Becky's Book Reviews: Week in Review #11

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Week in Review #11

This week I read six books.

24. The Rose Bargain. Sasha Peyton Smith. 2025. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [YA Fiction, YA Fantasy, YA Horror, YA Romance] [3 stars]

Read this if...

You enjoy YA fantasy with faeries or fae
You enjoy alternate history
You enjoy YA romance on the steam side
You enjoy BIG twists
You can tolerate unbearable cliffhangers

25. Daughters of Shandong. Eve J. Chung. 2024. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [adult historical fiction, coming of age, refugees, adult fiction] [4 stars]

Read this if...

You enjoy adult historical fiction with coming of age themes
You enjoy historical fiction set in China
You enjoy refugee stories
You enjoy stories based loosely on the author's family history

24. Hi, Cat. Bye, Cat. Jade Orlando. 2025. 24 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars] [board books, cats]

Read this if...

You enjoy board books with CATS
You enjoy rhyming stories for little ones

25. Squash the Cat: Stuck in the Middle. Sasha Mayer. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, cats, jealousy, toys, picture book]

Read this if...

You enjoy picture books with CATS
You think Toy Story would have been improved with CATS
You love, love, love fat orange cats

23. A Book of Comfort for Those In Sickness. Philip Bennett Power. 1876/2018. Banner of Truth. 97 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars]

Read this if...

You are looking for a classic Christian devotional-style book on pain, suffering, and God's goodness
You are looking for a great read that is encouraging

24. The Wages of Cinema: A Christian Aesthetic of Film in Conversation with Dorothy L. Sayers. Crystal L. Downing. 2025. 256 pages. [Source: Review copy] [philosophy, film history, biography; 3 stars]

Read this if...

You want Dorothy Sayers as a metaphorical guide to film theory
You have an interest in the intersection between theology and films

Century of Viewing Week #11

1910s

1915 Those Bitter Sweets is a short little take on the dangers of love triangles. Mostly. Not really. Two men rival for the love of one girl. Except when one doesn't get his way, he sends his supposed 'love' a box of poisoned chocolates. Later feeling remorse, he rushes over to stop her from eating them only to discover that she's given the box away to someone else--a group picnicking on the beach. So off the three go to try to save those unsuspecting folks....I don't remember it ending tragically. But honestly this one didn't impress me much.

1920s

1926 The General is a feature film starring Buster Keaton. By the time this posts, I'll have seen it two more times--at least. (But at the very, very, very least once more.) Is this how I spend every Friday night??? Yes. Yes, it is. Buster Keaton and I have a steady date night. Hee hee. The plot? Johnnie Gray has TWO loves in his life--his train (The General) and his girl (Annabelle). When Northerner spies steal his ENGINE and his girl, he'll do anything to get them back.

1930s

1931 The Stolen Jools is unusual at best--disjointed is perhaps the better word. It's what I imagine would happen if you cram forty to sixty Hollywood stars together into the briefest of shorts with a flimsy plot. The plot: An actress's jewels are stolen at a Hollywood party, so the police investigate who robbed the robbers--gangsters took the gems originally. Buster Keaton is EARLY in the film as a police officer. And he's adorable as ever. However once you've seen his cameo, I'm not sure there's reason to persist because there's not much payoff except seeing all the stars get about thirty seconds of screen time each.

1940s

1945 State Fair Mom thinks I don't like State Fair because of the 'farm stuff.' But I don't think that's it. Not really. I think it's more my overthinking EVERYTHING in terms of the two grown children. Wayne annoys me greatly. Every time he's on screen all I can see are red flags waving. Here he is with a steady girlfriend, Eleanor. Is he true and faithful to her? No. Why? He's too busy sulking over not getting his way AND too lusty over a girl he's known less than ten seconds. Is there anything real with Emily? I doubt it. I think Wayne is lusty, lusty, lusty and not thinking with his brain at all. He doesn't know her at all, yet, in his imagination they are as good as married. It's like Eleanor who????? Then there's this stupid ring-toss business. A man who can hold a grudge for a YEAR and come back raging and angsty, is NOT a man you'd ever want to marry. He's faithless AND prone to anger AND sulking. Eleanor, not knowing about Emily, is smiling at their reunion. But I just cannot. Wayne is DUMB. Margy is marginally better. She's just empty-headed. I guess the scene that irritates me with Margy is HOW she stands up on a roller-coaster ride because she is scared. This is a roller coaster without any bars *holding* you down. So you're being trusted to keep yourself alive. And she just can't be bothered. Her new love interest, Pat, (who is an improvement on a man who couldn't read a room if his life depended on it) saves her from herself. And he'll probably spend the rest of his life saving her from herself because she just doesn't have much going on. I didn't mention it but this one is a musical.

