Week in Review #17

This week I reviewed two books and two Bibles!

32. Magnitude. Jennifer A. Nielsen. 2026. 304 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, historical fiction, mg historical]

33. Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Edited by Pamela Smith Hill. 2014. South Dakota State Historical State Society. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, nonfiction, memoir]


2. New King James Version, Sovereign Collection, Wide Margin. God. (Thomas Nelson Publisher). 2022. 1696 pages. [Source: Bought] [Bible] [5 stars]


3. KJV Chronological Life Application Study Bible, Second Edition. God. 2025. 2128 pages. [Source: Bought (Gift)] [5 stars, bible review]


Century of Viewing #17

1940s

• 1942 Sirius. Did I expect to watch a Hungarian film this year? No, not really. This is a Hungarian science fiction film, a Hungarian Count, Akos Tibor answers an ad in the newspaper. A professor is looking for a man to marry his daughter. He goes because it might be an offer too good to refuse. The professor shows him a strange machine--a flying machine. Almost like a helicopter but missing some key details. He promises the young man that it has the power to travel through time--circle the globe in less than a second. Akos goes back in time to 1748, meets his great-grandfather (who is HORRIBLE) and falls in love with an opera singer (as one does naturally). But a duel turns into a nightmare...and his opera singer may be 'lost' to him forever. Good thing the professor's daughter is played by the same actress. So a happy ending of sorts. There's music. There's dancing. There's sword fighting. There's head-tilting.

1950s

• 1958 No Time for Sergeants. I love, love, love this comedy with Andy Griffith! Will Stockdale wants to get transferred with his 'buddy' Ben to the infantry, but, things don't ever go as planned!!!!

1960s

• 1968 Countdown. In this version of the space race, America is sending a man to the moon to wait for an Apollo flight to come rescue him. Sound like a bad idea? How about sending someone unqualified. After the Russians have already sent a man to the moon. What could go wrong? We don't know because the movie ends before anything exciting could happen.

1980s

• 1983 Brainstorm. I neither loved nor hated this 80s sci-fi. It had its ridiculous moments for sure--the water activated foam in the factory, for example. BUT it is something I watched. Mike and Karen are estranged but assigned the same project at work. Mike has been involved from the beginning. Something about a helmet that captures emotions, memories, sensations, experiences, all the feels. These can be shared helmet-to-helmet live or recorded on tape and played back through the helmet. There are evil guys, unsavory sorts, but seeing each other's memories proves to reunite this couple. Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood are the leads.

1990s

• 1998 Ever After. Is Ever After the absolute best, best, best Cinderella adaptation. MAYBE. Probably. Perhaps. Is it one I could watch eight million times and still adore. YES. I love the soundtrack. I love the characters. I love the story.

2000s

• 2000 Frequency. This was a GREAT movie. I absolutely loved it. It is set in 1969 and 1999. A father and son are communicating with each other via ham radio though it takes a little convincing on both sides. Can a son save his father? What happens when you change the past? How far would you go to be with family?

2010s

• 2018 It's You I Like. I love, love, love this documentary on Mister Rogers (Fred Rogers). I love all the clips! I love all the interviews! It's such a GREAT balance.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

33. The Pioneer Girl

33. Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Edited by Pamela Smith Hill. 2014. South Dakota State Historical State Society. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, nonfiction, memoir]


Pioneer Girl is a must-read for anyone who grew up loving, or perhaps, LOVING, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Pioneer Girl is an annotated autobiography. The book itself is a draft of an autobiography written by Laura Ingalls Wilder circa 1930. Mother and daughter worked with this draft preparing to send it to various publishers (not just book publishers) for a year or two. (There are several draft versions of Pioneer Girl.) Eventually, the focus shifts from writing an adult autobiography to writing a series of historical fiction novels for children. The adult autobiography was "forgotten" as a book itself, and becomes a source--a good source--for mother and daughter to use in their own fiction. I didn't know that Rose Wilder Lane borrowed generously from her mom's autobiography while writing her adult fiction. Lane wrote Free Land and Let the Hurricane Roar (Young Pioneers).

