Week in Review #17

This week I reviewed two books and two Bibles!

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

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


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


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


Century of Viewing #17

1940s

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

1950s

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

1960s

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

1980s

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

1990s

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

2000s

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

2010s

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

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews