January Reflections

In January, I read twenty-one books and watched thirty-two movies. (I won't always include movies in the reflection post. Probably. Maybe.)

I listened to eight books on audio. I read eight e-books. I read five physical books.

Books Reviewed at Becky's Book Reviews

1. The Long Winter (Little House #6) Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1940. 334 pages. [Source: Library][audiobook, historical fiction, classic]

2. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/2011. 194 pages. [Source: Library][5 stars, audiobook, dystopia, science fiction, adult classic]

3. Westfallen #2: Into the Fire. Ann and Ben Brashares. 2025. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, series book, mg speculative fiction]

4. Anne of Ingleside. L.M. Montgomery. 1939. 274 pages. [Source: Bought] [3 stars, audio book, classic]

5. Little Town on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1941. 374 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, audiobook, historical fiction, children's classic]

6. These Happy Golden Years. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1943. HarperCollins. 289 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, historical fiction, classic, audiobook]

7. The First Four Years. Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1971. 134 pages. [Source: Library] [historical fiction, classic, series book, 3 stars]

8. By the Shores of Silver Lake. Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1939. 290 pages. [Source: Library] [audiobook, j historical fiction, series book, 4 stars]

9. The Running Man. Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman). 1982. 317 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, action, thriller]

10. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte. 1847. 532 pages. [Source: Library] [audiobook, classic, adult romance, 5 stars]

11. The Experiment. Rebecca Stead. 2025. 288 pages. [Source: Review copy] [j fantasy, j fiction, mg fantasy, mg fiction, j mystery, mg mystery, j science fiction, mg science fiction, 4 stars]


Books Reviewed at Young Readers

1. The Animals of Farmer Jones. Leah Gale. Illustrated by Richard Scarry. 1942. 32 pages. [Source: Bought, 4 stars, Golden Books, children's classic, farm stories]

2. Squirrel Sits Still (Board Book). Christianne Jones. Illustrated by Jayri Gomez. 2026. 20 pages. [Source: Library] [board book, 5 stars, animal fantasy]

3. If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone. Gideon Sterer. Illustrated by Emily Hughes. 2025. 48 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, imagination, picture books]

4. Traitors in Space. Tim Collins. 2025. 192 pages. [Source: Review copy] [3 stars, pick your own path, choose your own adventure, science fiction, space, aliens]

Books Reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible


1. The Lawyer and the Laundress. Christine Hill Suntz. 2025. 368 pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars, christian fiction, christian romance, christian historical fiction]

2. Pilgrim's Progress Adapted by Anna Trimiew from John Bunyan's classic allegory. 2013. 111 pages. [Source: Bought] [3 stars, children's books, adapted books, abridged books, allegories]

3. The Story of Corrie ten Boom: The Watchmaker Who Forgave Her Enemies. Jennifer T. Kelley. 2025. 176 pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars, children's book, biography, history, world war II, missionary]


4. 10 Questions About Pain and Suffering: 30 Devotions for Kids, Teens, and Families. Beth Broom. 2025. 128 pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars, christian nonfiction, devotions]


5. 12 Truths Every Teen Can Trust: Core Beliefs of The Christian Faith That Will Change Your Life. Paul David Tripp. 2025. 176 pages. [Source: Review copy] [christian nonfiction, christian theology, teen books, teen devotional]


6. The Fault Between Us. Stephanie Landsem. 2025. 344 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, historical fiction, christian fiction]

Bibles Reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible

none!

Totals for 2026

Totals for 2026
Books Read in 2026	21
Pages Read in 2026	5,119

January Totals
Books Read in January	21
Pages Read in January	5,119

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Century of Viewing, January

In January, I watched thirty-two movies (or shows). I did watch Metropolis twice. Once with the original score which earned it 5 stars, and once with a jazzy-loopy-loop that earned it 4 1/2 stars.

My top five favorite movies from January are: IVANHOE, MUSIC MAN, GROUNDHOG DAY, STRICTLY BALLROOM and WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING. Honestly, it may be a tie between While You Were Sleeping and Overboard.

Other five star movies include: Bride and Prejudice, Gilded Age season 3, Metropolis, Overboard, The Thirteenth Floor, and VHS Christmas Carols. I would watch all of these happily again. They were solidly enjoyable. (Overboard as I mentioned is SO, SO, SO good).

My four and four 1/2 star movies this month include:

• Escape from LA (4 stars)
• Chaos on the Bridge (4 1/2 stars)
• Starship Troopers (4 stars)
• Marjorie Morningstar (4 1/2 stars*)
• Millennium (4 stars)
• Red (4 stars)
• A Wrinkle in Time (4 stars)

*Honestly I would NOT watch Marjorie Morningstar again but I thought Natalie Wood did a fantastic job in the movie and I am glad I saw it once.

Millennium and Red are movies I would definitely watch again!

I did watch TWO one star movies. I would not watch Camelot or We Three Kings again.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #5

This week I read three books.

I reread one of my favorite classics Jane Eyre. I listened on audio. It was wonderful!

I read a middle grade science fiction book, The Experiment by Rebecca Stead! I loved the beginning and middle more than the end, but it was still an enjoyable read!

I read a Christian fiction novel--historical fiction--The Fault Between Us by Stephanie Landsem. It is set in Yellowstone National Park in 1959.

Century of Viewing #5

I did not realize that I did NOT include the Great British Sewing Bee seasons one through three in my round-ups. I don't remember when I finished each season of this competition show.

I also have watched TEN episodes of the Twilight Zone. Seven or eight episodes of Star Trek The Original Series. And one episode of Space 1999. I honestly don't know what to do about individual television episodes.

1980s

• 1985 1918. Horace Foote's 1918. This period drama is emotionally intense. But it is thought provoking. HISTORY and family history often are. You can think *how* did they cope with so many, many losses, so many, many struggles. This one deals with World War I and the influenza epidemic. One really sees how BIG an impact they could have on one community. And this one is set in Texas.

2000s

• 2003 A Wrinkle In Time. It's been ages and ages since I've read the book. I can't tell you if it was faithful to the book or not, but, it was a great way to spend the evening with my best friend. Two siblings (Meg and Charles) along with a friend (Calvin) travel the galaxy in an attempt to save Charles and Meg's father from great darkness. IT must be stopped.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

11. The Experiment

11. The Experiment. Rebecca Stead. 2025. 288 pages. [Source: Review copy] [j fantasy, j fiction, mg fantasy, mg fiction, j mystery, mg mystery, j science fiction, mg science fiction, 4 stars]

First sentence: Nathan had spent the morning re-reading comics in bed before sliding into a long nap that ended when his dad tapped twice on the door and called out, "Are you conscious?"

