| Title | : | You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1476785651 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781476785653 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 |
| Publication | : | First published August 11, 2015 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Humor (2015) |
The Internet isn’t all cat videos. There’s also Felicia Day—violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely homeschooled girl who overcame her isolated childhood to become the ruler of a new world... or at least semi-influential in the world of Internet Geeks and Goodreads book clubs.
After growing up in the south where she was "home-schooled for hippie reasons", Felicia moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and was immediately typecast as a crazy cat-lady secretary. But Felicia’s misadventures in Hollywood led her to produce her own web series, own her own production company, and become an Internet star.
Felicia’s short-ish life and her rags-to-riches rise to Internet fame launched her career as one of the most influential creators in new media. Now, Felicia’s strange world is filled with thoughts on creativity, video games, and a dash of mild feminist activism—just like her memoir.
Hilarious and inspirational, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is proof that everyone should embrace what makes them different and be brave enough to share it with the world, because anything is possible now—even for a digital misfit.
You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) Reviews
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A couple months ago, a little bird on the internet let me know that Felicia Day was writing a memoir.
And honestly? I didn't know how to feel about that.
Don't get me wrong, I was happy for her. I love books, and it makes me happy when one of my friends is writing one. It makes me even happier when one of their books is getting published. It's like they're getting to have a baby but with only a fraction of the nausea and weight gain.
What's more, I'm a fan of Felicia's. She's done a lot of work that I really enjoy. Not just acting (Dr. Horrible is still close to my heart after all these years) but the work she's done as a writer and producer has really impressed me.
But at the same time, I was scared. Because… well… I love books. And I can be a very critical person. And when I'm revising my own work, trying to read a book for pleasure can be like feeding it into an angry woodchipper because my critical faculties are already engaged.
When someone I like comes out with a book, I'm always nervous. What will I say if I don't like it?
It's not that I was worried about the quality of her writing. Far from it. I enjoyed the hell out of the Guild, and that was the pure child of her brain. But there's a big difference between writing a screen play and writing a novel. Things people say on a screen and words you read on the page aren't the same. And there's a big difference between a writing a season of episodes and a book-length manuscript.
Even so, I went out of my way to get an advance reading copy of the book. It's one of the few genuine powers I possess as an author, and I abuse it at every opportunity.
Then, with some trepidation, I started reading.
Within just a couple pages I felt myself relax. The writing was good. Better than that, actually. It turns out Felicia's delightful turn of phrase translated really well to the printed page. It actually made me laugh out loud in places. In fact, I think I might have laughed out loud more reading this book than any book I've read in years.
It helps that the book is absolutely written in Felicia's own voice, and that voice is delightful: charming and earnest. What's more, she's led a strange life and isn't bashful talking about it with disarming honesty.
But of all the things I liked in this book (and I liked a lot of them) my favorite thing was the fact that Felicia doesn't shy away from discussing the dysfunctional parts of herself. She talks about them plainly, and goes into detail about how they've screwed up her life from time to time.
Sometimes this these stories are funny, whimsical, bizarre. But there were a few chapters that stunned me. Chapters where I thought, "Wow, you feel that way too? I didn't know…"
And that, perhaps, is the best thing a book can do for us sometimes. It can help us feel like we are less alone.
So, is this book worth your time? Yes. Very yes.
I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone, whether or not you know or care who Felicia Day is. In fact, I plan on picking up some copies as gifts, and I'm going to give them away the same way I did Jenny Lawson's last book.
My one regret is that I didn't get my act together quickly enough to give Felicia a promotional blurb. But judging by the other folks who are already there (George R.R. Martin, Jenny Lawson, Ernie Cline, John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow...) it doesn't look like she was hurting for endorsements.
Hell. Looking online, I see that the finished version actually has an Foreword by Joss Whedon. I'm going to have to buy a new copy just so I can read *that.*
So yeah. Give it a try. Seriously. -
Updated September 11, 2015: Before I get too far into this review, I just want to state, for the record, Felicia Day has said that she does not really like being dubbed ‘The Queen of the Internet’ or ‘The Queen of the Geeks’ or whatever crown we the people want to bestow upon her, but the fact that she comes unwillingly to power only makes her more worthy, honestly. I do feel a bit bad about potentially making her feel more anxious over this responsibility we’ve all thrust on her, but she’s so awesome, I can’t even help myself.
The most awesome thing about Felicia Day, though, isn’t how smart or funny or creative or unapologetically weird or whatever other thing she is that also happens to be very true. The most awesome thing about Felicia Day is how when you’re watching her video content or reading her book reviews or watching her hang out with her friends and talk about dirty books on her internet book club, or reading this very book, all that “I am BFF with Joss Whedon and I have awesome hair and I created The Guild with my brain” stuff just goes out the window, and she instantly just becomes a human person you can relate to.
Bottom line: this isn’t a celebrity memoir all about how awesome it was to create The Guild and meet and befriend other famous people and how it is to be famous and me me me me. This is a memoir that happens to have been written by a celebrity.
I feel like that’s an important difference to highlight, mostly because the way she does it (besides just being herself on paper, I guess) is by allowing herself to be vulnerable. I loved all the stuff about her childhood and growing up homeschooled and weird, and her stories about college, but where this book really shines is when she arrives in Hollywood. She talks about her addiction to World of Warcraft, the process of creating The Guild, and living and working in L.A., but the stories she tells about that time are ones we as the audience didn’t get to see if all we’ve done is know her through her content. These parts aren’t just the story of how she overcame Hollywood typecasting to create her own niche and pioneer the creation of online video, although that is part of it. Mostly, it’s the story of how she dealt with all of that stuff through her own insecurities, production difficulties, anxiety and health issues . . . all the stuff you can’t see just by looking at the results. Talking about everything that happened to her in this way brings everything she’s accomplished down to the human level, and the book is all the better for it.
