The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by: William Goldman: review

yes guys. It's official. I have returned :D

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure

by: William Goldman

The Princess Bride is a true fantasy classic. William Goldman describes it as a "good parts version" of "S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure." Morgenstern's original was filled with details of Florinese history, court etiquette, and Mrs. Morgenstern's mostly complimentary views of the text. Much admired by academics, the "Classic Tale" nonetheless obscured what Mr. Goldman feels is a story that has everything: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."
Goldman frames the fairy tale with an "autobiographical" story: his father, who came from Florin, abridged the book as he read it to his son. Now, Goldman is publishing an abridged version, interspersed with comments on the parts he cut out.

From Me:

I love this book. Bottom line.

If you've seen the movie then you know the general story, but the book is at least ten times better. I really enjoyed not only the story with Buttercup and Westley and everything, but reading William Goldman's extra parts of the story - his opinions on things and little comments about various subject matter throughout the book made me smile.

I love all of the characters in this book - even the villans had something about them that made me love hating them. There were so many lines that had me cracking up. It was like everything said had something funny about it.

How much I loved this book was really, in the words of Vizzini, "Inconceivable!" I thought I'd like it, but not love it as much as I do now. I have a kind of list of books I plan to read to my future children - and this one has become very high on that list, preferably when one is sick. :D

I say go and invest in the Princess Bride and read to your heart's content.

The Corinthian by: Georgette Heyer Review.

*Okay so this review is not by me, but rather by Shana.

The Corinthian

By: Georgette Heyer

Penelope Creed, or Pen as she prefers to be called has made up her mind to her her own adventure.

Embarking on this adventure to avoid marrying into her repulsive aunt's family, Pen sets off from London to her childhood home in Bristol, but the real adventure begins when she meets Sir Richard Wyndham. He readily agreed to help Miss Creed by giving a disguise, and acompanying her as her chaparone and protecting her. Or so she thinks.

Little does she know that Sir Richard has his own reason for going with her that he would rather no disclose. Both embarking on many adventures together to find: a childhood love, a murder, a burgler, a secret maraige, and a new found love. The Corinthian shows Georgette Heyer at her best. If you like any of Mrs Heyer's books you will love this one, and if you have yet to read any of her books this is a wonderful book to start out with. The Corinthian is a wonderful book for all ages. With no extincive love scenes, this is a must read on a rainy day.

I'm Home!

Okay guys so I just got back from Disney so I am fully back in the swing of things. I have gotten some really fabulous looking books the past few weeks so expect a very long In My Mailbox post on Sunday.

My contest is supposed to be officially over, but because of my lack of postings I am extending it for a week, so for you guys who have entered thanks - and you guys who haven't yet you still have a chance.

My car broke down :/

and it's still broke down :/

That really upsets me lol. So until I get it fixed (if I do get it fixed...) things just will be a little more difficult, but I will have the contest books sent out hopefully within the week the winner is decided.

Okay. I think I'm done. I will have a review up possibly tomorrow so look forward to that!

Omg Guys. lol./Contest news.

Alright so. I have some serious explaining to do. lol.

We all just moved so things have been kind of hectic, and our internet has been down for awhile. I'm currently on vacation but will be back next week, and hopefully normal updating will be back then too.

And my car broke down, which just about kills me. Poor Tory...(that was her name). She blew a headgasket...which is not fun. I seriously think I have the worst car trouble EVER. So yeah. That adds to the no internet-ness because I can't even go to Panera lol.

Anywho. Here's hoping all is back to normal soon.

But. Anyway.

My contest is winding down. Once i get back from vacation I will be picking a winner...so be sure to enter...and hurry.

Breathing by: Cheryl Renee Herbsman: Review

Breathing

by: Cheryl Renee Herbsman

From Amazon:

Savannah would be happy to spend the summer in her coastal Carolina town working at the library and lying in a hammock reading her beloved romance novels. But then she meets Jackson. Once they lock eyes, she’s convinced he’s the one—her true love, her soul mate, a boy different from all the rest. And at first it looks like Savannah is right. Jackson abides by her mama’s strict rules, and stays by her side during a hospitalization for severe asthma, which Savannah becomes convinced is only improving because Jackson is there. But when he’s called away to help his family—and seems uncertain about returning—Savannah has to learn to breathe on her own, both literally and figuratively.

From Me:

I was so excited to get my hands on this book, and I don't want to say I was disappointed, because I really wasn't...I was just not as awed as I expected to be. I liked the story, and I enjoyed the dialect once I got used to it, but I am from the south and don't really know anyone who talks quite like that. I mean yeah, we say things like "yall" and the occasional "reckon" but you know...I guess North Carolina is more distinct.


The story of Savannah and Jackson I really liked. I felt at times that Savannah was kind of a complainer. She did some things that didn't set well with me, and I guess it may have been caused by her age, maybe she was just so young that she made those little annoying mistakes.


Okay, my nit picking is done. Over all I really liked it. I wish that it had more of a ending though. I did feel like I was left hanging...so maybe a sequel is in order? hmmm. I wouldn't mind it.


This book is worth reading for the relationship. It feels real, and I guess that's partly because Cheryl Renee Herbsman had a relationship similar to this. I would recommend it.


It gets a 8.


-Christina

My First Contest...

Okay yes. This is where the excitement part of my In My Mailbox post really comes into play. This week I got two ARC's of Twenty Boy, and I only need one...so I'm giving the other away. Plain and simple.

Here are the rules:

You get one entry for commenting on this post.

+1 extra entry if you link to this contest

+1 entry if you comment on past reviews (limit to 5).

+2 extra entries if you become a follower, or are already a follower.

Pretty Simple right?

At the end of one month I will tally up everyone's total and put all the names in a hat, and pick the winner.

Be sure to tell me what you do in your comment. If you link to it, please leave me the link.

So you have till June 23. Good luck everyone :]

In My Mailbox/Excitement.

Okay so school is officially over so my lack or updates will be over soon as well! :]

Alas I have started playing Wow again, which has taken up some of my time. I'm level 51 though after 2 days full playing time so I would say that's pretty good. lol.

I hope I can actually remember all of the books I got this week.

Here's the ones I remember...

In My Mailbox :]

In My Mailbox

Alright the in my mailbox meme was started by the wonderful Kristi A.K.A. as the Story Siren, and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

This week I got alot of stuff, at least for me. I'm going to have to increase my reading time, but summer is here (in two days) so hopefully I can do that with no problem.

Crazy Beautiful

by: Lauren Baratz Logsted

Due Out: September, 2009

In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself.
Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don’t scare her. They don’t keep her away. In fact, they don’t make any difference at all to her.
But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering.
Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.

*This one looks amazing! I squealed when I opened the package and found it. I love retellings of fairy tales, and this seems right up my alley. Plus the cover is gorgeous. :]

Slept Away

by: Julie Kraut

Due out: May 26, 2009

Laney Parker is a city girl through and through. For her, summertime means stepping out of her itchy gray school uniform and into a season of tanning at rooftop swimming pools, brunching at sidewalk cafes, and—as soon as the parents leave for the Hamptons—partying at her classmates’ apartments.But this summer Laney’s mother has other plans for Laney. It’s called Camp Timber Trails and rustic doesn’t even begin to describe the un-air-conditioned log cabin nightmare. Laney is way out of her element—the in-crowd is anything but cool, popularity seems to be determined by swimming skills, and the activities seem more like boot camp than summer camp.Splattered with tie dye fall out, stripped of her cell, and going through Diet Coke withdrawal, Laney is barely hanging on. Being declared the biggest loser of the bunk is one thing, but when she realizes her summer crush is untouchably uncrushable in the real world, she starts to wonder, can camp cool possibly translate to cool cool? Summer camp might just turn this city girl’s world upside down!

*This cover is adorable also and I love the thought of a camp book - I have never been to camp, but I'd love to hear about it.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

by: Katherine Howe
Due out June 9, 2009

A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history-the Salem witch trials.
Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.
As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.
Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.

*And again. History gets the better of me. Anything with a historical spin makes me happy.

Breathing

by: Cheryl Renee Herbsman

Savannah would be happy to spend the summer in her coastal Carolina town working at the library and lying in a hammock reading her beloved romance novels. But then she meets Jackson. Once they lock eyes, she’s convinced he’s the one—her true love, her soul mate, a boy different from all the rest. And at first it looks like Savannah is right. Jackson abides by her mama’s strict rules, and stays by her side during a hospitalization for severe asthma, which Savannah becomes convinced is only improving because Jackson is there. But when he’s called away to help his family—and seems uncertain about returning—Savannah has to learn to breathe on her own, both literally and figuratively.

*Ahhh I've been waiting for this one forever...and now I have it :] I am reading it now, and once I got past the dialect it is proving to be amazing. I'm from the south...but yet I don't talk like that, using reckon and y'all constantly, but I like it. It reminds me of some family. haha

How it Ends

by: Laura Weiss

Due out: August 4, 2009

All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him – but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be.
Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was.
Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audio book the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without even realizing it, the story begins to change her.Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering irrevocable conclusion.

*I love Laura Wiess. Such A Pretty Girl was beyond amazing, so I'm so excited to read this one.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by: Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty
by: Jenny Han

From Amazon:

Some summers are just destined to be pretty
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

From Me:

This book was exactly what I wanted to read. I went to Barnes and Noble and debated with myself for at least 20 minutes trying to decide whether to buy this or not...but my book loving self beat my sensible money saving side.

Then, about 24 hours later I had it read.

