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

   

• 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.

• 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).

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.