92. Into the Bewilderness

92. Into the Bewilderness. Gus Gordon. 2025. 192 pages. [Source: Library] [graphic novel, children's graphic novel, 5 stars]

First sentence: One spring afternoon, deep in the woods, far from anywhere, friends Luis (the large furry one) and Pablo (the small furry one) are on their way home after a successful outing picking gooseberries. 

Premise/plot: Luis (a bear) and Pablo (a mole) are best, best, best, best friends. They live in the woods and have a great life. But Luis is a philosophizing bear who wonders about the world outside the woods. He's a bear that is considering leaving the woods to go on the occasional adventure. When Luis wins theater tickets for the Big City production of a play, the two leave for the City....but will the City live up to everything Luis has imagined it to be? Can their friendship withstand such a big adventure?

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. It was a delightful read. I loved the dialogue. I loved the friendship. I loved how they have so many nicknames for one another.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

91. 4:50 From Paddington

91. 4:50 From Paddington. (Miss Marple #8) Agatha Christie. 1957/2007. 288 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Mrs. McGillicuddy panted along the platform in the wake of the porter carrying her suitcase.

Premise/plot: Poor Mrs. McGillicuddy! She witnesses a crime when she's on a train--the crime takes place on a passing train--and NO ONE believes her. No one but Miss Marple that is! Miss Marple knows her friend did not imagine a man strangling a woman. Since the police aren't going to bother with an investigation, it's up to her and her friends. Miss Marple hires a woman--Lucy Eyelesbarrow--to do the job. Lucy gets hired on at an estate--the nearest estate to where Miss Marple thinks the body might have been thrown off the train--and in her spire time Lucy will hunt for the body. It doesn't take her long--not really, not all things considered. What takes time is identifying the woman. Who was she? What was she doing in England? Is she in any way connected to the family or the estate? Could Lucy be living with a murderer?

My thoughts: I love, love, love this murder mystery. The murder occurs BEFORE Christmas but most of the book occurs in January or thereabouts. Lucy is working for a very eccentric, quirky family. Some of these family members are quite memorable, almost delightful. Miss Marple is staying nearby and posing as Lucy's aunt.

This is a well-written mystery novel that is fun to read and reread. (Though to be honest you should let a few years go by so that the details get a bit fuzzy in between readings.)

Quotes: 

"Well," she said, "it looks as though you were right." She produced her findings and gave the details of their discovery. "Perhaps one ought not to feel so," she said, "but it is rather gratifying to form a theory and get proof that it is correct!" (39)

"At a certain stage one is inclined to think everyone knows a little more than they are willing to tell you." (81)

"If you have not committed a murder, it naturally annoys you if it seems someone thinks that you have," said Inspector Craddock mildly. (129)

"The truth is people are an extraordinary mixture of heroism and cowardice." (144)

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

90. Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros

90. Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros. Jane Kurtz. Illustrated by Claire Messer. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [nonfiction picture book, 5 stars]

First sentence: Clara was born in India in 1738. In the beginning, her life was anything but splendid. Only a few months old and she was already an orphan. One small rhinoceros in a big, terrifying world. 

Premise/plot: Clara the Triumphant Rhinoceros is a nonfiction picture book for young readers, or readers of all ages who happen to love HISTORY or animals.

My thoughts: Was I familiar with CLARA before reading this nonfiction picture book? No. Did I absolutely love learning her story? YES. I am curious. I love learning new things. I love a good story. Narrative nonfiction can be a delight! Such is the case with this book. I love this well-crafted story. It was a great read. Happy to recommend this one!

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

89. The First Men in the Moon

89. The First Men in the Moon. H.G. Wells. 1901. 213 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, adult science fiction, classic]

First sentence: As I sit down to write here amidst the shadows of vine-leaves under the blue sky of southern Italy, it comes to me with a certain quality of astonishment that my participation in these amazing adventures of Mr. Cavor was, after all, the outcome of the purest accident. It might have been any one. I fell into these things at a time when I thought myself removed from the slightest possibility of disturbing experiences.

Premise/plot: Mr. Bedford has money troubles; he is looking for a relatively quick and easy 'out' for those troubles. He is trying his hand at writing a play. He's gone to the country to write that play and obviously hopes for peace and quiet. Dr. Cavor, his neighbor, is anything but quiet. He's a mad scientist though perhaps Mr. Bedford doesn't realize quite how 'mad' this mad scientist is when they meet. Mr. Bedford, perhaps, should have minded his own business and not lost his temper. Then again, that would have been a short book indeed! Dr. Cavor is out to create a gravity-defying element--which, of course, he'll name Cavorite. Working together--somewhat--they decide to use Cavorite on a sphere Dr. Cavor builds to go to the moon. Obviously. What else would you do if you could defy gravity?! What they find on the moon is quite shocking, especially to Mr. Bedford though he has his regrets before even leaving earth.

