Becky's Book Reviews

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Week in Review #28

This week I read four books. (One was a Bible).

53. Fox Catches a Wave. Corey R. Tabor. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, I Can Read Book, early readers]

54. Cat's New Book. Nathalie Belhassen. 2026. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, picture books, cats, friends]

55. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. Al Perkins. 1969. Random House. 36 pages. [Source: Bought]

5. KJV (King James Version) MacLaren Large Print Reference (Thomas Nelson). 2021. 1504 pages. [Source: Gift] [5 stars, Bible, King James Bible]

Century of Viewing #28

1940s

1946 Magnificent Doll Ginger Rogers stars as Dolley Payne Todd Madison. I'm not sure how accurate this historical drama is. I'm guessing a lot of liberties were taken. But the emphasis is on the love triangle between Aaron Burr, Dolley, and James Madison. It was enjoyable enough
1947 It Had to Be You. WILD, wild premise. Victoria, the heroine, has jilted three grooms...and is engaged to another. She goes away for a month to prove that she is absolutely, totally serious about marrying this fourth guy. Except she dreams up a guy (dressed as an Indian of all things) who interrupts her wedding, and turns her life upside down. This magical element isn't super explained. Anyway, she realizes that HE is the conjured up grown up version of a boy she met as a party (also dressed up as an Indian). She tracks down the real boy--now a MAN--a fire man. But for some odd reason, he's not madly, madly in love with her and dreaming about her, and wanting to marry her! HE is uninterested. So she pursues him....with extremely mixed results. Her wedding to fourth guy...is still on....but will he interrupt it in real life????

1970s

1978 Movie Movie. George Burns opens this movie introducing the "double feature" of the olden days of thirty to forty years ago. Two 'movies' and a 'movie trailer'. "Dynamite Hands" is a boxing 'movie' that I thought was AWESOME. I loved the story and it was a great blend of satire/tribute. The writing was great fun. "Baxter's Beauties of 1933" was less enjoyable. It was a musical. It was over the top. It does remind me a lot of the 1930s musicals. I enjoyed this overall. Definitely the first movie more than the second. Each movie is about fifty minutes.

1980s

1982 Enigma. Martin Sheen and Sam Neill star in this cold war HOLIDAY drama. I don't know if there are other spy thrillers set during Christmas, but this one definitely is. It's also a ROMANTIC drama. If only Hallmark would expand their tropes for Christmas movies.

1990s

1991 Hook. I've always wanted to watch Hook because the premise sounded interesting. Plus I did enjoy reading Peter Pan--I've read it several times actually. So I thought it might be good. I wasn't prepared for how dull and lifeless it was. The premise is that Peter has grown up and forgotten he was Peter Pan. When his own children are taken by Hook, he must remember so he can save them. Sounds interesting on paper, I think, but definitely felt like it was 800 hours long.

2010s

2017 Lego Batman Movie Is this the *best* Batman movie? Maybe. In the same way that Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek movie. I love, love, love this movie. It is fun. It is funny. It is quotable. This is a movie that had me at hello. Batman narrates the opening credits, and it's just SO fun.

Saturday, July 04, 2026

Week in Review #27

This week I reviewed four books.

51. Rebecca the White House Raccoon. April Genevieve Tucholke. Illustrated by Dave Szalay. 2026. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, based on a true story]
52. Zathura. Chris Van Allsburg. 2002. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, picture book, fantasy]

45. The Other Bennet Sister. Janice Hadlow. 2020. 463 pages. [Source: Review copy] [adult fiction, historical fiction, historical romance, Austen adaptation, 5 stars]
46. The Andromeda Strain. Michael Crichton. 1969. 327 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, adult science fiction, science fiction, thriller]

Century of Viewing #27

1940s

1941 Sunny. This movie felt like it was 18 hours long. They met during Mardis Gras. They fell in love in three minutes. He's from a rich society family. Her family is the circus. I wanted to at least like the circus-y bits. Ray Bolger is enjoyable. But even he couldn't save this one. When their wedding is called off literally because the circus performers are PERFORMING CIRCUS ACTS instead of staying seated and waiting for the ceremony to begin, it seems like this "love" story is doomed. She's mad that her future husband is mad about the circus their wedding has become. If her friends can't use the publicity of the wedding to sell tickets for shows, then there will be no wedding. Can these two sing their way back to "I do."