And oh, man. The chapter where she talks about writing that very first Guild script . . . I was genuinely having a crisis while reading it, because the parts where she’s all depressed and in a rut and filling the void in her life with World of Warcraft, never bringing herself to actually do the things she wants to do . . . it was like she was IN MY HEAD. I don’t want to go into it here because this review is not a therapy space, but reading what she did, and accomplished after pushing herself past that point . . . honest to God, you guys, I know this is going to sound cheesy as hell, but it was INSPIRATIONAL. It was a kick in the pants.
This isn’t a comedy memoir, but in parts it is very funny. Not every joke lands, but even when they don’t, it’s more like when you have a friend who tells a joke and you just sort of roll your eyes lovingly at them and move on with your life. And this isn’t one of those memoirs written just because a publishing company wanted to give a famous person a book deal, either. Felicia has actually accomplished some really awesome things. She is a pioneer, and it’s awesome that her story is on the official record now.
I read this in hard copy (actually bought my own instead of borrowing it from the library, which is a decision I don’t regret in the slightest), but I’ve heard so many good things about the audio version, I know I’ll be checking it out in the near future, also.
I feel like this review is all over the place, and it took me forever to write because I knew it was going to be one of the top reviews over on GR, just because I posted a silly GIF of Felicia throwing money into the air when the book was first announced and everybody gave me likes. So hopefully everybody who gave me likes for that is okay with their life decisions after reading this.
Anyway, who cares. Go read Felicia’s book if you are even marginally familiar with her or her work*. Heck, maybe even if you aren’t. But definitely check out The Guild if you haven’t yet. That there’s a good time.
*Just in case you have no knowledge of Ms. Day, here’s a quick overview of the big stuff: A season long arc on Buffy the Vampire Slayer; guest spots on House, Dollhouse, Monk, Undeclared; extended arcs on Supernatural and Eureka; web series The Guild (of course), Dragon Age: Redemption, Legend of Neil, Husbands; she was one of the leads in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog; and all of her stuff on her Geek & Sundry YouTube channel: Co-Optitude (she plays video games with her brother, and I love it), Tabletop (this is Wil Wheaton’s show, but she’s on it a bunch), and her vlog The Flog; and of course, she’s going to be in Alan Tudyk’s upcoming comedy series, Con Man, which I backed! She’s also written several comic books for Dark Horse, and now, this book!
Updated August 13, 2015: This was really good! I read it super fast and got really emotional while reading about Felicia being really emotional. I will probably have lots and lots to say about it, but for now BRB going to start a Guild rewatch. And also . . . go to bed. I am up waaaay past my bedtime. Thanks, Felicia.
December 10, 2014: The queen of the internet! Shespeakspublishes! Quick, give her all your moneys.
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A funny, honest, and surprisingly brave book. As many reviewers have noted, Felicia Day doesn’t shy away from candid discussion of issues like anxiety and the extreme amount of pressure she puts on herself at times, which I think can be tremendously inspirational for readers dealing with the same issues in their daily lives. What resonated for me was her journey from a math and violin prodigy to actress and Internet pioneer. This isn’t a point she made explicitly, but it takes a tremendous amount of courage and determination to make that kind of transition; to abandon the familiar trajectory of academic excellence, and venture into a career in an industry notoriously fraught with uncertainty. Brava!
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i don't read "autobiography" a lot but this book was recommended to me and i don't regret reading it :D ! GOOD JOB queen of the geeks :) , i've known Felicia day for her role "Charlie" in the Supernatural TV show :D i loved her ever since , she is funny,Cute , Nerd she got the whole package
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The audiobook was very nice to listen to, it felt like having one sided conversation with someone in a way like telling us her story as if she’s talking normally with all the enthusiasm, sad tones, jokes, well.. just like how a person might be animated in a conversation while telling something. The audio was definitely the right choice for me.
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LIST OF V. IMPORTANT DEMANDS FOR THE FELICIA DAY MEMOIR:
1. More pre-teen Felicia Day game poetry.
2. A section on that time Felicia Day took "sexy" photos to send to boys she met on the internet.
3. Those photos included.
PLS N THX.
______________________
UPDATE: Hey, everything I wanted was in the book! Glad I choose audio too, it was great hearing the stories from her own voice. -
Reading this book confirmed my suspicion that Felicia Day is a manic pixie dream girl. But I mean that as a compliment.
Felicia is funny and clever and a little weird. So it makes sense that her memoir is also funny and clever and a little weird.
Felicia writes about her unusual childhood, how she was homeschooled and was an early adopter of the Internet and role-playing games, that she was a violin prodigy and started going to college when she was only 16, and about her acting career.
My favorite section was on how she created the popular Web series "The Guild," which was based on her experiences playing World of Warcraft. Felicia admits she is an anxious person (in the Foreword, Joss Whedon wrote that Felicia "makes crippling anxiety look easy") and getting up the courage to write a TV show took months. When she actually sat down and forced herself to write, it was still really hard, but she did it. This is her advice for those who want to create but who find the creative process agonizing:
Find a group to support you, to encourage you, to guilt you into DOING. If you can't find one, start one yourself. Random people enjoy having pancakes.
Make a goal. Then strike down things that are distracting you from that goal, especially video games.
Put the fear of God into yourself. Okay, I'm not religious. Whatever spiritual ideas float your boat. Read some obituaries, watch the first fifteen minutes of Up, I don't care. Just scare yourself good. You have a finite number of toothpaste tubes you will ever consume while on this planet. Make the most of that clean tooth time. For yourself.
Felicia also takes about her struggles with depression, and she addresses some of the vitriol that has come her way for being a "gamer girl." Overall I found the book amusing and interesting, and would recommend it to fans of Felicia. Like me, at the end of the book you may find yourself rooting for her and chanting, "You go, girl!"
My rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 -
4 stars!