My thoughts: I enjoyed the book. It was silly. It requires you to suspend your disbelief. But it was good. I definitely enjoyed it more the second time around. HOWEVER, I will say that the movie adaptation from the 1960s while not faithful to the book particularly, was certainly more entertaining. They added a LOVE INTEREST to Mr. Bedford and had her 'accidentally' forced along for the ride. The ending is much improved in the movie, in my opinion. I also loved seeing CHICKENS IN SPACE. It was silly and over the top but also delightful.

Quotes:

"Can it be," he said, "that I have formed a Habit?"

What is this spirit in man that urges him for ever to depart from happiness and security, to toil, to place himself in danger, to risk even a reasonable certainty of death? It dawned upon me up there in the moon as a thing I ought always to have known, that man is not made simply to go about being safe and comfortable and well fed and amused.

"Good Lord!" I exclaimed. "Just think of all the trouble we took to get into this pickle! What did we come for? What are we after? What was the moon to us or we to the moon? We wanted too much, we tried too much. We ought to have started the little things first.

"It was I found the way here, but to find a way isn't always to be master of a way. If I take my secret back to earth, what will happen? I do not see how I can keep my secret for a year, for even a part of a year. Sooner or later it must come out, even if other men rediscover it. And then...governments and powers will struggle to get hither, they will fight against one another, and against these moon people; it will only spread warfare and multiply the occasions of war....What good would the moon be to men? Even of their own planet what have they made but a battle-ground and theatre of infinite folly? Small as his world is, and short as his time, he has still in his little life down there far more than he can do.

I think that going to bed was one of the luckiest ideas I have ever had in an emergency.

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #32

This week I read nine books!

85. Time Travelling with a Tortoise. Ross Welford. 2024. 220 pages. [Source: Library] [MG speculative fiction, time travel, dinosaurs, 4 stars]

Read this if....

• You enjoyed Time Travelling with a Hamster (this is a companion novel)
• You enjoy time travel stories
• You enjoy coming of age stories

86. Pocket Bear. Katherine Applegate. Illustrated by Charles Santoso. 2025. 272 pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars, J fiction, J fantasy, animal fantasy, toy fantasy]

Read this if....

• You enjoy Katherine Applegate's works!
• You enjoy animal fantasy
• You enjoy fantasy novels where toys are alive
• You love cats

87. Lost in Time. A.G. Riddle. 2022. 455 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, adult science fiction, adult speculative fiction, alternate universes, time travel]

Read this if....

• You enjoy time travel stories
• You enjoy twists and turns
• DINOSAURS!
• You enjoy science fiction

88.  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. J.K. Rowling. 1997. 345 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, mg fantasy, mg fiction, audio book]

Listen to this if...

• You enjoy Harry Potter
• You enjoy children's fantasy

82. Who Meows? A Book of Animal Sounds. Robin Page. 2025. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, concept book]

Read this if...

• You are looking for a concept book about animal sounds
• You have a little one who enjoys books about animals

83. A Scrub in the Tub. Jan Thomas. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, humor, 5 stars]

Read this if....

• You enjoy humorous picture books
• You enjoy Jan Thomas' series

84. The Elephant's Birthday (Mouse and Spoon). Cynthia Rylant. Illustrated by Janna Mattia. 2025. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [early reader, ready to read level 2, animal fantasy, series book; 5 stars]

Read this if...

• You enjoy Cynthia Rylant's work
• You enjoy early reader series
• You enjoy stories about MICE

85. George & Lenny Are Always Together. Jon Agee. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, animal fantasy, friendship, picture book]

Read this if...

• You enjoy picture books about friendship
• You enjoy picture books with animals

8. New King James Version. Audio Bible. Narrated by Tinasha LaRay. God. Accessed through YouVersion Bible App. 1982 for NKJV translation. Not sure when the audio was recorded. [5 stars, Bible, audio book]

Read/listen to this if...

