

      Besides Fire and Thorns, I haven't read ANY of those. I want to read Unearthly so that may be next and I know who to turn to for my feeeeeels now ;)

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    2. Hahahaha :) Oh, I'll totally come find you once I finish Cress! I'll definitely NEED to discuss FEELINGS. Better than Scarlet? What are you doing to me, Summer? My NEED for this book is already too great. :P

      Yesss. Unearthly! The first two installments are very strong, and the final installment is full of excitement and urgency. Though the ending doesn't wrap up neatly, I still enjoyed the ride tremendously. But start with Unearthly to see how you feeeeel! Hope you enjoy! :)

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    3. GOOD. Because I don't think I'll ever get sick of discussing feelings. I KNOW. It's just wonderful. My sister is reading my copy or I so would let you borrow it. It's just...it's like happiness or tension all wrapped up together.

      It does sound like an exciting ride! *dances*

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  5. Love this post, Sunny! I like nothing better than fangirling over books that make me feel all the feels. :D From your list, Shadow and Bone was the one that made me fangirl like crazy. I am so, so excited for R & R. I hope Alina and Mal get the HEA they deserve. <3

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    1. Thanks, Renu! I AM SO CONFLICTED. I liked Mal and now I'm eh on him. All my heart does is STURMHOND STURMHOND STURMHOND.

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  6. LOVE THIS. I can definitely relate the steps of pushing the book onto others xD Especially with TV shows because they are so long running, I force them upon EVERYONE. First, my family then my friends haha. Because you've got to have someone to share the feelings, you know? ;) Great post!

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    1. I definitely get that! Oh, TV shows. They are so easy to get wild over. You just keep binging on the episodes!

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  7. One-sentence story time: A while ago, I stopped typing "LOL" and started hyping "haha" because I felt kind of fake saying LOL when I wasn't actually laughing out loud, which I usually wasn't.

    This post, though, is one of those rare occasions on which I could say LOL and be completely honest.

    But seriously, you totally captured the fangirl experience here. I do step five all the time, adding some hyperventilation to the mix as well.The only thing that's hard for me is step four because I don't really have any in-person people who understand my fangirl-y feelings. Sometimes I fangirl a little to my mom, and because she is my mom, she listens to me politely. :) But I'm not sure how I survived before I had blogger friends.

    *fangirls*

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    1. I can't even put into words my expression and feelings on this. This made me giggle. I think it's great to make you actually LOL. I agree, I only put LOL if something is truly funny enough to make me laugh.

      I get that. For true fangirling emotions, I turn to Shae. To push the book on somebody, I scour for somebody, but I agree with not being able to survive without blogger friends.

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  8. You crack me up. This is a fun post! I love when a book can get me to fangirl status. I don't fangirl to anyone in my real life though ... well, except for Doctor Who. That's bad enough. lol.

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    1. Ha, thanks, Christy! I really need to get into Doctor Who someday.

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  9. Bahaha I definitely am doing this a lot! Plus swooning nonstop maybe, if the boy MC is such a heartthrob? :) And ooh I Fangirled a lot too over THG :D And I'm really wanting to read These Broken Stars, and from what I've heard, I'll be most definitely fangirling too over this one!
    Nice post, Sunny!

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  10. You've made me realize something, Summer. I don't think I allow myself to fangirl NEARLY enough. And I'm weirdly kind of private in my fangirling. I mean, I share books and I push books and I update my status, but sometimes I'm so in love with a book that I just CAN'T STOP READING to spread my love like you're saying. But I hope that my adoration comes through in my reviews. Such a cute post, Summer...I think your fangirling is beyond adorable. :)

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    1. Express yourself, Jen! Actually, I really get that. There are sometimes when I don't even post a GR update until I'm DONE with the book because I can't stop. But I realized that it actually makes me feel great when I can express myself periodically so that it's not pent up or whatever, you know?
      *blushes*

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