Do you know Felicia Day? If so, where do you know her from? Personally, I am a crazy Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan since the age of 11, so I always knew her as that potential slayer in season 7. Other people may know her from the tv shows Eureka and Supernatural, or for her own show The Guild.
So as I have mentioned in other reviews, I made a New Year's Resolution to read more types of books and genres other than romance this year (as I used to read ALL genres at one point). So while I was watching Supernatural one day I saw this actress and thought, "Hey, didn't she write a book?" and promptly requested it from the library.
I lost track of the amount of times this book made me laugh. Felicia has a very strong and present voice, and I felt like I could hear her voice talking to me while I was reading. From her childhood being raised in homeschool, to her college experiences, and her efforts to make her show The Guild.
My favorite part of this book was the parts about her childhood and college experience. I found I could relate to some of what she was going through, despite our very different upbringing. Some of the parts about gaming went way over my head, because I'm not a gamer. Wish I was, but I am terrible at video games. They get too hard and I give up, hence I prefer books.
If you're looking for a fun, quirky, different kind of reading experience, this is the book for you. Now I am off to go and watch The Guild. :D -
Excruciatingly honest memoir from Felicia Day about her quirky childhood, gaming addiction, cultural attitudes online, and life long struggle with anxiety and other mental health issues. She reminded me a great deal of Jenny Lawson in her straight forward presentation of difficult topics and also in her exuberant storytelling style. And, in many other ways, she reminded me of myself.
Being a female gamer is hard. There, I've said it. Not only do your female friends not want to play video games with you, but your male friends never really accept you as a legitimate gamer. You're kind of stuck in this twilight space of "this is what I love to do" but society doesn't agree that it is appropriate for you to do. Now, unlike the early days of MMORPGs, many more women play video games, and I'm sure that I'd make more female friends if I tried. But, back then in the fall of 2000, when I first got into EverQuest (one of the predecessors of WoW, the game that Felicia played), many more men played female avatars than actual women played. That's just how it went. I loved that Felicia addressed this female gamer white elephant, so to speak. There are few people who really talk about it, but it's something that I've been dealing with for a long time.
I loved her cheerful attitude, even when things got tough: "My story demonstrates that there's no better time in history to have a dream and be able to reach an audience with your art. Or just be as weird as you want to be and not have to be ashamed." pg 19 ebook. That's a pretty powerful lesson and one which artists and dreamers everywhere should know.
Felicia admits that she has very few hands-on skills, something which I also have in common with her. In this passage, she's joking about ordering coffee: "...I'm determined to enjoy the liquid indulgences of modern life. Might as well take advantage of it all before the zombie apocalypse. I have no practical skills; I'm fully aware that I'll be one of the first ones "turned." Instead of learning motorcycle repair or something else disaster-scenario useful, I'll order the drink I want until I become a shambling corpse." pg 17 ebook. I've thought about my librarianship skills and book reviewing abilities in that same light. If something catastrophic happens, I'm kind of screwed. I mean, yes, there have been favorable depictions of librarians after the apocalypse (Station Eleven comes to mind) but really, what good could I do for people struggling to survive or myself? While we're on the topic of librarians, I also enjoyed that Felicia's first "job" was working for her aunt, a librarian. She said about it: "No job since has left me feeling so well rewarded." pg 67 ebook. Aww
www....
Chapter Five: Quirky Addiction = Still an Addiction (How my obsessive personality steered me into a twelve-hour-a-day gaming addiction and an alt-life as a level 60 warlock named Codex) pg 85 ebook, was my favorite. Gaming addiction is an actual thing. I've known multiple people who dropped out of college or lost their jobs because they couldn't stop playing video games. I've also known people whose relationships started or ended because of it too. It seems silly for people who don't have any interest in video games, but it can be as destructive an addiction and as real as anything else- drugs, sex, whatever. Felicia nails the siren call of video games in this passage: "When we graduate from childhood into adulthood, we're thrown into this confusing, Cthulhu-like miasma of life, filled with social and career problems, all with branching choices and no correct answers. Sometimes gaming feels like going back to that simple kid world. pg 93 ebook. That's it, really. Do the quest, get the reward, and repeat. Real life is never that simple or straight forward.
Though she felt like she wasted a lot of time, Felicia managed to break free of her addiction and channel her passion into the hugely successfully series: The Guild. I had never watched it, but after reading this book, I binge-watched every episode. She managed to take the culture, friendships, and craziness that is online gaming and turned it into a compulsively view-able series. I loved it. If you haven't had a chance to watch it yourself, I highly recommend it. One of the overarching points of this book, and the television show, is that not only can you overcome hurdles that held you back from the life of your dreams, but you can use the very thing that was the stumbling block to move onwards. Well done, Felicia, very well done.
One last little bit that I wanted to include in this review, because it rang so true for me, was Felicia's thoughts about her struggles with mental illness. She says: "I couldn't trust my own mind anymore, which was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. pg 170 ebook. When your own internal filter, your brain, is compromised, you feel like you can't trust yourself ever again. It's as simple and as terrifying as that and, unless you go through it yourself, there's not really any good way to explain what's happened to you or why you're so afraid.
If you've ever had any struggles with anxiety or mental health issues, you may really enjoy this memoir. Also, if you enjoy online gaming or want to understand one of your loved ones who does, you may like this book. Some read-alikes: Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms by Ethan Gilsdorf, or Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise by Wil Wheaton. -
This deserves a well written review so I’ll try my best. I’m still shaking from meeting Felicia a few hours ago.
Normally when you read something funny in public you laugh or awkwardly snort every few pages, but I was commuting on the streetcar when I started reading this and I was laughing so hard I had to take breaks. After getting the third side eye look from the person occupying the seat next to me I finally just had to say “Get the book and you’d understand.” Then it was awkward but my stop was next anyway.