• You enjoy the New King James Version
• You enjoy audio Bibles
• You enjoy the YouVersion app

Century of Viewing, Week #32

1940s

• 1945 Valley of Decision. I watched this period drama ages ago. I've always wanted to read the book but could never track it down. In some ways, it has North and South vibes--think Elizabeth Gaskell and not the Civil War. This one has a doomed romance--class differences and family conflicts. There's some brief moments of hope that all will be well, but, alas I think it will remain bittersweet despite a brief flicker of hope towards the end. Gregory Peck stars in this one.
  

1950s

• 1956 You Can't Run Away From It. I've seen this one dozens of time. Absolutely love this musical adaptation of It Happened One Night. This one stars Jack Lemmon and June Allyson. Two strangers fall in love on a bus...
  
• 1957 The Admirable Crichton. First time seeing this odd comedy. I definitely enjoyed watching it; had its funny moments. I was cheering on Eliza from the start. So what is it about?! A butler gets the chance to 'trade places' with the family he serves WHEN the family is shipwrecked. They lack the skills to survive...and he steps in and manages things beautifully. For two years, he gets to be 'the guv' and all is well....or is it?! This one features light romance, but, isn't romantic-romantic.
  

1960s

• 1966 Batman, season 1. Obviously this one won't appeal to every one. But I had great fun exploring season one of the classic 1966 Batman television show. I enjoyed the ridiculous dialogue, the over-the-top situations, all the HOLY moments. (Holy Alphabet, Batman!) It was silly and fun. Definitely a light-hearted way to spend your time.
  

1970s

• 1976 The Slipper and the Rose. MUSICAL version of Cinderella. This one is SO fleshed out and has a lot more depth and substance to it than your average Cinderella retelling. It explores more--before the ball and after the ball. It is great fun. I adore it.
  

1990s

• 1996 Star Trek: First Contact. TIME TRAVEL and possibly my favorite Star Trek team...obviously I love this one. The BORG are out to rule earth...and they've traveled back in time to do it...to conquer humanity when it's at its weakest. Picard (and team) must save the day.
  

2000s

• 2003 Big Fish is a charming yet bittersweet movie about a father-son relationship. The son struggles to know his tall-tale-telling father who has an elaborate story for just about any situation. His life story is a series of tall tales, but, his son isn't sure if there's any truth at all in any of his dad's stories. As his dad dies, he struggles to piece together WHO his father really was.
  

2010s

• 2015 400 Days. More psychological thriller than science fiction, but light science fiction. Four "astronauts" enter an underground simulator to simulate being in space for 400 days; they will be given a series of tests over the months. But things begin to go wrong and they lose communication with the outside world. Is this part of the test, or, has something catastrophic happened to Earth? As the experiment ends, will, they live to see the 400th day. This one is all questions and no answers. It's weird honestly.  
  

Alphabet Challenge Week #2

A Admirable Crichton First time seeing this odd comedy. I definitely enjoyed watching it; had its funny moments. I was cheering on Eliza from the start. So what is it about?! A butler gets the chance to 'trade places' with the family he serves WHEN the family is shipwrecked. They lack the skills to survive...and he steps in and manages things beautifully. For two years, he gets to be 'the guv' and all is well....or is it?! This one features light romance, but, isn't romantic-romantic.
B Big Fish Big Fish is a charming yet bittersweet movie about a father-son relationship. The son struggles to know his tall-tale-telling father who has an elaborate story for just about any situation. His life story is a series of tall tales, but, his son isn't sure if there's any truth at all in any of his dad's stories. As his dad dies, he struggles to piece together WHO his father really was.
C
D
E
F First Contact (Star Trek) TIME TRAVEL and possibly my favorite Star Trek team...obviously I love this one. The BORG are out to rule earth...and they've traveled back in time to do it...to conquer humanity when it's at its weakest. Picard (and team) must save the day.
G
H
I
J -- Johnny Mnemonic.
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S Slipper and the Rose MUSICAL version of Cinderella. This one is SO fleshed out and has a lot more depth and substance to it than your average Cinderella retelling. It explores more--before the ball and after the ball. It is great fun. I adore it.
T
U
V Valley of Vision I watched this period drama ages ago. I've always wanted to read the book but could never track it down. In some ways, it has North and South vibes--think Elizabeth Gaskell and not the Civil War. This one has a doomed romance--class differences and family conflicts. There's some brief moments of hope that all will be well, but, alas I think it will remain bittersweet despite a brief flicker of hope towards the end. Gregory Peck stars in this one.
W
X
Y You Can't Run Away From It. I've seen this one dozens of time. Absolutely love this musical adaptation of It Happened One Night. This one stars Jack Lemmon and June Allyson. Two strangers fall in love on a bus...
Z

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews