Week in Review #17

This week I read nine books.

41. Rebellion 1776. Laurie Halse Anderson. 2025. 405 pages. [Source: Library] [YA historical; MG historical, 4 stars]

Read this if...

• You enjoy historical coming of age novels
• You enjoy historical fiction set during the American Revolution
• You enjoy reading books with epidemics--small pox in this instance

42. Inkheart. Cornelia Funke. 2003. 563 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, MG fantasy, Mg Fiction]

Read this if...

• You enjoy books about books
• You enjoy fantasy novels
• You enjoy coming of age fantasy novels

43. The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien. 1937.  320 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, MG Fantasy, fantasy, classic]
Read this if...

• You enjoy classics
• You enjoy children's classics
• You enjoy fantasy novels with quests

 39. Umbrella. Taro Yashima. 1958/1977. 40 pages. [Source: Bought]

Read this if...

• You enjoy classic picture books
• You enjoy picture books celebrating independence
• You enjoy rhythmic picture books
• You LOVE Taro Yashima's incredible art

40. The Saggy Baggy Elephant. Kathryn and Byron Jackson. Illustrated by Gustav Tenggren. 1947. 24 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, picture book, golden book, children's classic]

Read this if...

• You enjoy classic Little Golden Books
• You love elephants

41. The Kitten Who Thought He Was A Mouse. Miriam Norton. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1951. 22 pages. [Source: Bought [4 stars, Little Golden Book]

Read this if...

• You enjoy classic Little Golden Books
• You love CATS
• You love fictional mice
• You enjoy nature versus nurture stories

36. God's Masterpiece: An Adventure in Discovering Your Worth. Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Illustrated by Julia Seal. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars; picture book]

Read this if...

• You love books with mirrors
• You enjoy books that are all about building self-esteem

37. When I Talk To God, I Talk About You. Chrissy Metz and Bradley Collins. Illustrated by Lisa Fields. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] [picture book]

Read this if...

• You enjoy books celebrating parenthood
• You enjoy those sentimental sweet books [think LOVE YOU FOREVER or GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU)

38. When I Talk To God, I Talk About Feelings. Chrissy Metz and Bradley Collins. Illustrated by Lisa Fields. 2025. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] [picture book]

Read this if....

• You are looking for a concept book about feelings and emotions
• You are looking for a theologically light introduction to prayer

Century of Viewing, week 17

1920s

• 1922 My Wife's Relations. Buster Keaton. A man finds himself accidentally married and living with some unbearable relations. I absolutely LOVE this one. It's a great short.
• 1922 The Blacksmith. Buster Keaton. I LOVE this one so much now that I've discovered the Buster Keaton approved cut of the film. Definitely recommended.
• 1922 Frozen North. Buster Keaton. Life is but a dream. A man falls asleep at the movie theater...and dreams he's a villain in a film.
• 1922 The Electric House. LOVED this one. Buster Keaton. A mix-up of diplomas leads a botanist to take a job as an electrical engineer.
• 1922 Day Dreams. LIFE is NOT a dream. Buster Keaton. Run far, far, far away from that woman and her horrid father, Buster!!!! A man makes a deplorable deal in an attempt to win approval for a marriage.
• 1923 The Balloonatic. Buster Keaton. Misadventure abounds after Buster finds himself accidentally afloat in a hot air balloon....
• 1923 Love Nest. Buster Keaton. Life is but a dream. Yet another short where it's all a dream. In this one, a broken-hearted man vows to sail the seas in an attempt to forget his lost love....
• 1923 Three Ages. Buster Keaton. This is a parody--of sorts--to Intolerance (1916). Intolerance was NOT a comedy--not intentionally at least. Though there was much room to poke fun perhaps. This was Buster Keaton's first feature film to STAR and DIRECT. (The Saphead was his first feature film, it was for a different studio). Three different time periods, the same love story plays out: Prehistoric, Roman, and Modern. (Intolerance had four time periods: Babylon, First Century Judea, French Middle Ages, and Modern). Buster Keaton was "stuck" with his leading lady. She won a beauty contest in the UK, I believe, and was promised a leading role in a Hollywood film. The original movie that she was to have a role in....rejected her as talent-less...and sent her off to do a comedy because 'acting skills don't matter in a comedy.' Buster was not happy either. She didn't take to acting intuitively and wasn't the best with direction coaching either. But it is what it is. (I am curious how the movie would have done if it had had a better actress--one more Buster Keaton's match.) Buster, I believe, did a lot of improv and changing scenes in the moment. 
• 1923 Our Hospitality. Buster Keaton stars with his wife, Natalie Talmadge, in this period drama. It actually features THREE generations of Keatons. His father, Joe, plays a train engineer. Buster himself, obviously in the lead. And his firstborn son plays a small role as well in the opening framework. Buster and Natalie found out they were expecting during the filming, so, that effected how they filmed her....which led to some convenient blanket scenes. Joe Roberts who had long appeared in Keaton's shorts stars for the last time. He died before the premiere of the movie. So filming also had to work around his health. Essentially, feuding families....a son and daughter from both sides...ultimately fall in love....and after many misadventures--and dashing rescues--true love wins the day. The first version I saw was good, but, the second I came upon was LONGER and was a much better cut of the film. Again just showing that you have to be willing to search around and see what cuts are available and be willing to rewatch to see if you're missing out on anything.
  