Premise/plot: Nathan, our young hero, is disgruntled. Just because he grew a tail over vacation and may no longer be able to conceal his alien-ness, life as he knew it is threatened. Several of his other alien friends have already vanished--did they grow tails too???? It is just a matter of time, he feels, until they come for him. His parents--also aliens--do not want to be separated from him, but, how much say will they have when it's time to return to the WAGON?!?!

Over a short period of time--a week, two weeks????--Nathan wrestles with EVERYTHING he knows to be true. Who he is, who his parents are, who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, who is telling the truth, his very reality. And his closest friends may just be his tail--whom he names TUCK--and his best friend, Victor.

My thoughts: I am incredibly conflicted. I am. The Experiment is speculative fiction that does keep you guessing. It isn't that Nathan is an unreliable narrator--far from it. Nathan is just about one or two steps ahead of the reader in what he knows. But both Nathan and the reader are "in the dark" as to what is really going on. Nathan and the reader find things out at almost the exact same time for most of the novel. It is slightly a mystery, but, not a mystery with clues for readers to find. Not really. So there isn't much predicting exactly and precisely what may happen next. Life with all its uncertainties are unfolding one moment at a time.

It IS a coming of age story with plenty of fantastical elements.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

10. Jane Eyre

10. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte. 1847. 532 pages. [Source: Library] [audiobook, classic, adult romance, 5 stars]

First sentence: There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

Premise/plot: Can a plain, orphan governess find true love and a happily ever after? Yes, if she's willing to speak her own mind, stay true to herself, and fight for the one she loves. Jane's journey to her happily ever after certainly wasn't easy or typical. 

Jane Eyre, our heroine, is an orphan who never in her wildest dreams imagines living happily ever after. Raised by a cruel aunt and taunted by mean-spirited and selfish cousins, she only hopes to escape misery and find contentment--albeit humble. Her adventure--or misadventure--begins after graduating Loward School as she takes the position of governess at Thornfield Hall. There she meets her charming and precocious pupil, Adele, and the brooding Mr. Rochester. The two enjoy each other's company--perhaps because no one else quite understands them. But the two aren't courting--at least not at first. Jane falls for him. But is he falling for her? Could he fall for her? Does she want him to reciprocate her feelings? Could the master of the house and a governess ever marry and live happily ever after?! But it isn't just social class dividing these two--Mr. Rochester has a dark secret from his past that might prove a dangerous obstacle for our loving couple.

My thoughts: Jane Eyre is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite novels to read and reread. I cannot believe it's been five or six years since I last read and reviewed it!

Do you love Jane Eyre too? Do you have a favorite scene? a least favorite scene? What is your favorite adaptation? What scenes do you find essential in an adaptation?

Some of my favorite quotes:

He had been looking two minutes at the fire, and I had been looking the same length of time at him, when, turning suddenly, he caught my gaze fastened on his physiognomy. “You examine me, Miss Eyre,” said he: “do you think me handsome?” I should, if I had deliberated, have replied to this question by something conventionally vague and polite; but the answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I was aware—“No, sir.” “Ah! By my word! there is something singular about you,” said he: “you have the air of a little nonnette; quaint, quiet, grave, and simple, as you sit with your hands before you, and your eyes generally bent on the carpet (except, by-the-bye, when they are directed piercingly to my face; as just now, for instance); and when one asks you a question, or makes a remark to which you are obliged to reply, you rap out a round rejoinder, which, if not blunt, is at least brusque. What do you mean by it?” “Sir, I was too plain; I beg your pardon. I ought to have replied that it was not easy to give an impromptu answer to a question about appearances; that tastes mostly differ; and that beauty is of little consequence, or something of that sort.” “You ought to have replied no such thing. Beauty of little consequence, indeed! And so, under pretence of softening the previous outrage, of stroking and soothing me into placidity, you stick a sly penknife under my ear! Go on: what fault do you find with me, pray? I suppose I have all my limbs and all my features like any other man?” “Mr. Rochester, allow me to disown my first answer: I intended no pointed repartee: it was only a blunder.” “Just so: I think so: and you shall be answerable for it. Criticise me: does my forehead not please you?” He lifted up the sable waves of hair which lay horizontally over his brow, and showed a solid enough mass of intellectual organs, but an abrupt deficiency where the suave sign of benevolence should have risen. “Now, ma’am, am I a fool?” “Far from it, sir. You would, perhaps, think me rude if I inquired in return whether you are a philanthropist?”

“You looked very much puzzled, Miss Eyre; and though you are not pretty any more than I am handsome, yet a puzzled air becomes you; besides, it is convenient, for it keeps those searching eyes of yours away from my physiognomy, and busies them with the worsted flowers of the rug; so puzzle on. Young lady, I am disposed to be gregarious and communicative to-night.” With this announcement he rose from his chair, and stood, leaning his arm on the marble mantelpiece: in that attitude his shape was seen plainly as well as his face; his unusual breadth of chest, disproportionate almost to his length of limb. I am sure most people would have thought him an ugly man; yet there was so much unconscious pride in his port; so much ease in his demeanour; such a look of complete indifference to his own external appearance; so haughty a reliance on the power of other qualities, intrinsic or adventitious, to atone for the lack of mere personal attractiveness, that, in looking at him, one inevitably shared the indifference, and, even in a blind, imperfect sense, put faith in the confidence. “I am disposed to be gregarious and communicative to-night,” he repeated, “and that is why I sent for you: the fire and the chandelier were not sufficient company for me; nor would Pilot have been, for none of these can talk. Adèle is a degree better, but still far below the mark; Mrs. Fairfax ditto; you, I am persuaded, can suit me if you will: you puzzled me the first evening I invited you down here. I have almost forgotten you since: other ideas have driven yours from my head; but to-night I am resolved to be at ease; to dismiss what importunes, and recall what pleases. It would please me now to draw you out—to learn more of you—therefore speak.” Instead of speaking, I smiled; and not a very complacent or submissive smile either. “Speak,” he urged. “What about, sir?” “Whatever you like. I leave both the choice of subject and the manner of treating it entirely to yourself.” Accordingly I sat and said nothing: “If he expects me to talk for the mere sake of talking and showing off, he will find he has addressed himself to the wrong person,” I thought. “You are dumb, Miss Eyre.” I was dumb still. He bent his head a little towards me, and with a single hasty glance seemed to dive into my eyes. “Stubborn?” he said, “and annoyed. Ah! it is consistent. I put my request in an absurd, almost insolent form. Miss Eyre, I beg your pardon. The fact is, once for all, I don’t wish to treat you like an inferior: that is” (correcting himself), “I claim only such superiority as must result from twenty years’ difference in age and a century’s advance in experience. This is legitimate, et j’y tiens, as Adèle would say; and it is by virtue of this superiority, and this alone, that I desire you to have the goodness to talk to me a little now, and divert my thoughts, which are galled with dwelling on one point—cankering as a rusty nail.” He had deigned an explanation, almost an apology, and I did not feel insensible to his condescension, and would not seem so. “I am willing to amuse you, if I can, sir—quite willing; but I cannot introduce a topic, because how do I know what will interest you? Ask me questions, and I will do my best to answer them.”  