1950s

1950. Sunset Boulevard. This is SO hard to rate. On the one hand, I thought the writing and acting were of the highest, highest, highest quality. The narration was just the right dark and spooky--as the whole movie is a flashback from a corpse. I do think if he'd ever once read the book of Proverbs, there wouldn't have been much of a movie. I think it is MEMORABLE as well. I don't see myself watching it again and again and again. But I am glad I have watched it once. May watch it a few more times in my life. But if you're on the fence of if you should....give it a chance.
1952 Stars and Stripes Forever. Musical. Period Drama. Biopic. John Philip Sousa. It isn't a biopic of his whole life, mind you, more narrowly focusing on his composing/conducting career and the composition of Stars and Stripes Forever. Also a romance thrown in of young protoges. But from what I can deduce, these were purely fictional characters.

1970s

1973. Westworld. It was NOT a good vacation. I am not a fan of westerns, mind you, but I do enjoy science fiction. This one is definitely ventures into horror a bit. Josh Brolin looks SO much like Christian Bale. He's not the lead in this movie, but, I kept getting distracted.

1990s

1994. Star Trek: Generations Captain Kirk gets one more chance to be the ultimate HERO. This one has the original cast (a tiny, tiny, tiny bit, mainly just Captain Kirk) AND the next generation cast. Data gets ALL the emotions. AND HE SINGS about tiny little precious life forms!
1996. Star Trek: First Contact. With very little hesitation, First Contact is my favorite, favorite, favorite of the Star Trek movies with the Next Generation cast. I love the soundtrack, the story, the characters. LILY is all the awesome. Data has a rough time of it. But time travel is good fun.
1995. Jumanji. After seeing Zathura and enjoying it I decided to watch Jumanji. It was good. I liked it. It was over the top, but, good. Two kids in 1969 start playing a game.....and soon regret it. Alan vanishes into the game itself and Sarah's life is forever changed by the trauma of witnessing it AND not being believed. Peter and Judy are "present day" kids twenty-six years later who join the game in progress.
1996. Independence Day. I watched it last year and enjoyed it. Watched it this year and got heavy eyelids. To be fair, I might have gotten heavy eyelids no matter what I was watching. Some nights are just like that. Anyway, for the 1% that doesn't remember, this is an alien invasion action movie.
1998. Star Trek: Insurrection. I enjoy this one. I don't know that I love, love, love this one. It is hard to be as awesome as First Contact. But I do like the characters and the story is enjoyable enough.

2020s

2023. Behind Your Touch. K-drama. Mystery/supernatural. The premise is STRANGE, strange, super-strange. The main character is a veterinarian who is touching a cow during a meteor show and gets super powers. She can SEE memories when she touches behinds. The detective soon finds her useful in helping to solve cases. BUT the show is far from light and fun. It's DARK and mysterious and just WEIRD.

Friday, July 03, 2026

46. The Andromeda Strain

46. The Andromeda Strain. Michael Crichton. 1969. 327 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, adult science fiction, science fiction, thriller]

First sentence: A man with binoculars. That is how it began: with a man standing by the side of the road, on a crest overlooking a small Arizona town, on a winter night.

Premise/plot: In an introduction to Fahrenheit 451, speculative fiction was explained simply focusing on three statements:

What if . . . ?

If only . . .

If this goes on . . .

The Andromeda Strain explores the 'what if' aspect of if an alien organism (entity? substance? lifeform? something) made it through the atmosphere. Is that an absolutely horrendous description? Yes, yes, it is. So "Scoop" is a super secret hush hush scientific project that is purposefully seeking to "scoop" stuff from the atmosphere for study, for science, for military purposes. When the satellite? capsule? (something or other) becomes unstable in orbit and falls to earth unexpectedly, it crashes in a super small town in Arizona. The results are devastating and catastrophic--for that town. But are there implications for the whole world? Maybe. Maybe not. But Project Wildfire isn't about taking risks--intentionally. They are also super secret hush, hush, all the classified. These scientists will be studying the TWO SURVIVORS (a baby and an old man) and the capsule itself.

My thoughts: This one is extremely super science-y and technical. I skimmed those bits. It isn't so much a thriller thriller. It is dry, technical, the opposite of action-packed. I think it could have gone a different direction, BUT, it didn't. And this direction is good for the fictional world. There isn't really a "climax" just scientists doing science-y things like experiments with a few going incredibly wrong here and there.