I expected this memoir to be funny and to feed my inner (and outer, let’s be honest) fangirl, and it did all of that, but I was surprised at how much I actually took out of it. I love video games, but I don’t think I’m at the level to consider myself a “gamer”. So what I didn’t expect was to connect so much with was the chapter on how she let World of Warcraft dominate her life to the point where it caused her anxiety, and was an addiction that was hampering what she wanted to do with her career. I was crying at that point, because I’m that crazy girl that can’t go a day without tumblr and I panic if my internet is down for more than twenty minutes when I need to check in on my fanfiction writing forum. That’s a small example but I won’t get into it. The point is that Felicia opening up about her anxieties, OCD tendencies and depression hit home really hard, but in a way that made me feel like I can get control of myself.
As someone trying to break into the film industry, I was laughing (still on the streetcar) at the chapter on filming The Guild . Searching the dump for free props and set dec because you have almost no budget? Been there. Hearing Felicia talk about going from having an interest in gaming to making it into a successful web series, and as a woman, is something I find extremely encouraging. I want to print half of her words on a T-Shirt. Or a coffee mug. Get the book and you’ll understand. While the memoir reaffirmed that the movie industry can be extremely dirty, condescending and soul crushing, I definitely have more confidence in being able to create my own work and do something with it (maybe on the web, who knows!?) after reading this.
Felicia’s standpoint on feminism was also confidence inspiring. Her views lined up with my own and it’s nice to know that there is a person with an internet influence who can advocate for that kind of positivity. There’s a good chapter on Gamergate at the end.
Felicia also shows off her mad photoshop skills, so get the book just for that!
Review on my Blog -
I'm not usually very fond of memoirs, but as a geek girl who loves Felicia Day, I had to check this one out, and it didn't disappoint. I related hard in places (weird homeschool kids unite!) and laughed or "aww"ed in others. I love her candid voice and her refusal to hold back, even when it came to touchier topics like GamerGate. If you like her work at all, I would absolutely recommend this.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go rewatch The Guild. -
Dear Felicia Day,
I too am a Southern Lady with Mississippi roots who loves logic puzzles and wants to marry a man with glasses and a dreamy accent. Can we be friends? Check yes or no.
_____Yes
_____No
_____Maybe?
OK...on to the real review. I've been a fan of Felicia Day since her Buffy and Dr. Horrible days, and I ADORE Charlie Bradbury on Supernatural , so my expectations for this were fairly high, and it still managed to surpass them. The message she delivers about the importance of following your dreams no matter what might try to hold you back and being yourself no matter how "weird" you may appear to the world comes through in a non-preachy, totally relatable, laugh-out-loud, super-smart way...and with goofy Photoshopped pictures peppered in. To use a completely overused but apt phrase, this book is made of awesome. Thanks for being the fabulous role model that you are, Ms. Day. I'll be recommending this to all my fellow nerd friends and some non-nerds too. :)
P.S.: That dress on the cover is rockin'!
*I read a digital ARC of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss. I finally feel like this library degree is paying off. ;) -
[5 Stars} How can I put a rating on Felicia Day writing about her life? Answer: I can't. This was always going to be a five star book, and seriously it did not disappoint. It made me emotional and was simultaneously so freaking inspirational. I loved it, particularly Felicia Day's narration. Seriously, listen to this!
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Speaking as an Ultima Dragon (November 21, 1993-present -- we still exist), I read this book because, well, I am an Ultima Dragon. Also, The Guild is pretty great. It was a show about "my people." I loved it for the most part. I read this to see how the discussion of the Dragons was in the book.
I was not really expecting the ableism, especially considering that Felicia Day worked with Teal Sherer on The Guild. But in the first few pages was a joke about my exact disability, which Felicia calls "palsy." I went on to discover that the first 38% of the book (thank you, technology) included a total of 10 jokes based on disability. These ran the gamut, covering tons of disabilities, including "mental retardation" in relation to cats, as well as including tasteless shit about Anne Frank (Not cool), disabled parking license plates in general, just fucking EVERYTHING. You know what, Felicia Day? I bet there was a time when you didn't consider yourself to actually be funny, and this is definitely one of those times. "Write what you know," also means, "don't insult things you know nothing about."
Felicia (Codex, Codex Dragon, whichever), this entire book could have been titled, "It Sounds Offensive, But It's Funny," which is pretty much a line you used in the book while you were making more disability references that weren't funny. Think of me as an annoying crip geek girl who can't get a stick out of her ass. I don't care. The fact is that this deserves to be called out--it was FUCKED UP and inappropriate.
Bye, Felicia
Winter Dragon (E. Lewy)
-==(UDIC)==-
ETA: And yes, I read the entire book, although it's implied I haven't in the comments on this review--I did. -
Felicia Day is an internet personality who made her name a few years ago writing/producing/starring in a Youtube show called The Guild, a comedy about nerds obsessed with a World of Warcraft-type game. She’s appeared in several mainstream shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Eureka and Supernatural in supporting roles but it��s her online video channel, Geek and Sundry, for which she’s best known.
Her first book, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), is a memoir of her short life centred around her lifelong love of computer gaming which has led her to find enormous success online, carving out a place on the internet that’s distinctly hers.
The memoir covers the usual bases: childhood, where she was homeschooled and which led to her spending time reading tons of books, writing and living in her head - all to the good of where she was heading. She talks about her awkward first kiss and going to college early, studying maths and violin, and graduating with a double award in both (though weirdly she doesn't have a high school diploma!). From there she went to Hollywood to pursue an acting career and spent most of her 20s starring in commercials and picking up the occasional small role.
But the book is mostly framed around gaming and the internet which ended up becoming her career (like most people she did nothing with her degree!). She discovered role-playing text adventure games at a young age and in her teens played Ultima Online on ye olde dial-up (remember the sounds your PC made when connecting to the internet, older people? And you couldn’t use your phone while you were online, you were charged by the hour, and if you picked up the phone while online you’d lose the connection - thank god we’re past all that!).