Besides, I know what sort of a mind I have placed in communication with my own: I know it is one not liable to take infection: it is a peculiar mind: it is a unique one. Happily I do not mean to harm it: but, if I did, it would not take harm from me. The more you and I converse, the better; for while I cannot blight you, you may refresh me.”

The ease of his manner freed me from painful restraint: the friendly frankness, as correct as cordial, with which he treated me, drew me to him. I felt at times as if he were my relation rather than my master: yet he was imperious sometimes still; but I did not mind that; I saw it was his way. So happy, so gratified did I become with this new interest added to life, that I ceased to pine after kindred: my thin crescent-destiny seemed to enlarge; the blanks of existence were filled up; my bodily health improved; I gathered flesh and strength. And was Mr. Rochester now ugly in my eyes? No, reader: gratitude, and many associations, all pleasurable and genial, made his face the object I best liked to see; his presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire. Yet I had not forgotten his faults; indeed, I could not, for he brought them frequently before me. He was proud, sardonic, harsh to inferiority of every description: in my secret soul I knew that his great kindness to me was balanced by unjust severity to many others. He was moody, too; unaccountably so; I more than once, when sent for to read to him, found him sitting in his library alone, with his head bent on his folded arms; and, when he looked up, a morose, almost a malignant, scowl blackened his features. But I believed that his moodiness, his harshness, and his former faults of morality (I say former, for now he seemed corrected of them) had their source in some cruel cross of fate. I believed he was naturally a man of better tendencies, higher principles, and purer tastes than such as circumstances had developed, education instilled, or destiny encouraged. I thought there were excellent materials in him; though for the present they hung together somewhat spoiled and tangled. I cannot deny that I grieved for his grief, whatever that was, and would have given much to assuage it. Though I had now extinguished my candle and was laid down in bed, I could not sleep for thinking of his look when he paused in the avenue, and told how his destiny had risen up before him, and dared him to be happy at Thornfield. 

I had not intended to love him; the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate from my soul the germs of love there detected; and now, at the first renewed view of him, they spontaneously arrived, green and strong! He made me love him without looking at me.

“He is not to them what he is to me,” I thought: “he is not of their kind. I believe he is of mine;—I am sure he is—I feel akin to him—I understand the language of his countenance and movements: though rank and wealth sever us widely, I have something in my brain and heart, in my blood and nerves, that assimilates me mentally to him. Did I say, a few days since, that I had nothing to do with him but to receive my salary at his hands? Did I forbid myself to think of him in any other light than as a paymaster? Blasphemy against nature! Every good, true, vigorous feeling I have gathers impulsively round him. I know I must conceal my sentiments: I must smother hope; I must remember that he cannot care much for me. For when I say that I am of his kind, I do not mean that I have his force to influence, and his spell to attract; I mean only that I have certain tastes and feelings in common with him.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #4

This week I read three books.

I read 12 Truths Every Teen Can Trust by Paul David Tripp. (Last week I read another book for teens. So already I've read more 'teen books' than I did last year.)

I read By The Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The library was late in getting this in on audio, so I read it after 'finishing' the last book in the series. I do have Farmer Boy I could choose to read.

I read Running Man by Stephen King. I didn't love it, but, I think I did like it more than the movie.

Century of Viewing #4

1950s

• 1958 Marjorie Morningstar This romantic drama (or melodrama) stars Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood (also Ed Wynn plays an uncle early on in the film). She falls madly, madly, madly in love with someone not at all suited--not just because of society's conventions and rules. Their relationship is passionately toxic and the more their love grows, the worse he spirals. He just lacks what it takes to put others first AND to grow up. Will she grow up? Will she move beyond this first love? 4 1/2 stars for me. The acting was great. Particularly her acting. Gene Kelly's character was tragically flawed. But he played that well, so there's that. Glad I saw it once.

1960s

• 1961 The Pleasure of His Company. What a strange, strange, strange movie. An absentee father (Astaire) comes back into his daughter's life (Reynolds) as she is preparing to marry. Intentionally or not, he's out to steal the show and if possible prevent his daughter from marrying--he'd like to steal her away for a private six week cruise around the world. As the wedding approaches, father-and-daughter go out clubbing and dancing every single night. She can't get enough of his company even preferring him over the man she'll be marrying in a few days. Her mother is alarmed...and her ex-husband is also trying to charm his way back into HER arms. Life is disrupted by his presence, many feel that showing up when she's a grown woman is too little, too late. She even considers leaving with him because she doesn't want him to be "alone" in his old age. Fortunately, there are characters that talk sense into her. BUT this is a strange, strange movie. And it's not without its issues.

1970s

• 1979 The Shape of Things To Come The opening credits may be one of the highlights of this movie. Good for a giggle category. I am surprised that there aren't gifs of this movie honestly. So futuristic--obviously, look at those robots and men wearing capes--and set in space. An evil overlord with an evil robot army has grander schemes. A rogue starship from a moon colony goes to save the day--or does it? One thing is for sure, this movie ends abruptly. Resolution???? There is not. Comedic scenes they have in abundance. Were they meant to be funny???? Maybe. Maybe not. Surely they were, right. I mean you don't have a disco ball do what THIS disco ball does without knowing.

1980s

• 1980 Raise the Titanic This action-thriller, that I'd personally consider speculative fiction perhaps, asks some what-if questions. It is based on a book (that I haven't read). When it is discovered that a super-rare, highly sought-after mineral was part of the cargo on the ship--pure fiction for this premise--men set out to find it, raise it, and obtain the loot before the bad guys do. This movie (and book) were before the ship was, you know, actually-actually found. It was a fairly interesting premise. I did enjoy the soundtrack.
• 1989 Millennium I honestly am left speechless. Is this the best worst movie I've seen? What I love: the sci-fi premise. It's so OUT THERE and committed to the strangeness. It's SPOOKY and STRANGE and intriguing. What I mostly love: this has some quotable lines that are wonderfully hilariously bad. What I don't love: how jarring the genre-smashing is. It's 45% Dynasty-style SOAPINESS. And the rest is all SCI-FI. I think if the acting had been better, it would have been less jarring. My rating is somewhere between 4 stars and 4 1/2 stars. Definitely not a five stars. BUT it is memorable.