• 1926 The General. Carl Davis soundtrack. Buster Keaton stars as Johnnie Gray, a train engineer that loves his engine, The General, and his girl, Annabelle. He will be put to the ultimate test when both are kidnapped by the enemy. Love this one. Obviously. Which is why it keeps appearing weekly.
  

1970s

• 1970 The Aristocats. Disney animated musical starring Parisian cats! One of my absolute favorite Disney movies.
• 1978 Les Miserables. A GREAT adaptation of Les Miserables. It is ABRIDGED and quite severely cut down--as far as characters and extra side stories--but what it covers, it covers WELL.

1980s

• 1983 Murder in Coweta County. Andy Griffith plays a HORRID villain and it's Johnny Cash as sheriff who might just bring about justice.

1990s

• 1993 Schindler's List. I don't watch this Holocaust film often....but it is SO GOOD.
• 1997 The Rainmaker. Legal drama. It was SO good as well. Definitely glad I watched it. Essentially fresh out of law school lawyer takes on his first case--one of corruption involving an insurance company. Will he win?

2020s

• 2025 Not really 'completed' yet, but I am watching the Karen Read Retrial. Four days of trial this week. Some days are just about four or five hours of coverage, others are closer to nine. So expect that to have *some effect* on what I can watch heading into May.

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

43. The Hobbit

 

 

43. The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien. 1937.  320 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, MG Fantasy, fantasy, classic] 

First sentence:  In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.  

ETA: I listened to the audio book narrated by Andy Serkis. It is a little over ten hours, I believe. IT WAS WONDERFUL, FANTASTIC, A JOY AND DELIGHT. He is a talented voice actor. I loved all his voices, except perhaps for some birds? But I recommend the audio a hundred million percent. I would say the audio book is perhaps better than the book. Perhaps. It definitely HELPS the singing portions! I usually skip the poems/songs when I read. But Serkis actually makes them enjoyable!!!!

Premise/plot: Bilbo Baggins has an unexpected adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. When this children's classic opens, Bilbo is decidedly not a burglar. But by the end of it, well, you may have to decide for yourself if he is or isn't... Regardless, Bilbo sets off with THIRTEEN dwarves on a get-rich-or-die-trying quest. They're off to face down a DRAGON, but the dragon won't be the only challenge they face. Will Bilbo return to his beloved shire wiser?!

My thoughts: I love, love, love, love, love, love, love this one. I do. I may even love it a tiny bit more than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Maybe. It's a tricky thing really because in truth, I just LOVE hobbits. I love spending time with hobbits. I love Tolkien's insights about hobbits. One of the things I love about Tolkien is how quotable he is.

Quotes:

“Good Morning!” said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat. “What do you mean?” he said. “Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?” “All of them at once,” said Bilbo.

“What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!” said Gandalf. “Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won’t be good till I move off.”

He liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to ask them himself. He had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short, and then he—as the host: he knew his duty and stuck to it however painful—he might have to go without.

“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!”

He was altogether alone. Soon he thought it was beginning to feel warm. “Is that a kind of a glow I seem to see coming right ahead down there?” he thought. It was. As he went forward it grew and grew, till there was no doubt about it. It was a red light steadily getting redder and redder. Also it was now undoubtedly hot in the tunnel. Wisps of vapour floated up and past him and he began to sweat. A sound, too, began to throb in his ears, a sort of bubbling like the noise of a large pot galloping on the fire, mixed with a rumble as of a gigantic tom-cat purring. This grew to the unmistakable gurgling noise of some vast animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him. It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.

“You have nice manners for a thief and a liar,” said the dragon. “You seem familiar with my name, but I don’t seem to remember smelling you before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?” “You may indeed! I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen.” “So I can well believe,” said Smaug, “but that is hardly your usual name.” “I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.” “Lovely titles!” sneered the dragon. “But lucky numbers don’t always come off.” “I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me.” “These don’t sound so creditable,” scoffed Smaug. “I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider,” went on Bilbo beginning to be pleased with his riddling. “That’s better!” said Smaug. “But don’t let your imagination run away with you!”

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

42. Inkheart

 Inkheart. Cornelia Funke. 2003. 563 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, MG fantasy, Mg Fiction]

First sentence: Rain felt that night, a fine, whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the window pane. 

Premise/plot: Meggie has been raised solely by her father, Mo--whom some call Silvertongue--since her mother's death. The two are incredibly close. Both love, love, love BOOKS. Though for some 'odd' reason, Mo won't read aloud to Meggie. Still until the mysterious appearance of Dustfinger--one rainy night--the two are happy and content. After mystery and adventure are sprung on them--as most adventures are in fantasy novels--well, these two will have quite the time trying to hold onto what they have: each other.

My thoughts: I first read this one in 2007. I never got around to the sequels. I hope to this time around. I was conflicted last time, and I still am in some ways. I think the book suffers from uneven pacing. The first third--the pacing was excellent. The last third--the pacing was fantastic. The middle third, well, this book is LONG and it isn't always as tightly paced as it could be. I think the story itself is intriguing and compelling. It could just use a little trimming here and there to keep readers at the actual edge of their seats. 

I am going to try to watch the movie as well.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

41. Rebellion 1776

41. Rebellion 1776. Laurie Halse Anderson. 2025. 405 pages. [Source: Library] [YA historical; MG historical, 4 stars]

First sentence:  "Take away this puke bucket, girl, and bring me a clean one!"

Premise/plot: Laurie Halse Anderson's newest book is historical fiction--set during the American Revolution--in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Elsbeth Culpepper, our heroine, is a maid. Her mother is dead; her father is otherwise occupied and it is not a bit unusual, I believe, for young adults to be either hired out or apprenticed out. Her current employer--a Loyalist--flees the city leaving Elsbeth scrambling to find a new job or perhaps a new employer in the same home. She finds work--again as a maid, but essentially all-servants-in-one maid--this time for the Pike family. But there's not much time for relaxation when there's a small pox epidemic in town....and your employer has seven children! 

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I did. This isn't my first book to read on a) small pox and b) the Revolution war c) inoculations controversy. Though it has been a while since I've read up on this particular sub-sub-sub genre. It was a good read. It is the kind of historical fiction I like. The type that immerses you in the time and doesn't try to manipulate the past into an indoctrinating sermon for today. Those tend to be both a) obnoxious and b) dated.

I am torn between four and five stars. I am. I found it a compelling read. I enjoyed the depth of the characters. I thought it did really well in world-building for this historical time period. There were some great relationships explored. I'm just not absolutely convinced that it is one I would want to read again and again. (Which is almost how I determine five star reads.) Still I would definitely recommend this one. And I might revisit the rating at some point.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #16

This week I read eight books.

38. Wonderland. Barbara O'Connor. 2018. 288 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, mg fiction, mg realistic fiction]

Read this one if...