Is that a good thing? For me yeah.

It's not a really short book. It's 246 pages long and it was the perfect early summer read. I loved the setting, and the characters...although I'm not entirely sure about how they carried themselves always. Conrad was very wishy washy. One minute I liked him, and then the next I didn't. He went between two extremes - being a jerk, and then being completely adorable. It sat okay with me though, just simply because I know someone like that, but I'm not sure how every reader would like that.

Also the main character's name bugged me. I mean...Belly? Her name was Isabella and I know it was supposed to be like she was always seen as a kid but...Belly?! Why not Bell? Bella? Issy? Isabella? goodness.

But I did enjoy the book. The feelings were good, the emotion was powerful, and it wasn't light and fluffy. It was good and I would recommend it to anyone searching for a good summertime read about Love and Friendship...and all things in between.

I give it a 8/10.

-Christina :]

In My Mailbox//MIA

In My Mailbox

(on Tuesday! Ahh It just keeps getting worse!)

Okay, so the In My Mailbox Meme was started by The Story Siren, and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie :]

This week was a good week for me, which is surprising, because I had gotten into the no package thing and catching up on everything and then Boom. I get books. I'm not going to complain, but I was a but taken a back haha.

Alright so this week I got...

Donut Days

by: Lara Zielin

Emma has a lot going on. Her best friend’s not speaking to her, a boy she’s known all her life is suddenly smokin’ hot and in love with her, and oh yes, her evangelical minister parents may lose their church, especially if her mother keeps giving sermons saying Adam was a hermaphrodite.
But this weekend Emma’s only focused on Crispy Dream, a hot new donut franchise opening in town, where Harley bikers and Frodo wannabes camp out waiting to be the first ones served. Writing the best feature story on the camp for the local paper might just win Emma a scholarship to attend a non- Christian college. But soon enough Emma finds the donut camp isn’t quite the perfect escape from all her troubles at Living Word Redeemer.
In a fresh, funny voice, newcomer Lara Zielin offers up a mesmerizing, fast-paced narrative full of wit and insight.

*This one I'm very excited about, because not only does it deal with teenage life, but it also delves into a church thing which is pretty much where I am 50% of the time. But it seems like this may go into the problems with the church as a whole...which I can relate to for sure

The Bought:

The Summer I Turned Pretty
By: Jenny Han

Some summers are just destined to be pretty
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

*Ahhh! I love this cover, and this book. I am 10 pages from being done and OMG. haha It's one of the greatest. Expect a review really soon.

The Boys Next Door
by: Jennifer Echols

Cute, available, and one cabin over
Lori lives for summertime on the lake. She spends all season wakeboarding, swimming, and hanging with her friends -- including the two hotties in the house next door. With the Vader brothers, Lori's always been one of the guys.
But while Lori and the "baby" brother, Adam, are inseparable friends, she can't deny a secret crush on Sean, the older Vader boy. This year Sean's been paying Lori a lot of attention, and not in a brotherly way.
But just as Lori decides to prove to Sean she's girlfriend material, she realizes that her role as girl friend to Adam may be even more important. And by trying so hard for the perfect summer romance, she could be going way overboard....

*It took me FOREVER to find this one. I was looking everywhere because I love Jennifer Echols and I really wanted to read this, and so I looked...and I looked...and I looked and then I'm talking to my friend on the phone complaining about how I can't find this, and I look up, and it's right in front of my face. :] haha shows how much I pay attention.

From contests! :D

Always Watching
by: Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins

This daughter of a rock star has it all—until murder crashes her world.The exciting and suspenseful Rayne Tour series features sixteen-year-old Shaley O’Connor, on tour with her mother’s popular band. Shaley lives in a whirlwind of backstage secrets, hotels, and limos. With beauty and fame of her own, Shaley wants for nothing … except the one thing she can’t have. During a concert, sixteen-year-old Shaley O’Connor stumbles upon the body of a friend backstage. Is Tom Hutchens’ death connected to her?Frightening messages arrive. Paparazzi stalk Shaley. Her private nightmare is displayed for all to see. Where is God at a time like this? As the clock runs out, Shaley must find Tom’s killer—before he strikes again.

Rooftops of Tehran

by: Mahbod Seraji

In this poignant, eye-opening and emotionally vivid novel, Mahbod Seraji lays bare the beauty and brutality of the centuries-old Persian culture, while reaffirming the human experiences we all share.In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran’s sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the next. He also hides a secret love for his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. But the bliss of Pasha and Zari’s stolen time together is shattered when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah’s secret police. The violent consequences awaken him to the reality of living under a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice…

*Okay. So guys I'm sorry I've been missing in action all week, I was at my mom's and the internet as always, wasnt that great. I'm sorry! I'm going to hopefully have it all week this week, but it may be kind of sporadic until school is finished. :]