1990s

• 1992 Strictly Ballroom The scenes I love, I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It is quirky, fun, spirited, addictive. That ending is ABSOLUTELY one of my favorite, favorite, favorite movie endings ever. Scott wants to dance his own steps. Fran wants Scott to dance his own steps....with her as his partner. He will be defying his parents and the rules of the federation, but, it may just be worth risking everything. This one is a bit like Dirty Dancing minus many of the dirty bits.
• 1999 The Thirteenth Floor. Same year as Matrix. Just as plot-twisty. Mystery. Thriller. Science-Fiction. I LOVED watching it with my best friend. While it doesn't hurt to read the plot description with this one, half the fun is discovering it as it unfolds....

2010s

• 2010 Red. If you are looking for the most action-y action movie, this one might be just what you are looking for. I enjoyed it. I was watching at a super-super low volume because I was the only one awake, BUT, I probably will watch it again at some point. I thought it had a great cast. An ex-agent finds himself targets so he goes after those who are after him.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

9. The Running Man

9. The Running Man. Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman). 1982. 317 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: She was squinting at the thermometer in the white light coming through the window. Beyond her, in the drizzle, the other highrises in the Co-Op City rose like the gray turrets of a penitentiary.

Premise/plot: Ben Richards enters the games out of desperation. His young daughter is sick and the family who is already struggling to pay for the barest of bare necessities cannot afford to get her medical help. He may not be of much worth to his family as he is, but if he entered the games then there's a chance his death may help his family just enough. And, of course, he may beat all odds--unlikely--and bring home money as well. It's an option that he feels is his one and only option.

The book is set in the bleakest of bleak dystopian worlds. The games on Free-Vee offer entertainment amidst the bleakity-bleakness of life. BUT they are anything but fun.

Ben Richards agrees to the rules of the game. He'll send in TEN MINUTES OF VIDEO FOOTAGE per day while being hunted by those professionals IN the game and those outside the game. There's a reward for ANY person reporting his whereabouts. There is no continual surveillance. There is not a studio where this game is filmed. He can literally GO anywhere in the world--so long as he can manage his own way around. 

This is a game of strategy and some luck.

My thoughts: I saw the movie from the 1980s recently. This book is absolutely NOTHING at all like it--not even a little bit. Two or three names are the same, perhaps. Do not expect the book to be like the movie.

I didn't love the movie, so I was happy to see the differences. That being said, the first two-thirds of this one was a bit on the slow side. I joked with my best friend that it was 80% hiding and 20% running. And I wasn't wrong--at that point in the book. The ending IS fast-paced. You reach a point where it is ALL thriller-action-intensity.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

8. By the Shores of Silver Lake

8. By the Shores of Silver Lake. Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1939. 290 pages. [Source: Library] [audiobook, j historical fiction, series book]

First sentence: Laura was washing the dishes one morning when old Jack, lying in the sunshine on the doorstep, growled to tell her that someone was coming. She looked out, and saw a buggy crossing the gravelly ford of Plum Creek. "Ma," she said, "it's a strange woman coming."

By the Shores of Silver Lake is one of five Newbery Honors that Laura Ingalls Wilder received for her historical fiction "Little House" series. (For those that are curious: 1938 for On the Banks of Plum Creek; 1940 for By the Shores of Silver Lake; 1941 for The Long Winter; 1942 for Little Town on the Prairie; 1944 for These Happy Golden Years).

The novel takes the Ingalls family into South Dakota around DeSmet where the rest of the series is set.

As a child, By The Shores of Silver Lake wasn't my favorite of the series. I blame Jack's death for that. But as an adult, I've come to appreciate By The Shores of Silver Lake more, seeing it as more than just a transition between On the Banks of Plum Creek and The Long Winter.

In By the Shores of Silver Lake:

• Mary goes blind, Laura is "asked" to be her eyes
• Pa is offered a new job, a job with the railroad, which he takes
• He goes by wagon, Jack dies BEFORE Pa's departure
• The rest of the family travels most of the way by train
• They continue the rest of their journey (a day or two or three) by wagon
• They settle in for a while, Pa talks about the claim he hopes to claim later that year or whenever his job is finished and he's able to go out seeking a claim of his own
• Pa's job isn't always safe; he's the paymaster for the railroad, and he has to calm down an angry mob in this one.
• They meet the Boast family
• They spend the winter in the 'biggest' house Laura has ever lived in
• Winter may be lonely (no neighbors, no town) but the spring will see plenty of people come and go. EVERYONE stops at their house on their way west
• The family learns that there is a school for the blind, they all decide Mary should go there.
• The family decides to claim land near De Smet, South Dakota
• Laura catches the tiniest glimpse of Almanzo Wilder's horses

I definitely am enjoying rereading these books. By The Shores of Silver Lake may not be my favorite of the series, but, I'm glad I reread it.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #3

This week I read seven books!

I read three Laura Ingalls Wilder book on audio: Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years. The library now has By the Shores of Silver Lake and Farmer Boy on audio. They didn't last week or the week before. So I may go back and read these to complete the series. (I read some of this series in December 2025.)

My least favorite book of the week is Traitors in Space. It's not that I think it's a bad book. I do think there will be young readers who do enjoy this choose your own adventure book. I think IF you approach it over a series of days or even weeks. If you read the story-path you've chosen ALL at once--beginning to end, and stay immersed in the story, it might work well. When you just read it super methodically and just pick things up at your last choice, well, the flimsy story becomes flimsier.

I read three Christian children's books this week! Two nonfiction books and an adaptation of Pilgrim's Progress. The other two were The Story of Corrie Ten Boom and 10 Questions about Pain and Suffering.

Century of Viewing #3

1980s

• 1980 Saturn 3 may have its share of fans. I'm not one of them exactly. Sci-fi-thriller with some gore involving a robot gone awry perhaps because his programmer was....less than fit psychologically. Shakespeare's tragedies may have a larger surviving cast. I also found some scenes to be....questionable. However to each their own.
• 1984. Nadia. It didn't take me very long to realize this must be a made for television movie and one that didn't concern itself with the actual actual facts of the people involved. It is a biopic that is 99.999999999% fiction. Well, that might be unfair. 99.2% fiction perhaps. They have a few names right AND the fact that Nadia got perfect tens and won Olympic medals. Still, if I'd known this movie existed as a kid, I might have watched it over and over again because I loved watching gymnastics.