From there she was introduced to World of Warcraft by her brother Ryon (with whom she has an online show, Co-Optitude, where they play games, often retro, often badly, for yuks) and became heavily addicted to it. But her addiction led to The Guild, and there are worse addictions anyway, so it was worth it!
She talks about her Youtube channel, Geek and Sundry, which celebrates her love of gaming and other nerdy pastimes, as well as the pressures of producing content for it. She closes with last year’s Gamergate, where she was one of the targets, being labelled a fake gamer - apparently you can’t be a beautiful woman and a real gamer at the same time!
Some readers may be disappointed with the lack of detail in some areas of her career, notably her TV work. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she went from commercials to The Guild and that was it. She doesn’t tell stories about her TV appearances or working with Joss Whedon (who does however write the intro to this book). She also keeps a lot of her personal life with other people out of the book (I think she dated Nathan Fillion at one point but I’m not sure - it’s not mentioned anyway), though her reticence is understandable given her experience with Gamergate.
I don’t mind that she left out that stuff but I would’ve liked to know more about how she set up Geek and Sundry, the details of which are glossed over. The impression you get from the book is that the timeline basically goes from Felicia and co. producing The Guild to suddenly having this channel and infrastructure set up which is a bit abrupt. Her experiences with writing The Guild and her breakdown over the pressure of constant content production for Youtube though were very real and fascinating to read about.
The book is very accessible and easy to read - Day is a natural writer and her style is very informal, chatty and breezy, filled with photoshopped pics and screenshots of tweets. Reading it, you can easily hear her voice in the words and that’s the mark of a good writer. The pages fly by.
I don’t think it’s a book that has much crossover appeal though. I don't see total strangers picking this one up - it’s very much for her fans who already like her and what she does. Then again you could say that about most memoirs/celebrity autobiographies. Anyone unfamiliar with her might not find her story as interesting as it’s not that remarkable generally, but I think Felicia’s awesome so I enjoyed the hell out of it!
You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is a fun and inspiring story about how the internet has made possible a career for Felicia Day out of her interests, as well as making the point that the internet has given everyone the opportunity to do the same with enough hard work and talent. It’s also part of the broader narrative about how (and I hate the “g” word but I’ll use it anyway) geekdom has gone from the mocked fringes of culture to becoming the mainstream. Felicia’s corner of the internet is a part of that growing mainstream and it’s a delight, much like she is. If you like Felicia Day and her work, you’ll love this book. -
I read this book purely on the merit of its good reviews, not knowing who Felicia Day was or really what the book would be about. I really tend to avoid non-fiction, but occasionally delve into the genre when I spot a good cover, title or an intriguing premise for a memoir.
While, at times, I felt Day was whacking me over the head with her perpetual insistence that she is nerdy and quirky and unique, I did feel that she meant well. I don't play video games and never watched her online series, so parts of this book didn't particularly touch me. What I did find interesting was to read about someone building their career on an online presence, and excitement for this new medium of spreading information/entertainment (new in the 90s, I mean, not now...though even now, to me largely inexplicable) As someone who is just getting the hang of certain social media, I was intrigued to hear about how she built her whole brand this way, and that, despite her success, her need for perfection drove her into a state of depression. There is a balance of seriousness and lightheartedness in book, but ultimately, I had expected something that would have me laughing aloud, looking like a big weirdo in the Metro, and that didn't happen. Still, it was short and easy, and might be an absolute thrill for rabid Felicia Day fans (it seems there are quite a few).
Find more reviews and bookish fun at
http://www.princessandpen.com -
You'll like this if you're any of the following:
-female
-love WoW/gaming
-an honor student
-a band/orchestra geek
-have anxiety or depression
-like 90s throwbacks
-frequent the Internet
-tired of memoirs with crappy writing -
I had heard about Felicia Day,but didn't knew much about her before I started reading this book. I wasn't sure how it would turn out because I always find memoirs weird;that's the reason I hadn't read any memoir before this one.
But then I came across this book,and the first thing I noticed was the title and cover.The book was also nominated for best Humor,and that's what I was looking for;a light and funny read.So yes,I was intrigued because it was based on Felicia's journey of her career which included Video Games,Acting,and many more things which I found very cool!
Along with some hilarious moments of her life,it also discussed many serious issues a person faces in real life,so while laughing at the funny situations,I also learned a lot from her experience,and I am really glad that I decided to read this book.
I was surprised to find out that I could relate to her in many ways,which just made this book much more interesting for me.There are issues like social anxiety,bullying,and many other things which people might have experienced at some point in their lives,and while reading some parts of the books,I was like "oh,that has happened with me too!"so yes,this book was really amazing and I could easily connect with it.
This book is very funny,the thing which makes it more enjoyable is the pictures Felicia has added in it. I really admire her after reading this book,and I have to say that she is an awesome person,not in a funny way;she's that too,but also in a very inspiring way. -
A review copy of this was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I needed a lighter read after a few heavy books so this popped out at me.
Felicia Day and I were born one year and two days apart. I remember the early days of the World Wide Web but Felicia remembers the early days of the entire internet. She's the real deal, a true geek.
I first knew of Felicia Day because of the viral video,
Do You Want to Date My Avatar? which led me to watching
The Guild. I couldn't identify with everything but the addiction to the internet wasn't hard to understand, and the characters were funny. It is interesting to read in this book how her personal experiences informed the show, and about what creating a low-budget webshow was like when YouTube was barely formed. (And sorry, Felicia, I guess I didn't realize back then that you had written and produced it on top of acting in it!)
While Felicia starts by writing about the best bits of the internet - how it brings people together, how everybody can find their people, and what it did for geek culture - she also is not afraid to write about how awful the internet can be, from #GamerGate to stalkers showing up INSIDE HER HOUSE. *shudder* It is commendable that she has worked through it all on top of all the projects she's had going on.
