Review: Nerdy Thirty by Wendy Townley

I met Wendy at this year’s Big Omaha. Even before I knew exactly what they were for, I had seen several of the postcard/advertisements for her book around the event space. And, when she got up to ask a question during one of the panels, as soon as I heard the title for her book, I knew I needed to meet with her. After all, while many of the GA staff might not be 30 (though some of us are getting dangerously close) we all understand what it’s like to be a nerdy or geeky female.

Nerdy Thirty, is a collection of short essays from Townley’s blog that she’s compiled into a novel. Each essay speaks to some personal experience about being a female with a nerdy side; from those painfully awkward childhood and teenage years that we all have to go through, up to the times leading up to that inevitable 3-0 for the author. Interesting to me specifically, is that many of the topics in the book’s 13 essays involve discussion about Wendy’s love for writing and publishing. The book itself was born only after several years of blogging about her life at http://wendywriter.wordpress.com.

The book itself is short, coming in just shy of 100 pages. However, each of essays is packed with humorous outtakes about being a woman, a writer, a nerd. Personally, I think what’s more striking about the book is Townley’s honesty. There’s a sort of no-holds-barred sort of attitude about how she presents herself as well as her life, including relationships. Being honest means that not everything’s painted with the sort of rose-tinting that we tend to get about our childhood as we get older. It’s an honest reflection on tough times or painful experiences; situations many of us can relate to despite the specifics. I think one of the best reflections of this is the one titled “As it Happened So Far – in 2,500 Words (and Counting)” somewhere about the middle of the book. It’s a string of short snippets that carry the reader through a quick glance at the author’s life, and the little events that have created the life she has now, including her journey to discover how much she loves writing.

That is followed by the one called, “Losing my Internet Virginity” which I think so many of us, male and female, can relate to no matter when we came to the internet. I know, that while reading how she got her start online, I felt a similar sort of nostalgia thinking about my first forays into internet communities, and all the online experiences that eventually led me here, to GamingAngels.

I have only two critiques about Nerdy Thirty. First, that it’s not nearly long enough. And that second, I would’ve loved for at least one essay to talk more about her love for Nintendo. Hopefully, in the future, I’ll be able to get more out of her on her gaming background, since it’s only mentioned in passing in the book.

If you’re interested in learning more about Wendy or her book Nerdy Thirty, check out the book’s website: http://nerdythirty.com/