The autobiography shares Laura Ingalls Wilder's earliest memories through her wedding day. (Those earliest memories are of being a toddler in Kansas.) These memories are, of course, in her own words. The writing is natural and casual. Some paragraphs are great at capturing details and specifics of an event. Other paragraphs are more of a rush, a blend, they seem a bit fuzzier, less exact. These are her very personal reflections written first for her daughter, and, then possibly for a larger audience. Wilder has turned reflective. She's older now, feeling that very much. (Her mom died in 1924, her sister, Mary, in 1928. She's wanting to capture these memories, these stories, to hold onto them perhaps.) One also sees the book itself as an act of love, an expression of love, a way of remembering and honoring.

The annotations are wonderful. They provide background and context. The annotations includes notes on a wide variety of subjects a) people b) places c) events d) nature e) culture (songs, dances, fashion), f) writing, editing, and publishing. There are plenty of notes that compare and contrast scenes and events as they appear in Pioneer Girl and as they appear in one of the original novels. Readers see how a memory recorded in Pioneer Girl is shaped and crafted into a finished product with plenty of detail and even dialogue. Readers see how Wilder carefully--oh-so-carefully--crafted the characters of the family. One gets the definite impression that she was purposeful with every scene, every book. It was no accident that Pa is so noble, independent, strong, and bigger-than-life almost.

I learned so much by reading Pioneer Girl. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who has enjoyed spending time with Laura and her family through the years.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

32. Magnitude

32. Magnitude. Jennifer A. Nielsen. 2026. 304 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, historical fiction, mg historical]

First sentence: The first time I felt an earthquake, I was nine years old.

Premise/plot: Magnitude is middle grade historical fiction set in San Francisco, 1906. Cora, Oliver, and Chi are unlikely friends brought together by circumstance. Cora and Oliver were once the closest of close friends until their parents quarreled. Cora and Chi were strangers when the story opens. But being at the same place when the earthquake hit brought them together--when the road collapsed they fell underground and were trapped together. Oliver 'rescues' them both. But that's not the end of their adventures.

My thoughts: I wanted to like this book. I did not like this book. Why didn't I like this book? I felt almost all the characters lacked common sense. I truly did. Granted middle grade novels are typically centered on kids being independent and not relying on adults even in adult situations. Parents are usually 'absent' from the plot or poorly drawn and flat. But in this one, the three friends make unwise decisions one hundred percent of the time. Run away from danger? Run towards parents? NO. Run towards danger? Run toward fires? Yes. Run toward exploding buildings? Yes. Accept the guidance of any and every adult they come across? NO. Do whatever they want despite being warned eight million times? YES. Adults are bad. Surely they are smarter than ANY and EVERY adult. Because they think they always know best, they do find themselves in trouble. And I'm not really blaming Chi--she was just dragged into this story. But because they are the heroes of the book, they have a tied up in a neat bow ending.

You might think you're getting a book about survival, a desperate search to find family, a tale of perseverance against all odds. What you are getting is a story about corruption and greed. Cora took out a loan from a shady, shady guy. When the loan is due, Cora still doesn't have the money. The earthquake happens. The bad shady guys are after her. It's a cat-and-mouse game. The earthquake is not important in the slightest. It's just a girl and her friends being chased by "bad guys" who want the money paid back from the loan. All the characters seem more focused on this loan and money situation than the dangers of the earthquake--the fires, the explosions, being hungry and thirsty, being separated from family, being vulnerable and all.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #16

This week I reviewed five books!

25. Olive and Oscar: The Favorite Hat. Ariel Bernstein. Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, early reader, animal fantasy, friendship]
26. Bad Banana. Michael Rex. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, beginning reader, early reader, humor]
27. Board book: Just Because. Mac Barnett. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, bedtime book, board book, imagination, creativity, curiosity]
28. Board book: Fix This Book! A Dinosaur Broke It! Silver Dolphins Books. 2026. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, board book, interactive]
29. Richard Scarry's Great Mystery Collection. Richard Scarry. 2025. (1969, 1975) 96 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture books, mysteries]

Century of Viewing #16

1950s

• 1953 War of the Worlds Sharing this classic sci-fi with my most favorite person in the world was AWESOME. I love science fiction. This one may not be a super faithful adaptation to H.G. Well's novel, but, it's a thousand times better than some of the other adaptations out there.
• 1955 To Hell and Back Very much a war movie. I don't know that I like war movies. I was interested in this one because Audie Murphy is starring as himself in a bio pic which I thought was unusual and unique.