Until I got to the bad parts of the internet section, I was probably going to give the book three stars, you know, the standard rating for a decent book. But the honesty about her bad experiences and how she worked through depression and stress made it a much better read. It will be great to see what she does next. -
Felicia is a wonderful person.
I've only got to know her work over the last couple of years, I didn't find "The Guild" as I was never a MMORPG fan. I only found out about Felicia from "Tabletop", which lead me to watching a greater amount of Geek and Sundry and becoming a supporter of everything they do. Felicia is always funny and charming in an awkward way - just like all of us geeks. I do enjoy Co-Optitude where she plays games with her brother, Ryon. So I guess I'm not a hardcore fan at all. I don't feel I have to say that I like her old stuff better than her new stuff at all.
So these comedian/celebrity memoir autobiographies can go in a few different ways, but most end up being shallow yet slightly entertaining for a couple of hours of chuckles at how dysfunctional their family was etc. Felicia did that, but there was a lot more. There was genuine opening up about her mental struggles and her anxieties and feelings about being an overachiever.
Definite connection made.
This could have easily been a fluff book that boiled down to "geeks rule yay!", but Felicia put her heart into the book. And I guess it helped as I listened to the audiobook which was read by Felicia - well reading might not be the right term.
I felt like I had met a friend for pancakes one afternoon and the friend was helping me get through some issues and cheering me up by telling me stories.
So I'm going to file this under "autobiographies that were unexpectedly uplifting and inspiring in a most magical way" alongside Chris Hadfield's "An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth".
Thanks Felicia. -
Oh, look what I found on Edelweiss.
Edit: And now it's on NetGalley also! :)
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So...internet fans, SyFy channel fans, The Guild fans...lots of people here you go. "Ms. Day" has opened up her life to your prying and probably jaundiced eyes. She's had her ups and downs and brought smiles to many of her followers, readers, viewers etc.
By the way...Hi Felicia, she's one of our members here and actually comments on books. We've exchanged comments in the past about a few books.
Look this doesn't require a long review. Ms. Day has a wonderful and quirky sense of humor and tells her story with a flow that's easy to follow. She's been maligned for some of her stands, unjustly as it happens.
Now while I'd probably not agree with her on some "stuff" I think she comes across as the kind of person who'd be fun to spend some time with.
So, try the book. Enjoy. -
I can't recommend this highly enough. I really think it should be recommended reading in high school, too.
- Felicia Day has a very relaxed, candid writing style that actually sounds like the way she talks. I enjoyed how open and funny this book was.
- I liked her honesty in talking about anxiety and mental health issues. While I don't actually know about those things, I can see that reading this would be helpful for people who do.
- I think if more young kids could gain insight into people like Felicia Day, maybe they'd feel less alone and less pressured into being something other than what they are. Do you. That's what I took away from this.
- In a lot of ways, Ms Day is not at all relateable. Like, I wasn't an anything prodigy. I went to university when I was 21, because up until then I was too busy doing anything other than improving my life. And yet, she was relateable in the 'I like you, fellow person' kind of way. She's not positioning herself above or separate to her readers. It was enjoyable learning more about her.
If someone’s takeaway from this story is “Felicia Day said don’t study!,” I’ll punch you in the face.
But I am saying don’t chase perfection for perfection’s sake, or for anyone else’s sake at all. (...) if you fail, that will be a better lesson for you than any success you’ll ever have. Because you learn a lot from screwing up. Being perfect . . . not so much.
So much awesomer than most celebrity memoirs... go Charlie Bradbury!!
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Cute and witty, Felicia Day’s biography was a fun read. She chronicles her life from childhood to current time, focusing mainly on hobbies and the things she thinks makes her ‘different.’
I enjoyed her acceptance of people of all hobbies and interests and the promotion of being yourself. It’s not all false hope since she mentions the very real problems of anxiety, depression, discouragement, and not being accepted – but this in turn makes the impact of the message being more impactual.
Written in a conversation style, there were italics and emphasis’s and inserted tweets/Instagram type photo feels. Since the author was obviously big on the internet, the entire book was written in this type of fashion. This was okay for a while but sometimes I had to take a break.
Some of the subjects I wasn't interested in, which explains it being a three star rating versus four or higher. It was interesting on the ups and downs of her life and how she built her brands up, but while this was cute and quirky it didn’t leave me laughing out loud more than once or twice.
I appreciate the very real subject of negative reviews and comments being soul crushing, and she didn’t hold back on the brutality she was under for rumors of “selling out”. It’s not something I’m familiar with since I wasn’t involved in the gaming world to that degree, but it doesn’t surprise me since the world can be such a rough place. Throw in the people against her being a female in certain positions and stating she was posing, and I could totally see that happening as well when it comes to bullying.
Here's one article I found on "Gamergate"
Sadly she never really mentioned Supernatural and didn’t go into as much detail of different acting roles as I figured she would – she mainly focused on online and gaming after the first half of the book. -
Pre-Review:
And guess what?! She's coming to my area in less than TWO WEEKS!
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Bullet Review:
Minus the beginning where she talks about her homeschool life (which was hard for me to read based on my much much more secluded and restricted homeschool experience that, yes, made me very jealous of Day), I rather enjoyed this.
Basically if you wanna know my internal thought process, read this book. I am CONSTANTLY second guessing EVERY interaction and spend more time making sure I leave a positive impact on others, regardless if I ever get anything positive in return.
Full Review:
Reviewing memoirs is a tough thing because, who am I to critique a person's life? At least not behind their back? (I'm totally skilled at the "smile at their face, snark behind their back" technique.)
A person might wonder a few things: Who is Felicia Day and why does she require a memoir? Isn't that as ridiculous as a Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus memoir? If you are asking those questions - well, this memoir probably isn't for you.
