Dim FilteredAndGroupedEntries As List(Of String) = _
    (From entry As String In lines _
     Where Not String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(entry) _
     Let fentry As String = WordFormat(entry) _
     Group By fentry Into Count() _
     Order By Count, fentry _
     Select String.Format("({0,3}) {1}", Count, fentry)).ToList

Private Function WordFormat(ByVal word As String) As String
   If String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(word) Then Return String.Empty
   word = Trim(word)
   Dim start As String = word.Substring(0, 1).ToUpper
   Dim rest As String = word.Substring(1).ToLower
   Return start & rest
End Function