1960s

• 1968 Countdown. Science fiction. In this version of the space race, America is sending a man to the moon to wait for an Apollo flight to come rescue him. Sound like a bad idea? How about sending someone unqualified. After the Russians have already sent a man to the moon. What could go wrong? We don't know because the movie ends before anything exciting could happen.

1990s

• 1994 Forrest Gump Great soundtrack! Great story! SO many memories of watching this one. And it is SO quotable. It has been a few years since I last watched it.

2000s

• 2007 The Sunshine Can't decide between apocalyptic, horror, disaster, and sci-fi???? I may have a movie for you. Icarus II is off to save the world, or, at least attempt to save humanity. BUT they are just one or two decisions away from a complete and total fail. Mostly. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. The characters are extremely VERY human, which is a strength for the movie. I didn't care for a plot twist near the end. But I liked parts of it.

2010s

• 2015 Home Home. ONE of my favorite, favorite, favorite animated movies. I love how OH (the Boov alien) finds a family. And Tip and Pig find a great friend too. So the Boov are best at all the running away. But Oh chooses to run towards the danger in this movie. He has promised to help Tip find Mimom. Such a fun movie with all the feels.

2020s

• 2023 The Moon Can't decide between apocalyptic, horror, disaster, and sci-fi???? I may have a movie for you. Icarus II is off to save the world, or, at least attempt to save humanity. BUT they are just one or two decisions away from a complete and total fail. Mostly. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. The characters are extremely VERY human, which is a strength for the movie. I didn't care for a plot twist near the end. But I liked parts of it.
• 2026 Trust Me The False Prophet A Netflix documentary--four parts that felt like it should be four parts. Like some Netflix documentaries feel stretched thin like there's an hour's worth of great content and four parts. This wasn't that. It was fascinating/captivating yet disturbing because of the crime element. Still I think it's an important to have these conversations if only with yourself.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #15

The only book I reviewed was Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. It was a painfully, excruciatingly painful read.

Century of Viewing #15

1940s

• 1945 Without Love Marriage of convenience. Set during World War II. He is trying to invent an oxygen mask for pilots to use. She wants to help him. Neither is interested in love....but time will prove different. The dialogue is good--great in some places. The pacing of the story isn't perhaps the best. It does have a CUTE little dog.

1980s

• 1987 Broken Vows I finished watching it. If I'd seen the 'advertisement' of this one, I'd have had a better clue what it was about. I went in thinking it was a mystery....a mystery solved by a priest. The mystery was the least important plot detail. Oh well.

1990s

• 1995 Empire Records I don't know *how* I missed this one. I enjoyed it last year. I enjoyed it even more this year. I can see how with repeated viewings it might become favorite. It follows a group of coworkers over a twenty-four hour period. They work at EMPIRE RECORDS. Each one has his/her own worries/concerns. Rex Manning, a musician, will be visiting the store [on his tour] signing albums, etc.

2000s

• 2003 Gospel of John One of the few life of Jesus movies that I absolutely love, love, love. Mainly because the narration--the only spoken words--are straight from the Gospel of John. No one is putting words in Jesus' mouth. Just Scripture acted out. Also good musical score as well!
• 2008 Song Sung Blue: Documentary Documentary of Lightning and Thunder. LOTS of home video. Lots of screaming. But lots of music as well. I am watching the 2025 movie--not quite finished yet. But I was curious about the musical act--a couple--that the movie is based on.

2020s

• 2025 Song Sung Blue (Movie) Musical. This is a bio pic of the cover-group Lightning and Thunder. (Lightning does Neil Diamond covers). This husband-and-wife duo experience the many trials of live--on and off stage. The movie does take liberties, I thought, based on the documentary I watched yesterday. But it was good.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews