This week I read EIGHT books.
47.
How a Bear Became a Book: The Collaboration That Created Winnie-The-Pooh. Annette Bay Pimentel. Illustrated by Faith Pray. 2026.
48 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, nonfiction, history, picture book]
48.
The Lost World (Jurassic Park #2) Michael Crichton. 1995. 448 pages.
[Source: Library] [adult science fiction, 5 stars, dinosaurs]
56.
Jumanji. Chris Van Allsburg. 1981. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, fantasy, 3 stars]
57.
The Biggest Cat in the Book. Ben Lerwill. Illustrated by Mark Chambers. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, picture book]
58.
After Squidnight. Jonathan Fenske. 2020. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, picture book]
59.
A Unicorn, a Dinosaur, and a Shark Were Riding a Bicycle. Jonathan
Fenske. 2024. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, picture book]
17.
We Are Home When We Are Together: Trusting God Through Life's Changes. Jean Stoffer and Grace Start. Illustrated by Megan Lindsey. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, Christian picture book, moving]
18.
You Always Belong: Knowing God's Love and Finding Your Place. Jinger Duggar Vuolo and Jeremy Vuolo. Illustrated by Sara Romero. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, 4 stars]
Century of Viewing #29
1940s
- 1940. Dance, Girl, Dance. This
is DEFINITELY my favorite film from the 40s that I've seen so far this
year. It was GREAT. Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball. Tiger Lily (that's
her stage name) has it all....she has the oomph or 'it' factor. Judy
loves, loves, loves to dance--specifically ballet. Will Judy ever get a
break?
- 1942. Meet the Stewarts. Will
these two live happily ever after???? Or will they fight about money
morning, noon, and night?!?!?! Can she charm her way into spending more
than he makes???? Perhaps.
- 1943. Du Barry Was a Lady.
I had NO idea what to expect from this musical comedy. Red Skelton.
Lucille Ball. Gene Kelly. It was strange but in an amusing way, for the
most part. It would make for a good double feature with Singing in the
Rain I think. Anyway, the heroine, May, thinks she HAS to marry for
money and not love...but the piano player has her heart....and she is
learning to listen to it.
- 1944. Cover Girl. Gene
Kelly. Rita Hayworth. LOTS of tap dancing for better or worse. She's a
dancer in love with a man who plays piano. Because she resembles her
grandmother, a guy wants to make her a star -- a cover girl. She doesn't
really want it, but piano guy pushes her away and then disappears. She
jilts the rich guy to be with piano guy because of a pearl. The thing
that irritated me most were the flashback scenes to tell the
grandmother's story. That and there was a little too much singing and
dancing.
- 1944. They Came To a City. How
to describe this one???? If Twilight Zone had a nerdy philosophical
child. It is all talk and no action. I mean unless you think watching
nine actors climb stairs and stare at a door is action. It is
essentially all dialogue. There isn't much character development
either--just each actor represents an idea or viewpoint.
- 1949. Adam's Rib. Should
two lawyers marry one another???? In this one HE prosecutes the case
his wife is defending....and somehow or other there's a hit song on the
radio involved. MUCH dialogue, but there is an intriguing story. I don't
know that I'd describe it as a "funny picture" let alone "funniest
picture in 10 years" though maybe I just haven't seen enough movies from
1939-1949.
1950s
- 1952 We're Not Married. Five
couples learn that their marriages are not legal and that their was a
problem with the person officiating the ceremonies. Each couple responds
to this news differently. Years after saying "I do" will they still
choose to say "I do" again????
- 1957. The Incredible Shrinking Man. There
were a few things that I over thought. (Like when he struck a match in
the basement, and the match is taller than him, and the flames are HUGE)
and he just tosses it to the side like fire isn't going to fire.) BUT I
found the premise intriguing and it worked really well. I thought some
of the scenes were super memorable. SO happy I watched this one!!!!
- 1958. It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Black and white science fiction/horror movie with a monster from Mars. It was decent.
1960s
- 1964. The Horror of Party Beach. Is
this the worst movie I've seen all year? Probably not. Is it in my
bottom five or six? Probably. Is there a moral to the story? Probably
not...except don't leave the house to socialize???? I don't think the
"musical" aspect of this "beach movie" helped.
1970s
- 1974. The Towering Inferno. It's
a LONG movie but that's because it is truly a towering inferno. If
they'd had their brilliant idea from the last fifteen minutes of the
movie at the halfway mark, then it could have been shorter. IT was
intense. I did yell at the screen a few times. It had some stubborn
characters, some despicable characters, some stubbornly despicable
characters. But I enjoyed it. It was a blend of soapiness (why do all
the offices have BEDS) and disaster movie.
