I like dowels. I have a small cherry wood bookcase I made in high school, 10th grade. That would be 1953-4. No nails, no screws, just held together with dowels, and glue, and the dowel holes were drilled with the latest model of drill guide, and a brace and bit. It is in my front room, and is in just as good a shape as when I made it, except the cherry has darkened - which is to be expected. Got a guide of my own some time back, and have had my brace and bit for some time longer than that. Nothing like modern equipment for woodworking.