• You like spunky heroines who enjoy independence and rule-breaking
• You like dual narration (alternating narrators)
• You enjoy inter-generational friendships

39. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On A Dead Man). Jesse Q. Sutanto. 2025. 325 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, adult mystery]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy unique/memorable narrators
• You enjoy mysteries
• You enjoy found family stories
• You enjoy series

40. Once for Yes. Allie Millington. 2025. 272 pages. [Source: Library] [magic realism, mg fiction, 3 stars]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy magic realism
• You enjoy stories about grieving
• You enjoy coming of age stories

37. Little Freddie Two Pants. Drew Daywalt. Illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, picture book, humor]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy picture books with underwear
• You enjoy humorous stories

38. Snarky Sharky. Bethan Clarke. Illustrated by Nikolas Ilic. 2025. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, humor, animal fantasy]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy word play, puns
• You enjoy animal fantasy

33. The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple. Joanna Davidson Politano. 2024. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, historical fiction, historical romance, Christian fiction]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy historical fiction; this one is set in the early 1900s [in England] and stars a [fictional] silent film star
• You enjoy historical mysteries
• You enjoy historical romance
• You enjoy Christian fiction

34. Cries from the Cross. Erwin Lutzer. 2002. Moody. 170 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, christian nonfiction]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy christian living
• You enjoy christian nonfiction
• You enjoy seasonal devotional readings for Holy Week

35. Short-Straw Bride. Karen Witemeyer. 2012. Bethany House. 368 pages. [Source: Library]

Read this one if...

• You enjoy historical fiction [this one is set in Texas in the 1880s I believe]
• You enjoy historical romance [this is a marriage of convenience story]
• You enjoy Christian fiction

Century of Viewing Week #16

1900s

• 1900 Grandma's Reading Glasses. George Albert Smith directed this short--it's under two minutes. It blends medium shorts and close-up perspective shots. In this instance, a boy playing with his grandma's magnifying glass. One of the things he magnifies is a cat. It's fairly boring. But everything has to start somehow.
• 1907 The Village Fire Brigade. This one is directed by James Williamson. This one is six or seven minutes. It proves there have always been 'Naughty Normans' I suppose? (Fireman Sam reference for those not in the know). I couldn't decide if it was trying to be dramatic and realistic OR a comedy sketch OR both. There's about three minutes where I'm sure it's trying to be comedy. I could only imagine what a comedy Buster Keaton could have made if he'd had a "fire brigade" machine/rig like the one used in this British film.

1910s

• 1917 Easy Street is a Charlie Chaplin short. He plays a character who reforms and becomes a cop....but the street he's assigned is ROUGH and TOUGH and will require a lot of stamina and wit. He has a big heart...which is good...but is he tough when he needs to be. I enjoyed this one a good deal.

1920s

• 1921 Never Weaken is a Harold Lloyd film. I did not care for it. He plays a character who 'helps' out his fiancee by bringing in 'patients' to the doctor's office where she works. His help involves injuring people and then handing them a card with the doctor's address. The middle is him trying to unalive himself since he sees 'his girl' hugging another guy and talking about getting married. The end is him realizing that it is the minister who happens to be her brother. Meanwhile, a lot of physical mishaps are occurring in a construction zone.
• 1921 The Goat is a Buster Keaton short. He plays a character who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a GREAT action-packed short. Plenty of chases. A few trains. Some acrobatics. I adore this one.
• 1921 The Playhouse is a Buster Keaton short. This one isn't entirely politically correct, but, it's enjoyable all the same. Buster Keaton plays a stagehand. The first SIX minutes is Buster Keaton in ALL the roles on stage and off. Including ALL the audience, all the orchestra, all the acts. It was a dream. The rest is Buster Keaton hard at work...helping the show move smoothly....and filling in where necessary. It's silly. It's fun.
• 1921 The Boat is a Buster Keaton short. I like to think of it as a sequel to One Week. He plays a husband, a father, and a boatbuilder. He's taking his family to sea...in a boat...named Damfino. Where will they end up? Damfino.
• 1922 The Paleface is a Buster Keaton short. Is it politically correct? No. Is it funny? Yes. Could it be worse? OH yes. So he plays a butterfly/bug collector/enthusiast who stumbles onto a tribe's land....the day they find out they will be forced to move by an oil company who just stole their lease. If he survives...and this is Buster Keaton...so of course he will...his cleverness may just save the land. I LOVE the ending of this one. He finds a way to thwart the three-second kissing rule by having an intertitle card that reads TWO YEARS LATER during the kiss scene. It's adorable and fun.
• 1922 Cops is a Buster Keaton short. Is it his most famous? Maybe. Probably. Perhaps. It is epic in the stunts and gags. The story isn't my favorite or best. So he gets into trouble with the cops after making a few poor decisions. 
• 1926 The General. Buster Keaton stars as Johnnie Gray a man who loves two things: his train (The General) and his girl (Annabelle). Having lost one--due to miscommunication--he refuses to let the other go. When his General is kidnapped by the enemy, after he must go! He'll end up being a 'hero of the day' mostly. In a way that only Buster can be.
  
