Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Homeschooled for "hippie reasons" in the deep south, Felicia Day was a gifted student who was admitted to college at the age of 16 and graduated as valedictorian with a math degree but struggled in social situations unless they were over the internet. After moving to Hollywood to be an actress and struggling to find roles that spoke to her, she with help from friends she met online, decided to create her own web series The Guild, about gaming culture and became an internet star as a result. This memoir tells her story. Review: While not overly familiar with The Guild , other than watching a few episodes, I am a Felicity Day fan from her time on Supernatural and do follow her on social media. I recently read her graphic novel, The Lost Daughter of Sparta and enjoyed it enough to give her memoir You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) a try. I finished reading it this morning and was glad I did. Day's life story is an interesting one. She was a brilli...

Synopsis: Falling in love with acting when she first saw Jimmy Stewart in a movie, Carol Burnett go on to pursue her dream, starting on Broadway and eventually becoming one of the most recognizable people on television. This memoir talks about her decades-long career, the people she met and the memories she made along the way. Review: Even though I am pretty sure they were all re-runs by that point, I remember watching quite a few episodes of The Carol Burnett Show when I was a child. While I don't know if I could necessarily say it was my favorite show growing up (it might have been a little too adult) I do remember enough of the skits to understand why it was a popular series and, now that I'm older, how it was just one of the reasons she is an icon today. As a result, when I came across her memoir This Time Togethe r, at the library, I decided to check it out and read it. After finishing the book last night, I can say I both enjoyed it and have gained even more of an appre...

Synopsis: Born during World War II and growing up as part of a working-class family in Northern England, Patrick Stewart discovered a love for theater as a teenager and eventually gave up a potential career in journalism to pursue his passion full-time. His memoir describes his journey from being a background stage actor with no lines to being recognized world-wide for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and various starring movie roles, including the failures and regrets that came with his eventual fame. Review: While I have never considered myself a "Trekkie" I did enjoy STNG and do still occasionally watch a rerun of the series when I come across one. Plus, 2000's X-Men remains one of my favorite superhero films. As a result of this, when I came across Making it So at my local library, I had to read it. The book did not disappoint. I was probably more surprised than I should have been at the book spending much more time talk...

Synopsis: This non-fiction book, which is part author memoirs, addresses the subject of racism and argues the best way to defeat it is to adopt "antiracist" thoughts and actions, beginning with racist government policies. Review: One thing that surprised me about becoming a parent is how much my daughters, especially my oldest daughter, challenge me to re-think the thoughts and opinions I used to take for granted. As a result of this, I have been making more of an effort to expand my reading list so it includes voices I might not otherwise have read. That is a big reason why I ended up checking out this book from our library. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from this book. The title sounded interesting but, at the same time, I wondered just how much time the author would spend rehashing the same arguments I've heard dozens of times before (many of which I already agree with). As it turns out, this ended up being a book that made me question some of my prev...

Synopsis: In 1841, Solomon Northup, a free black man living in New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Unable to tell anyone the truth about his origins out of fear for his life, Solomon has his name changed to Platt and spends the next dozen years enslaved by multiple masters with varying levels of cruelty. Review: I'm not really sure why it took me so long to read this book but it wound up staying off my radar, even after someone based a movie off of it (which I also haven't seen). That changed recently when I came across the book at the library and, not currently having anything else in particular I was looking for, I decided to read it.  I now regret waiting so long. It's one thing to learn about slavery in the United States from history books. It's a completely other thing to learn about it from memoirs written by someone who experienced it first hand and, after finally doing so, I don't think I will ever be able to think about that period in our histor...