1990s

• 1993. Groundhog Day is one of my favorite, favorite movies to again-again. Which seems right. I love the transformation of Phil. I do. It's funny and sweet and quirky
• 1993 Thing Called Love. I didn't enjoy this 1993 movie enough for it to be five stars, though it had its moments. Four people in Nashville trying to make it into the music business...Miranda "no relation" Presley is the center of attention--not that she's an instant success making it into the business, mind you. Just that it's insta for all the guys she meets. She falls for a bad boy type whom everyone warns her about...they even marry or "marry" as the case may be. Will they get a happy ending? Maybe. Maybe not. But it is an ending of sorts. I did like all the country music.
• 1997 Starship Troopers. Watching this one with my best, best friend. It is very much Beverly Hills 90210 in space, but, it's FUN or fun enough. I've just started reading the book. I'm going to guess the book is better. Perhaps. Maybe. Probably. The movie isn't so much about future space wars as it is hormones. Again some scenes slightly questionable, though there's plenty of unquestionable scenes as well. This one I rated 4 stars. It may be closer to 4.25 honestly.

2000s

• 2004 Bride and Prejudice. Bollywood retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I remember loving this musical when it first came out. It was FUN. I haven't watched it in ages. I found myself still loving all the music. AND being surprised at recognizing the cast from other stuff. Like the Darcy character being "Jack Sheridan" from Virgin River. OR Balraj being "Sayid" from LOST. I am glad I revisited this one!!!

2010s

• 2014 Chaos on the Bridge. I rate this one--right now upon first impressions--a 4 1/2 stars. I am tempted to give it five stars. BUT I'm just not sure that I'll still *feel* it 5 stars a few days, a few weeks, a few months from now. William Shatner is director and host of this Star Trek documentary. It is the story of STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION. Plenty of interviews with those who worked on the show behind the scenes. A few interviews with those who starred in the show. It's a colorful documentary.

2020s

• 2025 Gilded Age, Season 3. What a season?!?!?!?! There were a few things that I loved about season 2 and a few things that I definitely absolutely did not like at all. Season 3 has drama, drama, and more drama. YET there is lightness and hope and joy as well as drama. The last two episodes are SO INCREDIBLY INTENSE that you might lose all sense of time.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

7. The First Four Years

7. The First Four Years. Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1971. 134 pages. [Source: Library] [historical fiction, classic, series book, 3 stars]

First sentence: The stars hung luminous and low over the prairie.

The First Four Years was published several decades after the death of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was published after the death of Laura and Almanzo's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. It is based on three hand-written notebooks. The story is believed to have been written in the mid to late forties. It is also believed to have been shelved by Laura Ingalls Wilder after the death of Almanzo. She never went back to work on it again. She never polished it up. She never sent it to the publishers. It is what it is, a first draft.

It has a completely different feel than the other Little House books. It doesn't have chapters, for one thing. But more than that there is an emotional undertone of sadness and regret that makes it pointedly different than its predecessors. It is just very melancholy. Yes, it captures all the horrible things that happened next. Yes, it's probably accurate enough to assume that most if not all farmers experienced this many brutal hardships. The other Little House books often dealt with hard issues as well. But I suppose they felt more balanced. I think she injected enough hope and light to lift them up.

Personally, I'd rather have the "happily ever after" ending of These Happy Golden Years than the brutal hardships of The First Four Years. Not that I'm promoting the unrealistic fairy-tale ending where marriage is problem-free. But to read of all the hardships with the farm, the land, the money problems, the debt, the worries, the health problems, the weather/environment problems, etc. It's just so hard, so brutal, so depressing.





© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

6. These Happy Golden Years

6. These Happy Golden Years. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1943. HarperCollins. 289 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, historical fiction, classic, audiobook]

First sentence: Sunday afternoon was clear, and the snow-covered prairie sparkled in the sunshine. A little wind blew gently from the south, but it was so cold that the sled runners squeaked as they slid on the hard-packed snow.

Why is it that reading These Happy Golden Years makes me giddy? Could it be my actual favorite of the series after all? Perhaps. It has been such a treat for me to reread these Little House books this past month. I've enjoyed visiting with Laura and her family. I've enjoyed watching 'the romance' unfold with Almanzo in Little Town on the Prairie and These Happy Golden Years.

In These Happy Golden Years Laura has accepted--for better or worse--that she is all grown up. In this book, she teaches several different schools. Each teaching term is short--a few months here, a few months there. Her first teaching position lasts eight weeks, and, it is mostly a nightmare for her. She's rooming with Mr. and Mrs. Brewster. And Mrs. Brewster must be suffering from some mental illness. I feel sorry for Mr. Brewster and their baby, Johnny. There's a helplessness in the situation. Laura realizes how blessed she's been for a happy home life. The opening chapters dwell on her homesickness and gratitude. And she owes much to Almanzo Wilder. For HE comes to "rescue" her from the Brewsters every single weekend no matter how cold the weather. And it all comes as such a surprise to her that she'll get to spend her weekends at home.

When she's not teaching school, she's attending it. Every few months, it seems, she receives an opportunity to teach and earn money, and she'll take a teacher's exam, and get another certificate. But teaching isn't the only way she's able to earn money. She really, truly wants to earn money, not for herself, but to help keep Mary in college.

Most of the book focuses on the courtship of Laura and Almanzo. How he comes to take her sledding or for buggy rides. Laura does love his horses.

I love this book! I do.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

5. Little Town on the Prairie

5. Little Town on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1941. 374 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, audiobook, historical fiction, children's classic]

First sentence: One evening at supper, Pa asked, "How would you like to work in town, Laura" Laua could not say a word. Neither could any of the others. They all sat as if they were frozen.