2020s
- 2026. Little House on the Prairie. Reboot). Eight episodes that loosely tell the story of what happened when the Ingalls family moved to Kansas. There are several things to keep in mind. Laura Ingalls Wilder nonfiction biography which was sent around to various publishers but ultimately NOT published as is. There were several manuscript versions keeping it "nonfiction" and a biography. Pioneer Girl is the annotated version of this biography. Highly recommended. BUT keep in mind with that that it was written based on her memories after six decades or so. So there would definitely be the potential for mistakes and misremembering. Getting names and dates wrong. Remembering events out of order. Remembering certain things REALLY well and other things barely at all. We do know that Laura WAS around three when in Kansas. Mary would have been five. Carrie was born in Kansas. The truth is we'll never know the TRUE TRUTH of these years. ALSO there are the fictionalized accounts in the LITTLE HOUSE book series. These are FICTIONALIZED and edited to tell a story. Whether it was ROSE or LAURA doing the choosing of how the story was edited and pieced together is a whole other side issue. ALSO there is the television show from the 1970s. The television show was far removed from the book series. The show was not remotely faithful to the book series OR Laura's life. Does the reboot work on its own WITHOUT taking into account the biography (Pioneer Girl) or the fictionalized book series??? I think it does for the most part. If the family had ANY other name I don't think there'd be any doubt to say that it is an interesting/entertaining story. Does the rebook work TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the book series and biography? Somewhat. It is more of a WHAT IF. With a few of the what ifs being if the characters were completely and totally different than how they were presented in the book or biography. What if the characters were completely and totally different than most people living during that time period??? What if the Ingalls family had settled in Kansas when the girls were MUCH, MUCH older. Mary seems to be about 14 or 15. Laura seems to be 9 to 10. This makes ALL THE SENSE from an acting stand point. Laura and Mary can't be 3 and 5 and actually carry the series as stars. But it does CHANGE the stories being told. LIKE Mary having a first romance and first kiss. LIKE Laura already having gone to school and knowing how to read. LIKE the girls being OLD ENOUGH to do a LOT of manual labor and helping in the building of the log cabin. Mary and Laura are HAULING LOGS. What if Laura's best, best, best, best friend was an Indian girl??? True in the book series, Laura was SUPER, SUPER, SUPER curious at observing them from a distance. BUT it is a bit of a leap. WHAT if the Ingalls lived REALLY, REALLY, REALLY close to town and had dozens of neighbors. That's not at all the picture we see in the book series. Looking at the 1870 census MIGHT show how many were settled in that county at that time, SO perhaps it might pass historically. The neighbors. When trying to give the show the absolute fairest chance, I am choosing to look at what the show IS and put to the side the book series for the moment at least. I thought the show did a GREAT job in bringing four or five neighboring families to life. The SHOW differs from the book in that it goes beyond--way, way, way, way beyond--LAURA'S point of view. This is MULTIPLE points of view. Some episodes spend a LOT of screen time in the homes of the neighbors. These are private moments, character development moments. With the exception of the doctor (or the doctor's name) and Mr. Edwards, these are, I believe, completely fictional characters. (I could be wrong. It has been a few months since I read Pioneer Girl. Annotated notes might have revealed neighbor names. It has been about seven or eight months since reading Little House on the Prairie. So names might have been mentioned that haven't stuck.) So many episodes feature the Ingalls settling into town life. Building the church. Founder's day. Women's society meetings. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. So the focus is on Ingalls settling into a NEW community and being awesome influences for good. Pa and Ma being the voice of kindness or logic or peace or whatnot. One thing that I did love was the focus on FINANCIAL woes of the Ingalls family. I do think that the family was often in and out of trouble. Another thing I enjoyed was bringing stories of the Big Woods into conversation. Mentions of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I did NOT love how they implied something horribly, horribly, horribly DARK about Uncle George and Pa's Pa. About how PA would not be welcomed back by their families and they almost had to leave to get a new start because of something happening within the family. There were scenes that indicated something traumatic about George. I had to look up family history. Uncle George was alive and well...until 1901? 1902? 1900? So unless I'm missing something that the internet hasn't told me (when asked), the melodramatic story is fictional. I thought that for the most part the show does a good job in showing the vulnerability of Ma and Pa. Ma would have been around 30 in real life. This Ma looks a bit younger. But the relationship seems complex--that life wasn't easy and all the wonderful. That it was HARD work and UNCERTAIN work. Being married to a farmer, a hunter, someone who wanted to move, move, move. The timeline seemed a bit fuzzy in the show. Carrie (in real life) was born in August. They have her born in December. When they leave she's still a tiny, tiny, tiny thing still fitting in a picnic basket like thing. Yet the corn crops are growing and there is talk of harvesting. So I'm not sure how MANY months/years supposedly this family is supposed to have been settled in Kansas. At the very least nine months to a year. Laura and Mary. I'm not sure how much focus is on their relationship in Pioneer Girl. In the novels, Mary is SAINT. Laura is always half-jealous, half-hating Mary for being perfect saint. Mary in this adaptation is anything but saint. Laura and Mary are almost always bickering, fighting, picking on each other, giving each other the silent treatment, refusing to help each other. At one point, I think Mary even says that she HATES having Laura as a sister. So quite a bit of difference. It does seem potentially realistic to have a very human relationship as opposed to one being a saint. But it is also quite a difference from the books. Laura is SPUNKY and feisty and adventurous. That remains.
© 2026 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
60. Dragon's Fat Cat (Dragon #2) Dav Pilkey. 2019. (1992) Scholastic. 64
pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars, early chapter book, animal
fantasy]
