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: The 1980 film Airplane! is a movie that has inspired generations of comedy films despite casting actors that, up until that point, had no comedic experience. This book, written by the men who made the movie, tells the story of how the film came to be along with behind-the-scenes tidbits. Review: I first saw Airplane! when I was too young to understand why a good chunk of the jokes were supposed to be funny. As I got older and re-watched the film easily a dozen or more times, I began to appreciate both the comedy and the cultural impact the movie had. So, when I came across Surely You Can't Be Serious at the library, I decided to check it out. I was not disappointed by this choice. The thing that I like most about this book is how it is how the story is told by the people who were involved with the film instead of someone telling the story second-hand. The anecdotes relating to how the film came to be and what happened when the cameras weren't rolling just hit diff...

Synopsis: Born into poverty but with a gift for curiosity and engineering, Rudolf Diesel took full advantage of his unlikely opportunity for an education and used his gifts to invent, among other things, an engine that was a technological masterpiece, making him a millionaire. However, Diesel's rags-to-riches story ended with a mystery after he disappeared September 30, 1913. This non-fiction book tells his story, the story of those who were impactful in his life and the days following his disappearance. Review: I didn't have any books on hold the last time I was at the library so, after picking out one from an author I was familiar with and a second one that I later discovered I didn't like enough to even make it past the second chapter, I visited the non-fiction section. The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel stood out as I passed one of the shelves, so I figured I'd give it a try. It turned out to be an interesting read. To be honest, prior to reading this book, I d...

Synopsis: Thanks to books and movies, the word Viking generates certain images and ideas for most people. This non-fiction book explores the Viking legend and the history of the Scandinavian people it originates from.   Review: I'm not a big impulse shopper but that doesn't really apply whenever I'm in our local library and happen to see a book that I think would be interesting. That was the case when I checked out Embers of the Hands a couple weeks ago, while there to pick up a book I had on hold. After reading it, I would consider it a good impulse decision. The Viking Age is an intriguing part of human history because, while there is so much influenced by the sea-voyaging Scandinavians that fit that description, there is also very little actually known about them because, as this book notes, a lot of Viking history was written down by the people they conquered (and didn't have incentive to get the information right). The author of this book tries to correct that w...

Synopsis: Like thousands of women, Diane Evans served as a nurse during the Vietnam War, patching up wounded straight from the front lines and often being the last face a soldier saw before he died. In 1983, 14 years after returning home, Diane found a new mission, making sure she and the women volunteers she served with received the same recognition as the men. While doing so, she was forced to do the one thing she had been avoiding, talk about what she had experienced.  Review: One of my mom's friends had given her a copy of Healing Wounds and it looked intriguing enough for me to ask her for an opportunity to read it when she was finished. I managed to read through the book in a fairly quick amount of time and can only describe it as inspirational. One thing I learned when studying history is women's accomplishments are often diminished or even forgotten when the end result favors men. This is especially true when it comes to the history of war, when women are barely ment...

Synopsis: For 17 years, Ana Montes worked as a defense analyst for the Pentagon, keeping tabs on Cuba. Little did her superiors know, she was actually working as a spy, passing information to the Cuban government. This non-fiction book covers her story along with the story of her younger sister, Lucy, who as an FBI agent, played a role in Ana being convicted Review: I saw Code Name Blue Wren in our library's "new book" section and, deciding it sounded interesting, gave it a try. It took me a little while to read because of interruptions but wound up being an interesting book. This story sounds like something out of a spy novel, with Ana betraying her country and her younger sister (along with other family members who joined the FBI) playing a part in her arrest. The fact it was a true story only makes it all that much more interesting. I liked how the author took the time to tell the story from both points of view, discussing the sisters' childhood, how they both w...

Synopsis: This non-fiction book discusses 365 separate world events in history that took place on each day of the year, with a bit of profanity thrown in. Review: I'm always a bit hesitant when someone gives me a book to read as a present. I tend to be a bit picky in that regard and more often than not, find I lose interest in books I didn't pick out myself. I was worried that would be the case when my wife gave me this book for Christmas, but it ended up exceeding my expectations. The author has an intriguing way of discussing the world events. This includes not holding back when it comes to the profanity as he slips in his opinion (good or bad, usually bad) regarding things that happened and the people who were responsible for those events. I will admit, at first, this was something that made me doubt whether I'd enjoy the book. But as I progressed through it and became desensitized to some of the crudeness, I was able to admit it made reading the book more enjoyable, a...

Synopsis: Even though Marguerite (Meg) Steinheil didn't consider herself a prostitute, she rose to prominence in 19th century France by performing sexual favors for prominent men in exchange for them purchasing her husband's paintings and even entered a love affair with France's president. When her husband and mother were murdered, and she was found tied to a bed, authorities suspected she was lying about what happened and was possibly involved. However, proving that would result in a scandal that could potentially embarrass the country. Review: This was a book I randomly checked out the last time I was at our local library. It wasn't anything I had heard about previously but looked somewhat interesting, so I figured I'd give it a try. It ended up being an entertaining read. There were a couple things that I found interesting about this book. One of the main ones was how Meg was put in a position where she effectively needed to be the breadwinner because her artis...

Synopsis: Retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis reviews nine specific naval conflicts in our nation's history and the nine heroes that went above and beyond while facing insurmountable odds. Review: This was in the new books section of my local library a few days ago and, mostly because it sounded somewhat unique (especially since it was written by a retired admiral), I decided to give it a try. I finished it last night and think it was a great choice. While the book doesn't give every single detail about the heroes he writes about, it does a great job of giving a solid and detailed summary of who those people were, what they did and why they deserve recognition. Some of the people he writes about, like John Paul Jones, were people who were familiar to me. Others, like Doris "Dorrie" Miller, were complete strangers but, even if I had heard of the person before, I still learned something new. I especially liked reading Miller's story because Stavridis didn...