I enjoyed rereading Little Town on the Prairie. Is it completely perfect in every way? Probably not. (The idea of Pa joining in a minstrel show performance still doesn't sit well with me. Just like I don't like the dialogue of the Native American in The Long Winter--when he warns them of the winter ahead. But other than that, I don't have any real issue with the book). In this book:

• The family moves back to their homestead for the summer and fall
• The Ingalls get a cat AFTER Pa's hair is "cut" by mice in the night!
• Laura gets a job assisting a seamstress
• Laura and Carrie and Pa go to a fourth of July celebration; lemonade is involved
• Blackbirds come and threaten numerous crops; some of the corn is saved and will be dried for winter consumption
• Mary goes away to college
• The family moves back to the town for the winter
• Laura and Carrie attend school
• Nellie Oleson is one of the 'country' girls attending school
• Nellie becomes teacher's pet; the new teacher is Eliza Jane Wilder
• Laura gets her first ride behind Almanzo's horses (she's running late for school, she had to order name cards)
• A Literary Society (of sorts) is formed in town for the winter
• The book actually covers TWO winters in town, but, we barely learn anything about the spring/summer/and fall in between the winters.
• Laura attends several revival meetings and Almanzo asks to see her home each night!
• Almanzo hints that he wants to take her sledding.
• Laura gets her teaching certificate

Plenty of lovely things happen. I love the progression of the series. This book just makes me smile as I'm reading it. I often forget just how much I like this one since I love, love, love THE LONG WINTER, and I always associate These Happy Golden Years with having THE romance. I don't give this one enough credit for being OH-SO-GOOD.

I listened to Little Town on the Prairie on audiobook! It was fantastic!


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #2

This week I read SEVEN books. (I'm shocked too!!!)

At Operation Actually Read Bible, I reviewed a delightful Christian romance--historical set in Canada--titled The Lawyer and the Laundress. This is a marriage of convenience story and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Of course, technically it's a bit predictable. BUT I fail to see how that's anything but a positive.

At Becky's Book Reviews, I reviewed three books. I reviewed two audio books: FAHRENHEIT 451 a dystopian science fiction novel that I've read and reviewed dozens of times AND Anne of Ingleside, L.M. Montgomery's last published novel in the Anne series. Both of these books are old friends. Though they are completely and totally different from one another. The third book I reviewed was a review copy, Westfallen: Into the Fire. This is the sequel to Westfallen. Three friends in the past (1944) and three friends from the future (2023) make a grand mess of things when they learn the heard way about loose lips. To be fair, the kids from the future had no idea the dangers of talking freely about their present. And it started innocent enough. This second book is INTENSE. And it ends in a cliffhanger.

At Young Readers, I reviewed two picture books and one board book. The Animals of Farmer Jones is a classic Little Golden Book from the 1940s. Squirrel Sits Still takes place at a library, I believe, and Squirrel has a difficult time sitting still. If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone is a great picture book. A child makes a phone call on a banana....what will happen next?!?!


Century of Viewing #2

1920s

• 1927 Metropolis (Tubi, loopy-loop jazz soundtrack) The version I watched (the first time, yes I'm already contemplating a second time) was on Tubi. It had a looped jazzy-jazz soundtrack. Despite the fact that the soundtrack did not in any way complement the movie, I found the movie intriguing--fascinating--interesting--enjoyable. I have found a better version to watch....soon. Will it be this week? Maybe. Maybe not. Will it be tonight? Possible. Anything's possible. The plot?! Well, I believe it's set in 2026. A case of haves and have-nots. The underground worker city is looking for a Mediator as foretold by Maria. The son of the city's creator may just be that mediator. He's certainly smitten? mesmerized? under a spell when he first meets Maria. And then he goes underground himself and takes the place of a worker for a day--or night. Time is tricksy. There's also a SUPER mad scientist type who's created a robot. He wants to destroy EVERYBODY and everything.
• 1927 Metropolis (KINO, original score) This is the KINO restoration which is the closest to the original film in length. It also has the ORIGINAL score instead of the jazzy-jazz loop. Definitely seek out this version. The music is by Gottfried Huppertz. Science Fiction. Set in the future of 2026. Haves versus Have-Nots in society. "Head" versus "Hands" according to the movie. The movie is about the search for a MEDIATOR between the two. Also robots. Don't forget the provocatively dancing robot.

1940s

• 1948 Easter Parade I do not care for this Judy Garland and Fred Astaire musical. Is it better than Camelot?!?! YES. Is it the worst musical out there? Probably not. So Fred Astaire's dance partner is leaving him....and he has to find a new one...and so he trains up the Judy Garland character. She falls for him--why?!?!--and he doesn't really know she exists until she yells at him again and again for NOT noticing her like that. In the end, they end up together--at least temporarily. Will it last?! I don't know that I care enough to imagine all the scenarios. (Unlike Music Man. I have imagined all sorts of things about those characters).

1980s

• 1987 The Running Man. It is VERY, VERY, VERY 80s. The plot seems over the top. But it is--repeat with me--very, very, very 80s. It is strange...but I suppose that's to be expected. The plot? Criminals get a "second chance" on a reality television show. But 99% of this world is a lie...and nothing is as it seems.

1990s

• 1996 Escape from L.A.  Is it cheesy-cheeseful? YES. Was it meant to be? I think YES. Is the soundtrack horrible? I think it was almost meant to be. Maybe. My best friend said all the money went to hiring this cast and not to the special effects. Snake is back and this time he's doing a favor for ANOTHER president for another city.
• 1998 Lost in Space Do I want my time back? I probably would have wasted that time anyway all things considered. Was it time worst spent than playing WordScapes or Solitaire Farm Village? NO, not really. This "movie" is based on a television show. Not having seen the show, I'm not sure if it's a) more intelligent b) less intelligent or c) about the same.

2010s

• 2011 The Captains. My first documentary of the year though definitely not my last. This one is a documentary about Star Trek Captains. William Shatner interviews other Captains in the Star Trek series. This one being released in 2011 misses out on several shows, of course. BUT the interviews can be surprisingly deep and cover a wide range of topics. You expect fluff....and there is *some* fluff. But it isn't only fluff.

2020s

• 2024 VHS Christmas Carols. I love, love, LOVE, love this musical. The songs--most of them--are living rent free in my head. This is a mash-up of A Gift of the Magi, Little Match Girl, and A Christmas Carol. IT is EMOTIONAL and wonderful. I love it so much!!! I watched this one many times in December 2024 and many times in December 2025.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

4. Anne of Ingleside

4. Anne of Ingleside. L.M. Montgomery. 1939. 274 pages. [Source: Bought] [3 stars, audio book, classic]

First sentence: "How white the moonlight is tonight!" said Anne Blythe to herself, as she went up the walk of the Wright garden to Diana Wright's front door, where little cherry-blossom petals were coming down on the salty, breeze-stirred air.

