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wonderwoman619's review
5.0
Love this book because I LOVED Guiding Light and Reva! So interesting to read about Kim's start in acting and her shifts between soaps and even appearances on Guiding Light. I enjoyed reading about the ins and outs of the world of soaps and especially about her character. So glad she wrote this book. I miss Guiding Light a lot and this book brought back some great memories!
emmieclassix's review
3.0
It was a decent book, but I felt like it fell a little flat. It was too superfical and I don't feel like I "know" Zimmer any better after reading it. Sure, it was cute tidbits about her early days as Reva, and we got to know just how annoyed she was with Ellen Wheeler and the end of GL, but overall.. If you are a GL fan, its worth the read but otherwise? I'd say no.
caroleen's review against another edition
4.0
This book is exactly what you'd expect--a guilty indulgence--the story behind the star.
I watched Guiding Light when I was very young (~5 and up). It wasn't on TV for me, but it managed to pull me in anyway. Perhaps not the best age to be watching soap operas, but regardless I was fascinated.
Fascinated enough to continue watching it after school when I was a preteen.
If you want to know more about the woman who played Reva Shane Lewis/behind the scenes life on GL, you'll dig this. At times shallow and over disclosing, she's incredibly honest.
Plenty of things that are slightly annoying to even a former fan, so keep that in mind before picking this one up.
I watched Guiding Light when I was very young (~5 and up). It wasn't on TV for me, but it managed to pull me in anyway. Perhaps not the best age to be watching soap operas, but regardless I was fascinated.
Fascinated enough to continue watching it after school when I was a preteen.
If you want to know more about the woman who played Reva Shane Lewis/behind the scenes life on GL, you'll dig this. At times shallow and over disclosing, she's incredibly honest.
Plenty of things that are slightly annoying to even a former fan, so keep that in mind before picking this one up.
serenaac's review against another edition
4.0
I’m Just Sayin’!: Three Deaths, Seven Husbands, and a Clone! My Life on Guiding Light and Beyond by Kim Zimmer and Laura Morton is as spontaneous as Reva Shayne was on Guiding Light, and while most of the memoir is linear in nature, there are moments where the flashbacks are a bit out of sequence — though never hard to follow. Zimmer pulls no punches with her memoir and does not sugarcoat anything that happened in the latter years of Guiding Light, which experienced severe budget cuts and went downhill in terms of quality where production was concerned. On the flip side, she’s also willing to admit her mistakes and allowed her temper to get the best of her when she should have tried a more diplomatic approach when story lines and production were falling by the wayside.
Even more interesting were the early years in which she made some tough decisions about college and acting, when she met her soul mate (A.C. Weary), and when she put her family first and left Guiding Light the first time. She shares some acting techniques she learned, including substitution in which an actor uses real life images and memories as stand ins for the characters’ current situations. Zimmer didn’t find this effective, and in fact, found it very distracting. One of the most interesting things in the book was that she took the bus to the studio rather than have a car pick her up or driver herself to work in the early days, which some of her co-stars found odd. (I applaud her for using public transportation!)
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/09/im-just-sayin-by-kim-zimmer-and-laura-morton.html
Even more interesting were the early years in which she made some tough decisions about college and acting, when she met her soul mate (A.C. Weary), and when she put her family first and left Guiding Light the first time. She shares some acting techniques she learned, including substitution in which an actor uses real life images and memories as stand ins for the characters’ current situations. Zimmer didn’t find this effective, and in fact, found it very distracting. One of the most interesting things in the book was that she took the bus to the studio rather than have a car pick her up or driver herself to work in the early days, which some of her co-stars found odd. (I applaud her for using public transportation!)
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/09/im-just-sayin-by-kim-zimmer-and-laura-morton.html
kellyhager's review
4.0
This is an autobiography but really more of a memoir of her life on Guiding Light, where she played the iconic Reva Shayne Lewis. (Yes she had other husbands, but in my mind? ALWAYS Reva Shayne Lewis.)
In case this hasn't come up before, my mom was (and is) a huge fan of CBS' soap operas but of all of them, Guiding Light was her favorite. (Moment of silence, please.) In my hometown, it aired at 3pm, so it was always on when I came home from school. I would usually miss the first few segments* but once I was home, I would watch, too. And it was impossible not to love Reva Shayne.**
So when I saw that Kim Zimmer was releasing an autobiography, I knew I had to read it. I wasn't disappointed, either. While this was definitely more about her professional life than her personal one, I think that makes sense. I mean, odds are everyone who will read this book will do so to learn more about Guiding Light and the people on and off the scenes.
One thing I definitely appreciated was that she was very forthright about mistakes she made and things she wishes she maybe hadn't done. But there's one anecdote in particular that I loved. She confronted a producer at GL about the job she was doing (or wasn't doing, as the case may be) and completely told her off. Show of hands, who would want to do that to their boss? (Or even a coworker?) Read this book and live vicariously. ;)
This was well-written and had a very conversational tone (which I personally need my nonfiction books to have) and was just an incredibly fun read. Recommended to everyone who loves Guiding Light. :) (Especially my mom.)
* = as these were the days before DVRs and even if they weren't, I don't think my mom could've waited the extra 20 minutes. ;)
** = my high school English teacher had a dog named Reva Shayne. True story!
In case this hasn't come up before, my mom was (and is) a huge fan of CBS' soap operas but of all of them, Guiding Light was her favorite. (Moment of silence, please.) In my hometown, it aired at 3pm, so it was always on when I came home from school. I would usually miss the first few segments* but once I was home, I would watch, too. And it was impossible not to love Reva Shayne.**
So when I saw that Kim Zimmer was releasing an autobiography, I knew I had to read it. I wasn't disappointed, either. While this was definitely more about her professional life than her personal one, I think that makes sense. I mean, odds are everyone who will read this book will do so to learn more about Guiding Light and the people on and off the scenes.
One thing I definitely appreciated was that she was very forthright about mistakes she made and things she wishes she maybe hadn't done. But there's one anecdote in particular that I loved. She confronted a producer at GL about the job she was doing (or wasn't doing, as the case may be) and completely told her off. Show of hands, who would want to do that to their boss? (Or even a coworker?) Read this book and live vicariously. ;)
This was well-written and had a very conversational tone (which I personally need my nonfiction books to have) and was just an incredibly fun read. Recommended to everyone who loves Guiding Light. :) (Especially my mom.)
* = as these were the days before DVRs and even if they weren't, I don't think my mom could've waited the extra 20 minutes. ;)
** = my high school English teacher had a dog named Reva Shayne. True story!
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