1950s

1954 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a musical with Howard Keel. I love this one. Is it in my top ten of musicals? Probably not. Maybe? It's not in my top five. I have SO MANY ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE musicals. I do love this one. There are scenes--like the barn raising--that I absolutely love and adore. It was always fun to "pick" the "cutest" brother. My opinion has changed WIDELY through the years.
1955 Oklahoma. I have so many conflicted feelings on this musical. I love, love, love some of the songs. I love some of the characters. I hate some of the characters. I really think OKLAHOMA as a wedding song is a horrible idea. But there I am overthinking things. I do love Charlotte Greenwood. She starred in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath with BUSTER KEATON. And I can't get those scenes out of my head.
1956 You Can't Run Away From It is one of my absolute all-time favorite, favorite movies. I discovered it first in 2023--watching it a dozen times at least. I watched it at least that many times in 2024. I've only seen it once this far. Before I was obsessed with all things Buster Keaton, Jack Lemmon was the one. I do plan on rewatching a LOT of Jack Lemmon this year too. And I'm always happy to watch new-to-me Lemmon as well. This is a MUSICAL. Jack Lemmon. June Allyson. It is a remake of the [non-musical] It Happened One Night. A rich heiress marries a sleazeball, her father wants to have it annulled. She runs away. On the bus trip, she makes the acquaintance of a newspaper journalist....they end up traveling together and getting cozy--with boundaries in place.

1960s

1964 A Hard Day's Night is a BEATLES film/musical. A lot of scenes of them just performing their songs. The ending was the most dull for me--just a straight up concert with four or five songs? Some of the songs had been previously featured in the movie in earlier scenes. There were some quite funny scenes. And the police chase, of course, had me thinking again of Buster Keaton. Plenty of running as well--them running from fans. Not as off-the-wall silly as Help. But still fun.

1980s

1987 Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow is a British documentary that is a little over two and a half hours long. I believe it was broadcast as three episodes. I am trying to both view it as it stands--it is fabulous--but also view it as it would have been at the time. Being a Buster Keaton fan [fan-girl] is EASY, easy, easy these days. His work is in the public domain and readily available just about anywhere. But in 1987, I imagine that was far from the case. This documentary might have served as an introduction to Buster Keaton for some. And been a pleasant revisit for others. It features clips from his shorts and films. It features Keaton voice-overs talking about his movies--taken from interviews. It features interviews with those who worked with him in front of and behind the cameras. It features extensive interviews with Eleanor Keaton, his beloved wife. It gives a good chronological approach to his life. Which seems obvious I know. But often people get so distracted focusing on just one bit of his life that they rush through everything else or dismiss it. But what I really truly appreciated were all the I-didn't-know-that facts BEHIND filming certain movies, certain scenes. Facts that made me see the film a little differently the next time around. For example, behind the scenes details about The General.

1990s

1991 What About Bob? I discovered What About Bob? late in life. But I love, love, love, love, love this movie so much. I get Bob. I really truly get Bob. And it's a wonderful little film. I absolutely love everything about it. Essentially, Bob a mental-patient inserts himself a little too freely into his doctor's family. On paper it sounds like Bob is the villain. It does. I get that. But you'll just have to watch it yourself to have Bob win you over.
1998 The Wedding Singer is a romantic comedy that I definitely at one time absolutely loved. I still love a few things about it. The LANGUAGE is something that I had blocked apparently from my memory. But there are wonderful scenes, funny scenes. I love the ending when he writes her a love song and performs it for her on the plane.

2000s

2000 Miss Congeniality is a FUN comedy. I would say there's more comedy than romance. But there's a tiny bit of romance. Sandra Bullock is just enjoyable to watch. The cast of characters is great. Just very quotable and memorable.
2009 Castle, Season 1. A mystery writer teams up with a police detective--his "muse" for a new series. Together they solve murder cases.

2010s

2010 When In Rome. If this one didn't star Josh Duhamel would I love it so much? Difficult to answer honestly. The main character, Beth, is a museum curator who travels to Rome for her sister's wedding. She's a bit of a pessimist when it comes to "true love." She meets a groomsmen, Nick, who is unforgettable. Sorry. Just he is. She's not smitten at all. He is. She has a drunken spell in a magic fountain picking up as souvenirs several coins from the fountain not knowing that in doing so there's a "curse" that all the people who threw those coins will now be in love with HER. Returning home, she's now being PURSUED by a group of unlikely suitors. (A muscle builder, an artist, a magician, a sausage-maker, etc.) Nick, of course, is still pursing her. She thinks he's just one of the many following her about because of the curse....but as she tries to break it....she may just find true love where she least expects it. This is a very physical--physical comedy--romantic comedy. There's a scene with a clown car that is just hilarious. This one is equal parts charming and delightful and JUST cringe.