• 1928 You're Darn Tootin' is a Laurel and Hardy short. It is *so* much better than Big Business (which I think I watched back in January). It was definitely tolerable. The two play musicians that are bringing the orchestra down....and they end up fired. But trying to earn money on the street has its own misadventures.

1960s

• 1968 Yellow Submarine. The good news? Beatles songs. The bad news? Well. Psychedelic animated Beatles in a ridiculous plot. If you're in the right mood, it is fun enough. If you're not in the right mood, well, let's just say that the gag that a minute is a long time [found in the animated When I'm 64] is true indeed. This is ninety minutes with only enough entertainment value for thirty. 
  
• 1969 Battle of Britain is a World War II action-drama. Don't expect characterization. It's all action--flying, landing, bombs, explosions, etc. I would like a little less action and a lot more characterization. There are moments where they try to add personal stories...but it's too little too late. In my opinion. I think some might still enjoy this one. It just didn't live up to my expectations.

1970s

• 1973 Soylent Green. Did I love it? Did I not? I am glad I watched it....once. Knew ahead of time it was dystopia and dark....let's say. The ending was ambiguous, I thought, which I guess is how it should be? I don't have a lot of confidence in a brighter tomorrow for that society, let's say. 
  
• 1974 Huckleberry Finn (the musical) Do I want my time back? Hard to answer fairly. I was disappointed that the Sherman brothers didn't deliver a better movie. I am not sure how faithful it is to the book because it's been at least five to ten years since I read it. The musical numbers weren't quite to my liking.
• 1979 Star Trek the Motion Picture Do I think this movie needs to be edited back down for most viewers? Yes. Not everyone mind you. But this one drags SO much focusing primarily on the special effects. It might not have felt so slow and draggy when it came out. The story isn't my favorite or best. But I do love the characters in general.

1980s

• 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Not a kids movie. But a parody of film noir with every animated character you can imagine. What I loved? ALL THE CAMEOS. What I didn't love? Roger Rabbit was annoying. It had to be intentional, obviously. I liked most of the characters and the story. It was fun/zany. I enjoyed it SO MUCH MORE than I thought I would. I am so glad I watched it.

1990s

• 1990 Cyrano de Bergerac. I love, love, love this movie. It's a French film with English subtitles. I love the play. I love this movie. I love the musical score. Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with Roxane, his cousin, but his nose keeps him from being bold enough to speak to her earnestly. She falls in love with Christian a young man who is tongue-tied and awkward though extremely handsome supposedly. With a little help from Cyrano, Roxane will get the man of her dreams...but who does she love?
• 1997 Men in Black. This is a fun movie to revisit. I enjoy this alien film. I love Tommy Lee Jones. It's just fun.

2000s

• 2003 Gospel of John is one of my favorite movies to watch. It is narrated by Christopher Plummer. It is literally just the Gospel of John. I would say nothing added or subtracted. However, the online version I saw on Tubi had about four minutes of someone--not Christopher Plummer--essentially giving an altar call and explaining how to respond to the movie you just saw. I am fairly sure that this is NOT in the original movie release. It feels tacked on. It doesn't take away from the overall experience....however, I do wish it hadn't been added.
• 2006 Paul Merton's Silent Clowns. Four episodes. About an hour each. Each one includes about twenty to twenty-five minutes of an actual silent film newly scored [musically]. Episode one was Buster Keaton. Episode two was Charlie Chaplin. Episode three, I believe, was Laurel and Hardy. Episode four was Harold Lloyd. Each one seems to include Paul Merton giving a little lecture to an audience before screening a film. Also some interviews with people who enjoy the silent comic. I enjoyed some aspects of it. I am thankful for it introducing me to You're Darn Tootin' and Easy Street. (Buster Keaton's short was THE GOAT). I did NOT like the Harold Lloyd episode at all.
  

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews