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
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.
© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1. The Long Winter (Little House #6) Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1940. 334 pages. [Source: Library][audiobook, historical fiction, classic]
First sentence: The mowing machine's whirring sounded cheerfully from the old
buffalo wallow south of the claim shanty, where bluestem grass stood
thick and tall and Pa was cutting it for hay.
Premise/plot:
The Ingalls family--and the whole community/territory--face a brutal,
harsh, and terribly long winter full of blizzards. This first chapter is called "Make Hay While the Sun Shines" and if it's
found within a book called THE LONG WINTER, the reader knows what to
expect even if the characters don't. The book opens with Ma and Pa and
family getting ready for harvest and winter. Laura is helping out Pa.
Mary and Carrie are helping out Ma. Laura is especially pleased that
she's old enough (around 14 now) to help Pa and do outdoor chores.
The
Ingalls family is living in their claim shanty. This would be the first
fall/winter they've been there. And they know it will be tough, but
when the first blizzard comes in October,
they know that it wouldn't only be tough to survive but impossible to
survive if they were to try to stay on their homestead. Fortunately, Pa
owns property in town. A place where they can be nice and warm and cozy
for the winter. Or so they think.
What no one could know is just
how hard, how long, how tough this winter was going to be. Some folks
are prepared--the Wilder boys for instance--but most are not. Most are
relying on the train making regular stops in town. The trains are
essential for stocking the stores of supplies. But when almost every day
brings a blizzard--with clear days coming only one at a time and never
on a predictable schedule--it soon becomes clear that the trains will
not be saving the day. Not til spring. The town's survival, the Ingalls'
family survival, is a big if at this point.
Cold. Hunger. Starvation. No supplies. What's not to love? My
thoughts: The Long Winter has always been one of my favorites of the
Little House
series. I'll admit it tends to make you cold and hungry. But that's not a
bad thing, right? I didn't think so. Only two books can trick my mind
and body--okay maybe three--into thinking it's cold and hungry. One, of
course, is The Long Winter. The other two are by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I
think one of the reasons I love The Long Winter is that it introduces
Almanzo Wilder onto the scene. True, there was Farmer Boy, but not every
reader takes the time to read Farmer Boy. I spent forty plus years
avoiding it. I read it earlier this year for the first time. But
this Almanzo is a man--a young man it's true--19 years of age. And he's
acting "manly" alright when it's time to save the day. I love every
scene Almanzo is in. Laura first meets him when she's lost and trying to
find her Pa in the slough of hay. Here is the description: "His blue
eyes twinkled down at her as if he had known her a long time." Anyway, I
love this book. Is it my favorite and best from the series?
Probably. I do love These Happy Golden Years. So those two are my
favorite and best. But I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one so much.
ETA: I listened to The Long Winter--a book I've read dozens of times--on audio narrated by Cherry Jones. The audio book is a little over seven hours.
© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
The 'century of viewing' covered 1900 to 2025. I watched movies, shorts, cartoon shorts, television series, television episodes, YouTube documentaries, etc.
- 40.4% of my viewing was black and white. (242)
- 58.4% of my viewing was color. (350)
- 1.2% of my viewing was both black and white and color. (7)
Which decade did I watch the most from?!?!?!
- 1920s 20.7% (124)
- 1990s 10.9% (65)
- 2020s 10.4% (62)
- 1980s 8.0% (48)
- 2000s 7.8% (47)
- 2010s 7.7% (46)
- 1910s 6.7% (40)
- 1930s 6.2% (37)
- 1970s 6.0% (36)
- 1950s 5.8% (35)
- 1960s 5.3% (32)
- 1900s 0.7% (4)
Stars Upon Thars --
- 1 star 0.3% (usually because I would stop watching if I thought it was *that* terrible. Two movies were rated one star.)
- 2 stars 6.5% (this includes 2 1/2 stars, which is CENTER of what a movie can be) (39 movies)
- 3 stars 25.9% (again including 3 1/2 stars) (155 movies)
- 4 stars 29.9% (again including 4 1/2 stars) (179 movies)
- 5 stars 37.4% (this does include repeats) (224 movies, again this includes those I watched more than once)
Genres. This isn't really completely accurate...because silent movies most of them would also count as COMEDIES or romances or drama or whatnot. And I did combine categories--on my spreadsheet I had three different descriptions for 'action' (action superhero, action thriller, and action/adventure). Same with other categories. Romantic comedies AND romantic dramas were combined to romance. And it does not take into account holiday romantic comedies or holiday romantic dramas.
- Silent movie 26.9% (161)
- speculative fiction 17.6% (105)
- romance 9.2% (55)
- musical 7.5% (45)
- comedy 6.4% (38)
- holiday 5.5% (33)
- action 5.2% (31)
- period drama 5% (30)
- animated 5% (30)
- documentary 3.5% (21)
- drama 3.2% (19)
- mystery/crime 2.7% (16)
- war drama 1.7% (10)
- sports 0.5% (3)
- competition 0.2% (1)
Top three movies from January: Ivanhoe, The General, Seven Chances
Top three movies from February: Groundhog Day, The Camerman, Benny & Joon
Top three movies from March: What About Bob?, Sherlock Jr., You Can't Run Away From It
Top three movies from April: Hayseed Romance, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Gospel of John
Top three movies from May: Remember the Day, Music and Lyrics, Battling Butler
Top three movies from June: Batman (1966), Kate & Leopold, Spite Marriage;
Top three movies from July: Blast from the Past, Clue, Time After Time
Top three movies from August: Primeval, Adventures in Babysitting, Big Fish
Top three movies from September: The Fifth Element, Edward Scissorhands, Poseidon Adventure
Top three movies from October: Lethal Weapon (all of them), The Martian, The Invisible Man
Top three movies from November: Dinosaurus, The Day Day the Earth Stood Still, The Time Machine
Top three movies from December: VHS Christmas Carols, Die Hard, Muppet Christmas Carol
© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
In December, I watched fifty-one things.
December's five star movies
- A Biltmore Christmas
- Borrowed Hearts
- Charlie Brown Christmas
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
- Die Hard
- Garfield Christmas
- Holiday Inn on Broadway
- How To Train Your Dragon (animated)
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Miracle in Bethlehem, PA
- Miracle on 34th Street
- Muppet Christmas Carol
- North and South
- Scrooge
- Surviving Love
- Undercover Christmas
- VHS Christmas Carols
- White Christmas
Decembers 4 1/2 and 4 star movies
- Little Women (1933)
- The Christmas Toy (1986)
- Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)
- Brazil (1985)
- Downton Abbey: Grand Finale
- Sister Swap: Hometown Christmas
- Die Hard 2
- A Christmas Carol (1999)
- An American Christmas Carol (1979)
- Call the Ml the Midwife Holiday Special (2025)
- Gattaca
- War of the World (1953)
- Thrill Seekers (1999)
- Beatles Anthology (1995/2025)
© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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