This week I read three books.
121. Anne's House of Dreams. L.M. Montgomery. 1919. 227 pages. [Source: Library]Read this if
- you enjoy the Anne series
- you enjoy romance
- you enjoy classics
- you enjoy character driven novels
78. Sea View Christmas (On Devonshire Shores) Julie Klassen. 238 pages. [Source: Review copy] [4 stars, adult romance, christian romance, historical romance, christian fiction]
Read this if
- You enjoy historical romance
- You enjoy series books
- You enjoy Christian fiction
79. Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better. Brant Hansen. 2015. 214 pages. [Source: Library]Read this if
- You enjoy thought-provoking reads
- You enjoy contemplative books that may or may not challenge your beliefs
- You enjoy the discerning process to weigh each point made in a book
1930s
- 1933 Little Women. Katharine Hepburn stars as Jo March. I enjoy this adaptation of Little Women. It is condensed and doesn't seem overly dramatic. I can make it through this adaptation without crying. Which can't be said for some of the other ones.
1940s
- 1946 It's a Wonderful Life. I love this one. I do. I absolutely LOVE IT. I can't watch it without crying. It's impossible. Is it long? Yes. Is it too long? Probably not. But this one has all the feels, all the impact.
1970s
- 1970 Scrooge (The Musical). I love, love, love this musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol.
- 1976 At The Earth's Core. I've seen several 'core' movies this year. This one was BAD. Extremely very bad. I wouldn't necessarily recommend UNLESS you want some perspective and relativity. Like this movie makes other bad movies seem not so bad. So this one is set in Victorian times, it's a bit steam-punk. An adventurer is persuaded by a mad-scientist sort to take this super experimental drilling machine capsule and drill to the center of the earth. Why????? Who knows. They do. It doesn't go as planned, and much nonsense results.
1990s
- 1990 Dark Angel (I Come In Peace). If you are looking for holiday action films OR holiday science fiction films. OR just alien invasion horror set during the holidays, then this one might work for you. Long story short, ALIENS come to earth to commit crimes and a Houston police department must try to solve this other-worldly mystery before life as we know it changes forever.
- 1997. Borrowed Hearts. I had MAJOR doubts. But I ended up enjoying this one much more than I thought I would. A man 'hires' a wife and child for the holidays to help him with a business deal. The girl is convinced the business man (the visiting one) is an angel. (He might be, you never can tell.) They become a real family while pretending.
2000s
- 2003. Undercover Christmas. An FBI agent takes home a witness he's protecting for the holidays....and pretends to be a couple in front of his family.....and the family ends up loving HER and so does he.
- 2004 North and South. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel. Is it perfect? NO. Do I love the book even more? YES. But I enjoy this one very much.
- 2004 Surviving Love. This one is dramatic and character-driven....not completely unlike the original Poseidon Adventure. A couple that is in the middle of divorcing is stranded in an RV camper in the mountains DURING A BLIZZARD. Will they be found in time? With little provision for an extended trip and extreme weather situations, will this bring them closer together?
- 2005 The Poseidon Adventure Mini-Series. Two part adaptation of the seventies film. It was....I don't know that horrible or dreadful is the right word. Completely and totally unnecessary does come to mind. It was like take everything great about the original, and replace it with 872 dramatic side stories that add nothing but nonsense to the film. The original works because of the relationships between the characters--the tension and strife, the growing inter-dependence, the developing trust, the trauma-bonding, the dialogue, the sharing and caring. The movie is dramatic, but, the characters make it even more so. This movie was a waste. Because the characters don't matter and the drama is too over the top to keep you hooked.
2010s
- 2017 Holiday Inn (Broadway) I love, love, love this one. More than the original? No. About the same as the original? YES. So a lot of things have been changed, but, some things remain the same. HIGHLY recommend the original 1942 film and the Broadway adaptation.
- 2018 Hope at Christmas. An extremely predictable holiday romance--Hallmark of course--and nothing surprising happens at all. It was enjoyable enough. Enjoyable enough is better than painful or dull.
© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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