Felicia Day is a former homeschool, former double-major in math and violin, former commercial actress who one day got the crazy idea of doing a webseries about gamers in an online roleplaying game. The videos hit BIG. I remember fondly the days of binge-watching the Guild on not YouTube (YouTube was such a baby back then!).
I guess really one of the reasons Felicia Day's story resonates so well is how eerily it parallels mine. We were both homeschooled. We both were quiet and people-pleasers. We both prioritized college over the rest of the college exeperience. We both got way too involved in gamer culture, during a very low point in our life. And now we both realize the best way to go through life is embracing it whole heartedly.
We did have differences. Reading about her homeschool experience was very hard and somewhat traumatic because it reminded me of how mine was so much more repressive than hers was. (NOTE: And mine could have been worse; I've read the stories.) Music lessons? Too expensive - after being given some music books, I taught myself piano to a point then stopped. Going online and making friends? I had a MySpace for 3 days before my mom shamed me into pulling it down. ("They'll find out where we live and rape us!") MEETING UP with said friends? HELL TO THE NO (see previous question!). Going to museums and zoos and such during school? NOPE - only during summer or spring vacation. What about the unschooling that Felicia had? Absolutely not - 8:00am every morning, I sat at our desk (a square, shaky cardboard table used for putting puzzles together or playing games) and pounded away at math, language arts, "science" for the state-required 180 days a year.
But now this has turned into a review about me and my homeschooling experience and not Day's book.
Once I blew past the homeschooling stuff, I found her adult life as a commercial actress, WoW addict and Guild creator to be very interesting. I LOVED learning the behind the scenes details of the Guild! It really is incredible how the Guild appeared at the perfect time - the web series couldn't have existed earlier and if it were released now, it would get lost in all the other content flooding YouTube.
It's obvious in this book that Felicia Day is a pretty awesome person. She's startlingly frank about her own insecurities and foibles - something that would be easy for an author to skim over. She's frank about being insecure, second guessing herself, her addictive personality (how she kept a boyfriend during her WoW days, I will never know), her depression, her anxiety. All of it is there in pretty stark detail.
While I personally liked Day's memoir, I don't think it has much reach outside of a certain demographic - the ones who follow her on Geek and Sundry, who gobbled up the episodes of The Guild, the ones who follow her acting career in things like Supernatural and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along. That said, it is refreshingly breezy and light-hearted, so maybe I'm wrong. It was a great soothing read after barreling through a horribly disappointing fictional trilogy for me. -
4 STARS
This book is for you if… you would simpley love to get to know the wonderful Felicia a bit better.
⤐ Overall.
While reading this book it occurred to me that Felicia might be a genius and doesn't even know it. She's gifted in multiple academic areas, socially intelligent, hard-working and an overall sugar cube. I loved how she nerded on and on about her experiences as a female gamer, didn't leave out the ugly things and enabled me to love things I didn't know anything about within mere pages.
Fun fact: not a gamer myself I could actually have a 15-minute conversation about WoW with a WOW-fan simply based on the information I recalled from You're Never Weird on the Internet. I felt fabulous about it.
Despite some dry patches, altogether, Felicia wrote an enlightening and quirky book that enabled me to connect with her struggles of establishing a business and handling fame. She made it easy to be friends with her over the course of a book and didn't hold back on the ugly parts of her past and reality. For people who would simply like to know more about Felicia, this is the ideal book.
⤐ What’s happening.‘If you strive for something, make sure it’s for the right reasons. And if you fail, that will be a better lesson for you than any success you’ll ever have. Because you learn a lot from screwing up. Being perfect . . . not so much.’
spoiler alert: Who would have thought this book would be weird, funny as hell, educating, eyeopening and also just a tad boring at the same time? Not me.
_____________________
4 STARS. Would stay up beyond my typical hours to finish it. I found some minor details I didn't like, agree with or lacked in some kind but overall, this was enjoyable and extraordinary. -
This was absolutely fantastic. And Felicia read it to me! I loved her stint on Supernatural and am especially glad I read this because it told me a whole slew of things I didn't know before picking it up. Things like Felicia's obsession with WOW and gaming in general, which led to the Guild, and then trying to juggle real live vs conventions and dealing with anxiety attacks on top of it... This woman is my hero.
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3.5 stars!
This was an audio book that I downloaded from my local library and it was a lot of fun!
This is not my usual fare. I do listen to audios and I do enjoy autobiographies, but usually they are about politicians, actors, writers or other people that I'm actually familiar with. I have no idea who the hell Felicia Day is, even now, but I enjoyed this book just the same.
She's an interesting and strong woman, with degrees in both violin and in math, so she's a smart woman as well. Armed with both degrees, she decided to become an actress. This was just one of the odd decisions she's made in her life, and it's part of what made her so interesting to me.
Since I do not play video games and since I haven't seen her web series, The Guild, my eyes sort of glazed over during those portions of the book, but she continued to hold my interest. And when her mental health started going down the drain, she was brutally honest about how it affected her life and what she (finally) did to help and protect herself. I found the information helpful-particularly since her symptoms were not what you'd expect them to be.
Felicia Day is funny, I now know that, and what she has to say is important. Not just the mental health stuff, but about Gamer-Gate, (which, admittedly, I know little about, surprise!), and other aspects of her life, as a woman in business. I think these things are important to and for women, and one could do worse than getting this kind of information from her.
Recommended for fans of humorous autobiographies and smart women! -
Weird.
And, look! We're on the internet so this falls into that (almost) category.
So here's the thing. Several things, actually, that will help display my inability to math which would probably make Ms. Day sad, as she can math with the best of them.
1) Felicia Day was born the same year as my youngest sister. She also has the same mouth-shape as my youngest sister. Shut up, it makes sense to me, ok? Ergo, Felicia Day reminds me of my youngest sister and my youngest sister often annoys the hell out of me so I assumed Felicia Day's memoir would also annoy the hell out of me.