Anne of Ingleside was L.M. Montgomery's last (published) novel. In the novel, she is revisiting her most beloved heroine, Anne. The novel opens with Anne visiting Avonlea in the spring of 1900; she is pregnant with Rilla. She is spending time with Marilla and Mrs. Lynde, of course, and making time to spend one whole day with Diana. If memory serves, Diana is not really mentioned again in the series (Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside). After a short visit, she returns to her own home, her waiting family. There is Gilbert, of course, and Susan Baker, and her five children: Jem, Walter, Nan and Di (the twins), and Shirley. The book, I believe, mentions around here that she's been married nine years and her oldest is seven. Imagine five children under the age of seven with one more on the way! So Anne is extremely fortunate to have Susan helping her with all those children! There is one person Anne isn't looking forward to seeing, Gilbert's Aunt Mary Maria. She comes for "two weeks" and stays over a year! The chapter on how they accidentally send her off is one of my favorites!!!

The narration of Anne of Ingleside is interesting. Readers spend time inside the minds of Anne, Jem, Walter, Di, Nan, Rilla, and perhaps Susan. I don't recall Gilbert or Shirley or Aunt Mary Maria! Montgomery devoted a certain amount of time to each child. These chapters capture different aspects of being a child, different fears and anxieties, different hopes and dreams. There is Jem's one desire for a dog who really truly loves him. There is Di's friendship troubles, I believe. Nan has a chapter about bargaining with God. My least favorite chapter, unfortunately, is near the end. Anne loses touch with reality and thinks Gilbert doesn't love her anymore and that he regrets marrying her. Seriously I'm not sure what Montgomery was thinking with this one!

I read this one trying to always keep in mind that this book serves as a goodbye. The original Anne audience would have been born circa 1895-1900. The first book was published in 1908. The last book was published in 1939. Those that grew up with Anne would have been able to introduce their children to Anne as well! Anne may have felt like a kindred spirit indeed, as her original audience was reaching their mid-to-late teens, Anne was falling in love and getting married. (Anne of the Island was published 1915. Anne's House of Dreams was published in 1917.) The following books, which focus on her raising a family. Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside were published in 1919 and 1921. This was "the" Anne series for almost fifteen years. Anne of Windy Poplars was published in 1936 and Anne of Ingleside in 1939.

When I first wrote this review in 2013, I am not sure I was aware of how L.M. Montgomery ended her life. This greatly saddens me. AND I can't help wishing for one more visit with Anne and her family. To see Anne as a grandmother--to see her children grown, married, with children of her own. Perhaps gathering the grandchildren around to tell them stories, to hear their stories. Or perhaps to take nature walks with them. I could imagine scenes where young children want to hear more, more, more of her stories.

As for rating this book, it's hard. There are chapters I absolutely LOVE. There are chapters I merely like or tolerate. There are chapters that seem to flow EASILY together--those near the start of the novel. And then others feel like added on vignettes. I do wish more time had been spent on ALL the children. We get a lot of Nan and Di with a few of Jem. But not as many for Walter or Shirley or Rilla.

Favorite quotes:

The only time I feel I'm getting along a bit is when I look at pictures in the magazines. The heroes and heroines in them are beginning to look too young to me. 

We'll enjoy each other's friendship today even if we are to be parted tomorrow. 

Our friendship has always been a very lovely thing, Diana.
Yes...and we've always...I mean...I never could say things like you, Anne, but we have kept our old 'solemn' vow and promise' haven't we?
Always...and always will.
Anne's hand found its way into Diana's. They sat for a long time in a silence too sweet for words. 

It was never quite safe to sit down on a chair at Ingleside without first making sure there wasn't a cat in it. 

This is no common day, Mrs. Dr. dear, she said solemnly.
Oh, Susan, there is no such thing as a common day. Every day has something about it no other day has. Haven't you noticed?

Half an hour later, Susan, reading her nightly chapter in her Bible, came across the verse, "Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house lest he weary of thee and hate thee." She put a sprig of southernwood in it to mark the spot. Even in those days, she reflected.

If a minister preaches a sermon that hits home to some particular individual people always suppose he meant it for that very person, said Anne. A hand-me-down cap is bound to fit somebody's head but it doesn't follow that it was made for him.

I do not think, Mrs. Marshall Elliott, that people in these parts say half the things they are reported to have said.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

3. Into the Fire (Westfallen #2)

3. Westfallen #2: Into the Fire. Ann and Ben Brashares. 2025. 384 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, series book, mg speculative fiction]

First sentence: IF at first you don't succeed, cry cry again.

Premise/plot: Into the Fire is the second book in the Westfallen series by brother-and-sister authors, Ben and Ann Brashares. The premise is AWESOME. Three friends from the present (2023) "meet" three friends from the past (1944) and history is changed FOREVER-forever. (Or is it?!?!?!) Henry, Lukas, and Frances were at one time best, best, best friends though in recent years they've grown apart--far apart. Alice, Lawrence, and Artie are friends as well. These six friends become connected by a radio.

In the first book, loose lips from the future changes the past. They make an attempt to fix it for sure, but, that attempt is unsuccessful. America [and the Allies] lost the Second World War. Bad news all around.

The six kids working together--though NOT by magic radio--try time and time and time again to change the future by changing the past. That is the kids from 2023 are searching for clues in a future where they are strangers--strangers in a strange land if you will--to see WHAT events in 1944 led to this terrible, horrible future. IT is a mystery. The kids in the past are trying their best to look for clues too. To be careful and observant. To look for anything off--signs of treason within their neighborhood. WHO is it among them that would communicate with the BAD bad guys.

Will the future be changed? Almost four hundred pages of MORE attempts...is there any progress?!?!?!

My thoughts: I read the first book TWICE. It was awesome. It was thrilling and chilling. Did not disappoint. This second book is equally intense. Same premise BUT with an added layer of dystopia. The world-building IS intriguing--and terrifying. I do think some readers--perhaps older readers???--will piece together clues before the kids in the story. I did want to shout at the characters a few times. Did I expect a cliff hanger ending? I didn't. And that's probably all my own fault. I read this book in two or three sittings BECAUSE I thought at last, at last, at last RESOLUTION. There is no resolution. WAS it a great read? YES for the most part. At least as good as the first book. Perhaps I'm more invested for the second book. I want the third book NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2. Fahrenheit 451 (audiobook)

    

2. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/2011. 194 pages. [Source: Library][5 stars, audiobook, dystopia, science fiction, adult classic]

ETA: The narrator was Penn Badgley. I absolutely love, love, love this science fiction classic. I thought I'd read it more recently than 2022, but, apparently not!

First sentence: It was a pleasure to burn.

Premise/plot: Guy Montag, a fireman, is challenged in his beliefs after meeting a young neighbor girl, Clarisse, who is seventeen and crazy. Though their meetings are brief--she dies soon after--his life is forever changed by the act of actually thinking, observing, engaging.

Guy Montag has his eyes opened--and once they are open--he's quick to see that his society is in BIG, BIG TROUBLE and that most likely it is DOOMED, heading straight for collapse.

My thoughts: Fahrenheit 451 is one of my all-time favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite books. It's not about censorship--not really. Despite what any back cover says.

There is a line in a song from Beauty and the Beast that tackles what this one is about.

Gaston: Lefou, I'm afraid I've been thinking.
Lefou: A dangerous pastime,
Gaston: I know.

It is a nightmarish look at what happens to an entire civilization/culture that embraces the philosophy that IGNORANCE IS BLISS. That a mindless life is a happy life. It shows us the results of several generations CHOOSING for THEMSELVES not to think--to just be entertained quick and easy, fast and mindless. That's why I said it is NOT about censorship. Except for the occasional "oddball" that hasn't been brainwashed by the education system, the parlor families (aka television), the ads and billboards, the majority are happy and content to be mindless. They're not desperate rebels anxious to pick up a book. They don't need the government, the system, the powers that be forbidding them from picking up books and reading. It's almost a non-issue. It's the oddballs that keep the firemen in business.

Mindless, easy entertainment that never challenges or questions--merely entertains has weakened society. Though most wouldn't ever guess it or observe it on their own. They're doomed and clueless.

In addition to entertainment and education (or lack thereof) this one also has MUCH to say about war.

Favorite quotes:

I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames. (8)

Sometimes I'm ancient. I'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other. Did it always use to be that way? My uncle says no. Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone. (30)

"People don't talk about anything."
"Oh, they must!"
"No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else..." (31)

"We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?" (52)

Do you see? Out of the nursery into the college and back to the nursery; there's your intellectual pattern for the past five centuries or more. (55)

School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored (55)

Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute. Remember, Montag, we're the happiness boys. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. (58)

It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today thanks to them you can stay happy all the time. (58)

Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right right? Haven't you heart it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we keep them moving, don't we give them fun? That's all we live for, isn't it? For pleasure, for titillation? And you must admit our culture provides plenty of these. (59)

The home environment can undo a lot you try to do at school. That's why we've lowered the kindergarten age year after year until now we're almost snatching them from the cradle. (60)

Did you listen to him? He knows all the answers. He's right. Happiness is important. Fun is everything. (65)

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." (71)

Every hour so many damn things in the sky! How in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives! Why doesn't someone want to talk about it! We've started and won two atomic wars since 1990! Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world? Is it because we're so rich and the rest of the world's so poor and we just don't care if they are? Is that why we're hated so much? Do you know why? I don't, that's sure! Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. God, Millie, don't you see? An hour a day, two hours, with these books, and maybe. (73-4)

Good God, it isn't as simple as just picking up a book you laid down half a century ago. Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord. (78)

It’s been a long time. I’m not a religious man. But it’s been a long time.’ Faber turned the pages, stopping here and there to read. ‘It’s as good as I remember. Lord, how they’ve changed it in our parlors these days. Christ is one of the family now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn’t making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs.’ (81)

I’m one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the ‘guilty’, but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself. (82)

It’s not the books you need, it’s some of the things that were once in books. (82)

The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us. (83)

And what does the word quality mean ? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You’d find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more literary you are. That’s my definition anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies. (83)

We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. (83)

The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are. (86)

"Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you're out of your mind," said Mrs. Phelps.
"I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it's not bad at all. You heave them into the 'parlor' and turn the switch. It's like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid." Mrs. Bowles tittered. "They'd just as soon kick as kiss me. Thank God, I can kick back!" (96)

Mistakes can be profited by. Man, when I was younger I shoved my ignorance in people's faces. They beat me with sticks...if you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn. (104)

What traitors books can be! You think they're backing you up, and they turn on you. (107)

Oh God, the terrible tyranny of the majority. (108)

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #1

 In the last days of 2025, I did review two books and a Bible. I also watched a handful of movies. However, I've decided to just include the ones reviewed and/or watched in 2026 proper.

I DID review one book this week. (My numbers can only go up from here!) That one book is THE LONG WINTER by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is a fabulous, fabulous read. I listened on audio book. I do recommend listening to the series on audio because of the fiddle bits. Every time there is a song--where Pa plays his fiddle--there's FIDDLE. It does immerse you more in the story which is lovely. This one is best read UNDER a blanket or two.

Century of Viewing Week #1

1960s

• 1962 Music Man Is The Music Man my absolute and favorite musical?!?!?! Probably. Maybe. Definitely top three if not the top slot. A traveling sales man sells the town on boys' band, but, his less than honest past may catch up with him before the end. But the love of a GOOD librarian may just lead to the best resolution of all.
• 1967 Camelot. My second one-star movie of the year is CAMELOT (the musical). It had probably been three decades since I last saw it. I had a vague memory of some of the songs. And curiosity enough to rewatch it. Camelot is not made for an overthinker like me. IF I'd watched it in the daytime, I'd have probably had words with the screen. As everyone was sleeping, I had to keep my loud thoughts quiet. (Or quieter.)

1980s

• 1982 Ivanhoe THE one and only. THE best way to start New Year's Day. This Swedish tradition of watching Ivanhoe on New Year's Day is all kinds of awesome. I just had to borrow the tradition once my friend "Anonymous L" shared about it. THE story is full of action, adventure, and ROMANCE. Love, love, love this one so much.
• 1987 Overboard How many people go overboard in this romantic comedy? Quite a few--but many are repeats. This comedy is delightful--a bit over the top...dare I say a bit overboard. HOWEVER, I think this prank soon becomes oh-so-real as feelings get involved. I love how this found family saves her.

1990s

• 1995 While You Were Sleeping. I started this one a few days ago. It's a great movie to watch in between Christmas and New Year's Day. It's SO quotable and funny and enjoyable. Just a delight to watch this romantic comedy that is quirky and family-focused.

2020s

• 2020 We Three Kings. This is a bio pic, a period drama, a movie based on true events. It is about how the Christmas Carol "We Three Kings" was written. In theory, it shouldn't be *that* bad a movie. I don't know if it's the actors fault for not being great actors, or the fault of those who cast this movie in the first place, or perhaps the fault is the writers. THE costumes are lovely. But the acting and/or the writing is very stilted, unnatural, awkward. The writing does have a lot of info-dumping.

 

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