My first Crichton was Jurassic Park. There is no comparison. This one wasn't as action-packed or interesting or entertaining.

Monday, June 29, 2026

June Reflections

In June I read twenty-six books!!!! It may not seem like a victory, but, it is!!!

Books reviewed at Becky's Book Review

40. After My Brother Sam. James Lincoln Collier. 2026. 144 pages. [Source: Library] [1 star, mg historical fiction, why does this book even exist]
41. Song After Song: The Musical Life of Julie Andrews. Julie Hedlund. Illustrated by Ilaria Urbinati. 2023. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, biography, music appreciation]
42. The Midnight Library. Matt Haig. 2020. 288 pages. [Source: Library] [adult fiction, adult science fiction, fantasy]

43. The Midnight Train. Matt Haig. 2026. 296 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, adult speculative fiction, adult romance]

44. Jurassic Park. Michael Crichton. 1990. 466 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, adult science fiction, dinosaurs, action/thriller]

45. The Other Bennet Sister. Janice Hadlow. 2020. 463 pages. [Source: Review copy] [adult fiction, historical fiction, historical romance, Austen adaptation, 5 stars]

Books reviewed at Young Readers

36. The Rare Bird. Elisha Cooper. 2026. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, cats, imagination, picture books]
37. Dinosaur Friends. Sara Miller. 2026. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, board books, dinosaurs]
38. Gus & Sully: All Week Long. Steve Light. 2026. 16 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, board books, friendship, concept book]
39. Glow with Sounds and Lights. Nicola Edwards. Illustrated by Sophie Ledesma. 2026. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [2 stars, interactive board book]

40. My Daddy is Everything (Board book) Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin. 2026. 24 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, board books, family]

41. Henry's Picture-Perfect Day. Jenn Bailey. Illustrated by Mika Song. 2025. 48 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, early chapter book, school, friendship]

42. Henry Upside Down. Jenn Bailey. Illustrated by Mika Song. 2026. 52 pages. [Source: Library] [early chapter book, 5 stars, school, friendship]
43. Board book: Let's Count to Ten: Animals. Priddy Books. 16 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, counting book]

44. Barnacle is Bored. Jonathan Fenske. 2016. Scholastic. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars]
45. Plankton is Pushy. Jonathan Fenske. 2017. Scholastic. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy][4 stars]
46. Peek-a-Clue: Animals at Home. Gideon Sterer. Illustrated by Marcos Farina. 2026. 38 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, board books]
47. Peek-a-Clue: Safari Animals (An Animal Guessing Game) Gideon Sterer. Illustrated by Marcos Farina. 2026. 38 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, board books]
48. Candy Corn Christmas. Jonathan Fenske. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, Christmas, Halloween]
49. A Unicorn, A Dinosaur, and a Shark Walk into a Book. Jonathan Fenske. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [picture books, animal fantasy, meta fiction]

50. Next Door There Is a Dinosaur. Saskia Gwinn. Illustrated by Leanne Coelho. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

Books reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible

13. Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology. Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley. 2025. 1088 pages. [Source: Review copy] [4 stars, theology, Christian nonfiction]

14. The War for Middle-Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945. Joseph Loconte. 2025. 288 pages. [Source: Review copy] [nonfiction, world war II, literature, 4 stars]

15. Into a Golden Era (Timeless #7). Gabrielle Meyer. 2026. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [christian fiction, christian romance, series book, 3 stars]

16. The Lumber Baron's Wife. Lynn Austin. 2026. 368 pages. [Source: Library] [Christian fiction, historical fiction, dual timelines, multiple narrators, three stars]

Bibles reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible

4.5 Tyndale's New Testament. William Tyndale. Edited by David Daniell. 1996. 466 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, New Testament, Early Bible Translations]

2026 Totals

Totals for 2026
Books Read in 2026	116
Pages Read in 2026	28143
January Totals
Books Read in January	21
Pages Read in January	5119
February Totals
Books read in February	24
Pages Read in February	4225
March Totals
Books read in March	18
Pages read in March	4099
April Totals
Books read in April	16
Pages read in April	6386
May Totals
Books Read in May	11
Pages read in May	4067
June Totals
Books read in June	26
Pages read in June	4767