After finishing Geek Girl rising I find myself a bit torn about how to rate it.

On one hand, I think the book has a very noble and much needed focus -giving more exposure to the rising female players in the tech world ranging from entrepreneurs to investors to the young CS and engineering students who will come next. It's very clear that Cabot and Walravens put a lot of time into interviews and research for the book and truly worked to find players of different roles, backgrounds and ethnicities. I also think it leaves you with an optimistic outlook on women in tech and could be especially powerful for teen, college, or early 20-something women who are considering the Tech field but are nervous about what to expect or how to succeed.

On the other hand, even as someone who went into the book excited about the subject matter, I found my interest waned while reading this. I think I admire the intent of the book more than I like the actual book itself. Chapters seemed to bleed from one to the next and at times felt very repetitive. I wanted the book to have a stronger point of view or greater depth, but a lot of the time it felt like it skimmed the surface of describing stories, projects, or conferences at a high level. I think I might have liked this better if the book had gone deep rather than broad as there were many women who seemed deeply interesting or unexpected.

Overall, for me, this was unfortunately just okay. I REALLY appreciate the authors doing all the in-depth research, but it missed the mark for me.

Geek Girl Rising is all about females working in tech. It features Debbie Sterling who started GoldieBlox which is a product that I haven't tried but absolutely LOVE the idea of - an engineering toy for girls - that I absolutely wish was around for me when I was younger! Also featured is Ipsy, the lead software developer of Pinterest, and a bunch of other kick ass women in tech. It talks a bit about sexism and overcoming to work in the field (this is a HUGE thing that unfortunately most women in this field have to put up with and overcome) and I love what they are doing! There definitely is room for females in the tech industry and a lot of really smart ones out there who are moving up the ranks as well as creating their own companies. There are a lot of great role models out there and this book focuses on a few of them.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

KGNU's (Denver/Boulder public radio, www.kgnu.org) Claudia Cragg talks with Heather Cabot and Samantha Walravens about their book that tells the story of the women who haven't asked for permission from Silicon Valley to chase their dreams.

They are going for it -- building the next generation of tech start-ups, investing in each other's ventures, crushing male hacker stereotypes and rallying women and girls everywhere to join the digital revolution.

GEEK GIRL RISING by Heather Cabot and Samantha Walravens is a very engaging look "inside the sisterhood shaking up tech." I am particularly excited to share the link to many profiles and resources at GeekGirlRising.com . This book will be a great inspiration for our students through the sharing of stories and accomplishments of many women. A few examples include Sheila Marcelo, founder of Care.com and Michelle Phan, creator of the e-commerce cosmetics company Ipsy.

The authors certainly relate the importance of women supporting other women, but this idea could be expanded even further to highlight the unique perspective which women often bring to project teams. We know that "Diversity Makes you Brighter" and businesses, particularly those in the tech sector, should be motivated by their own self-interest to take steps to actively encourage more women and minorities.

Links in Post:
https://geekgirlrising.com/resources/
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/opinion/diversity-makes-you-brighter.html

This would likely be more interesting to someone within the tech field. I was mildly interested from an outsider perspective, but it wasn't enough to make me love this book.

As I continue on my journey of infusing more nonfiction into my 2017 reading challenge, I am attempting to ensure that a wide variety of topics are explored within that genre. Thank goodness for NetGalley , otherwise, I might have overlooked this book. Geek Girl Rising is a well researched and detailed exploration of women( mostly concentrated in the United States) that are breaking new ground in terms of entrepreneurship and technology. The authors explore the barriers that have existed in the past and linger in the present, the struggles particular to women in the tech world and the growing energy spreading across the country in an effort to draw more women and girls.

The chapters( maybe better to refer to them as articles) were well paced and I read the book with ease. BUT I have to give it a three star because I felt in some ways that there was a lot of name dropping( Make me the reader care) coupled with trying to highlight many of the battles that women face in any profession( even the female dominated ones). I wasn't really surprised that "geek girls" would come up against the same type of struggles. On the other hand, I do understand that the authors are trying to bring to our attention that there is a lot more shaking up to be done in the tech world.

All in all, a good vehicle to begin the discussion, but let's go deeper!

I felt that the title was somewhat misleading, since much of the book focused on female entrepreneurs. Interesting, but I expected to read about “geek girls,” more tech savvy women thriving in a male dominated field. Descriptions of these women in Louboutin shoes, designer clothing, and fashionable haircuts joining pricey exclusive clubs was not what I was expecting. I was, however, very interested in the stories of women working in STEM careers and creating tech opportunities for themselves and women in the future.