Synopsis: Well-renown surgeon and conservative icon Ben Carson gives his view on race relations in America as well as subjects like critical race theory and George Floyd's death at the hands of police officers. Review: As a moderate independent, I try to keep an open mind and read books/articles written by people from both ends of the spectrum. That's why, when I came across this book at the library, I was intrigued enough to check it out. Since I was familiar enough with Ben Carson to know his basic political views, I pretty much knew what to expect from the book. However, I also hoped a conservative, black, doctor would offer a slightly unique viewpoint about racism in America and how to solve it. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case. To be fair, there were a couple things that did stand out for me when reading this book, such as his stories about the racism he faced when he was a child and how his white teachers hated the fact he was doing better than the whit...

Synopsis : This non-fiction book tells the story about the United States' involvement in Vietnam, with an emphasis on "The Year of the Hawk," 1965. The book includes explanations about the country's history and political and military decisions that resulted in one of America's biggest military failures. Review: I hadn't planned on checking out a non-fiction book when I was at the library last week. However, I saw this book in the "new book" section and, after glancing at it, decided to give it a try. Overall, I have to say I enjoyed reading it. I think one of the hardest things about writing about a conflict like Vietnam is finding a way to balance the truth about what happened with the desire not to insult the military personnel who fought and/or died in that conflict. Being the son of a Vietnam veteran, I was concerned the book wouldn't be able to find that balance but, after reading it, I think the author did just that. I personally enjoyed h...

Synopsis: As a child, Chris Multerer watched professional wrestling whenever he had a chance and, as an adult, had an opportunity to turn his love for pro wrestling into a 10-year career as a "jobber," a wrestler whose job it was to make the stars look good. In this autobiography, he shares the highlights from his career. Review: I didn't plan on checking out a non-fiction book when I was at the library. In fact, the only thing I had planned on checking out was another Perry Mason mystery. However, while waiting for my kids to get their books, I happened to see this one on display and decided to get it. I don't know if I ever was a die-hard professional wrestling fan and I certainly don't watch it very often today. However, growing up, I did enjoy watching matches from the American Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Federation, at least on occasion.  I have also read multiple autobiographies from well-known wrestlers and was intrigued about a book written...

Synopsis: This non-fiction book shares details of the various gun battles that took place in the American West, focusing both on outlaws and lawmen that either become legendary or were largely forgotten. Review: I came across this book at our local library a couple weeks ago and, even though it was a subject I didn't have much interest in, decided to check it out anyway. As it turns out, I enjoyed this book a lot more than expected. The author does a good job of mixing historical fact with storytelling, making it seem almost as though he was watching the gunbattles in person and making the various participants seem very much alive. This made the book a lot easier to read than if it was just a bunch of facts being written out on the page. I found I was impressed with the way the author also managed to be mostly unbiased when discussing the outlaws, focusing on their actions without necessarily painting them as heroes (as a lot of movies and books will do). In other words, even whe...

Synopsis: Since the end of the Civil War, black farmers have struggled to prosper under an inequitable system that has (both intentionally and unintentionally) given an advantage to white farmers. The book tells their story from the ratification of the 13th Amendment through a groundbreaking class-action lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture in 1997. Review: I wasn't planning on picking up a non-fiction book when I was at the library a few days ago. However, as I passed the new book section on my way to check out, this one caught my eye. It looked somewhat interesting so I added it to my pile. When I first started reading this book, I did have some doubts about it. Since it was written by a lawyer who was involved in one of the class-action settlements against the USDA, I was expecting it to be more about him and his role and not necessarily the people he was representing. Fortunately, as it turns out, I was wrong. The thing that really impressed me about th...

Synopsis: Written language is one of mankind's greatest inventions but became much more useful when our ancient ancestors figured out how to make it easily portable. Through a series of essays written by multiple experts, this compilation tells the history of "books" from the use of clay tablets through modern times. Review: I came across this book while looking for something to read at our local library. While it isn't something that would likely be appealing to a lot of people, I did think it was an interesting subject and decided to give the book a try. I wasn't disappointed. It's not something that gets thought about a lot, but the written language would be relatively useless if we hadn't found a way to make it easy to transport from one place to another. Today, that's relatively easy, especially with the World Wide Web but, in ancient times, the methods were much more limited. As a result, I enjoyed reading about how those ancient civilizations ...

Synopsis : When Elizabeth Tudor was named queen of England in 1558, her kingdom was on the verge of financial ruin and her life was under constant threat from those who did not want to see her in power. This non-fiction book tells the story of how she used private merchant vessels and pirates to rebuild the kingdom and turn it into an empire. Review: I was in the mood to read something educational and, now that our library has re-opened following a COVID-related shut down, I took the time to visit the non-fiction section. This book looked somewhat interesting, so I decided to give it a try. Overall, I have to say I was happy with that decision. The book, as advertised, does go into detail about Elizabeth's dealings with the likes of Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. However, as I read the book, I found I was less interested in them than I was Elizabeth herself and, in particular, how she used an amazing amount of cunning to keep the wolves from getting in the door. The aut...

Synopsis: In the early 19th century, disgraced former vice president Aaron Burr sought to take advantage of civil unrest in the western part of the fledgling United States by forming an army, conquering land and forming his own country. He was eventually accused and stood trial for treason. This non-fiction book examines the conspiracy and the players that were involved. You can read my review here:  https://wizzley.com/book-review-aaron-burr-conspiracy-to-treason-2001/