2) Also born around the same time:
Sloane Crosley. Her brand of humor and mine do not cross over at any point in the known world of comedy. If we were at a party and people were standing around her, laughing, and I was watching from near the drapes so I could duck behind if someone looked my way, watching her, I would wonder if all the laughing people were trashed. I just do not get her kind of funny. Since Felicia is also of that time period, I thought I might have a similar disappointment.
3) I've seen, in regard to this book, thrown around "If you liked
Mindy Kaling's books..." and I did not actually like the first one. Well, I started out liking it, but I ended up being sadly turned off by it all. That does not reflect on how impressed I am with her storm-taking ways. The woman is kickass and even I get that...but...I still didn't like that book so I thought I probably wouldn't like this one, either.
4) Felicia Day is on my Pinterest board of people I would like to meet. I stalked her after the first episode of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along blog and, of course, found The Guild and fell in love because that show described my collegehood life to a T. I didn't know that had happened to other women! But it had! SO MUCH LOVE! You know who else is on my Pinterest board of people I would like to meet?
Aisha Tyler. Yes. Lana Kane but, more importantly, the tall woman with a blow dart gun in the horrific but delightful ping pong movie with Christopher Walken (with that much information, you should be able to Google it yourself. I'm too lazy) which is where I was first blown away by her, pardon the awful pun. So of course I read her memoir! And guess what? It just didn't do anything for me. Aisha also blurbed this book. It was one more reason for me to go in with low expectations.
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = Very good chance I wouldn't enjoy this book. But I decided I was still going to read it because...ok, part of the reason is because of her shiny dress on the cover. But the other part is I just wanted to give it a chance because I really like Felicia Day even though she reminds me too much of my irritating youngest sister.
Weirdly, unexpectedly, I enjoyed this memoir a great deal.
Now this is not the same kind of biographical tale-telling as the very-recently released
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Her Royal Highness The Bloggess, though, if you saw the
book trailer for that book, you noticed Felicia Day displayed a Broken/Furiously Happy sign. In addition, Jenny blurbed the back of this book so, obviously, the two are related in some fashion. But not in the writing fashion.
What I'm getting at is that although they are both memoirs written by funny women whom I admire (and, yes, Jenny Lawson is on my Pinterest board of people I would like to meet and I have met her because she is a wonderful person who leaves the safety of her house to let fans hug her in exotic destinations like Denver), and I enjoyed them both, it was for totally different reasons.
To continue the memoir comparison between Felicia and Jenny, one of the complaints I've been hearing about Furiously Happy is that it jumps around a lot, it's disjointed and scattered. Well, I think the same could be said of this book. But, to my reading mind, in both cases, it works.
Here's something else that's weird, while I'm thinking about it: I knew this book was funny. I could see the funny parts. I never once laughed. I may have smiled slightly, but that's it. And yet, I still enjoyed this immensely. SO WEIRD!
ANYWAY! Enough sidetracking myself: I liked this book.
Here's why.
Humorists like to focus on their quirky upbringings. Many humorists do have amusing tales to tell of childhood - hell, I've got buckets-full of those, myself! - but, as it turns out, their early lives weren't so much quirky as maybe not-as-normal as the author probably wanted.
Yeah, like Jenny, Felicia had a quirky upbringing.
Neither she nor her brother had to go to school but it sounds like their homeschooling program wasn't all that robust and she wandered around for awhile, self-teaching via trips to the grocery store with her mother and playing video games. Not a bad way to learn, but definitely unconventional. In the '80's, though, you could totally get away with that kind of thing. I don't know if it's so easy now; I don't homeschool and don't know the rules.
Then she started in on a variety of extra-curricular activities which, it seems, took the place of formal education. Dance classes, violin, and many other things. It must have worked because she was in college by 16 and off to Hollywood after graduation.
Hijinks abound.
Though, not really.
This is where it shifts from zany family stories to inspirational How-I-Made-It stories and they're good, though maybe not new.
I think, though, if you've watched enough of her shows, from Dr. Horrible all the way up to The Flog, you start to hear her talking to you, telling these stories. She writes like she talks - manic, unfocused, and then razor sharp before wandering off into WTH? territory again. It's aggravating and endearing all at the same time.
She's contradictory. She wants attention but doesn't. She loves praise but doesn't feel comfortable when people are looking at her. She's smart but makes weirdass decisions. She's unaware and stumbles into success. She's awkward and impassioned. Dichotomies everywhere. And I found that pleasing.
Her writing is not eloquent. Like I said, she's a conversational writer. And while she's not always that great at description, I felt she nailed moments, feelings, scenarios time and time again, especially when she talked about her anxiety and its many handmaidens. I feel like I gained a little more insight to the personality that is Felicia Day.
I might have to bump her up on my People I would like to meet board. -
Sorry guys, just realised the link here went back to GR... Oops.
Felicia Day is a professional actress who has appeared in numerous mainstream television shows and films, including a two-season arc on the Syfy series Eureka and a four-season arc on the CW show Supernatural.
However, Day is best known for her work in the web video world, behind and in front of the camera. She costarred in Joss Whedon's Emmy Award-winning internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. She also created and starred in the hit web series The Guild, which ran for six seasons.
In the introductory chapter of this book, Felicia Day explains that people either love her, or have no idea who she is.On average, a random person on the street won't know my work, but there are certain places where I'm a superstar, like San Diego Comic-Con, and... other places like San Diego Comic-Con.
Now, as a person who is pretty much into anything sci-fi, has been to a few cons, and is a lover of television, I found this really hard to believe. She's Felicia freaking DAY! But then I started mentioning the book to people - at the bookstore where I work, on facebook, in general conversation - and I realised she was right. I should never have doubted you, oh Queen of the Internet.
The rest this review can be found
here!
