Review: "The Princess Bride" Classic a Month #5

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
3 out of 5 stars

I was told by many that they considered this a modern classic, so I counted it as my April book. :) The main reason I even picked it up though, was because Mark of Mark Does Stuff was going to be reading it and I thought it would be fun to read along with him. (He is currently reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman series for the first time and also watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel concurrently on Mark Watches, so I highly suggest you check both of those out as well!) As a child of the 80s, I've seen the movie many times and loved it, though it's been a very long time since the last.

I did enjoy the book overall, but it had its moments where I was wondering if I was even going to finish it. So I don't know that I have a lot to actually say about it. If you've never read the book or seen the movie (and really, you should at least watch the movie) this is technically a story about a boy and a girl and their love conquering all. But underneath, it's about revenge and miracles and family (by blood and by choice) and words. What words mean and how we use them and why.

"Inconceivable!" You keep using that word! I don't think it means what you think it does.


Buttercup is seriously a brat and Westley is a bit of a jerk, but you still want their love to survive. And you certainly don't want her to end up with that sadistic Prince Humperdinck. You know, this review is really going nowhere and probably is not going to make any sense at all if you don't know anything about The Princess Bride but meh...I'm just going to go with it. :)

As you wish. You know what's a fun game? Saying that in reply to everything your sister (brother, boyfriend, etc...) says to you. Drives them batty lol. Also, this: My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die! I love Inigo. And Fezzik. Oh Fezzik, you break my heart with your gentle giantness and rhyming words. I would read a whole book just about Inigo and Fezzik growing old together.

The King of All Wild Things

This is a half update/half tribute post. I know I'm getting behind again and that stinks. May is a busy month: my birthday, my stepsis' birthday, Mother's Day, vacations, getting ready for summer, it's just a lot going on. But I am going to get back into it, I promise there won't be another 6 month long break like last year!

I'm right in the middle of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 for my online book club and I am loving it so far! I'm also almost done with Hunger, the second book in the Gone series by Michael Grant. It is very creepy and very good and makes me very hungry lol. Oh and I picked up Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus #1 on a whim the other day (I loved Percy Jackson) and I'm about halfway thru that too. I'm obviously still reading, so that's never going to change. :)

I'm sure most of you have heard that Maurice Sendak passed away last week and maybe you've even done your own tribute to him. He was an amazing children's author and curmudgeony old man and he will be missed. Where the Wild Things Are is my all-time favorite children's book ever.

I have several copies of the book, statues, an amaaaaazing altered art book someone made me in a swap one year with it, t-shirts, magnets, cards, and probably some more stuff that I've forgotten about. I even had my mom make a Max costume for one of my Blythe dolls last year for Halloween. Isn't she cute? Lol...

I can't even say why this book resonates with me so deeply, it just does. So his death plus the Beastie Boys MCA really got me down for a while. Then I saw this on Pinterest and it made it a little better.

Artist Jon Burgerman

And then I remembered this hilarious video of "Christopher Walken" reading WTWA and I felt a lot better. So here you go and let the wild rumpus start...

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Today is my birthday, hence the title, so I wanted to do an update of sorts and you know, get more birthday wishes. ;) Just kidding...here, watch this video first. I just discovered DJ TopCat and I really like it. My favorite is the Eazy E & Johnny Cash mashup (sorry, I think of Glee whenever I use that word. :P) of Folsom Prison.

I went over to my mom's with my sister last night to celebrate...my sis got me the new Graceling book, Bitterblue which just came out yesterday and I am soooooo excited about (and I love the cover)!! And also Scott Westerfeld's new graphic novel companion to the Uglies series, Shay's Story. She must really love me to go in a bookstore by herself lol. She also got me 2 giant keys to hang on my wall from Hobby Lobby (craft store)....I love skeleton keys and I think I'm going to make a whole wall of them. And my mom got me the best gift of all...cash lol. Plus, she bought me Chipotle for dinner yum. Oh and Sprinkles cupcakes for desert omnomnom. I think I'm going to use the cash on the Super Mario All-Stars game, because I'm a big old nerd. ;)

In other news, I think I'm going to skip a classic in May because 1. I read 2 in March for the HPB challenge and 2. I am going to read 1Q84 for my first online book club :) and that thing is hugemongous!! It's going to take me all month to read that lol. I'm okay with this decision and I already have a few bought to start back up in June.

I also think I'm going to skip my Annual Summer Reread of Harry Potter. I know this may be shocking to those who know me, but I think I need a break from it now that the last movie is finally out. The last few years, it's taken me to like October to finish because I just start dragging it out at the end. Plus, I know whole paragraphs by heart now. I think I'll probably go back to it next year and it will be all fresh and exciting again! And I'm going to try my hardest to get my sister to read them with me for the first time ever. :D

Okay, that's all I have right now...I am working on my review of The Princess Bride, so I should hopefully have that up this week. And maybe next week, some Baby-Sitters Club?? Hope so! And happy happy birthday month to all you other May babies!! :)

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books I'd Turn Into Movies

This week's Top 10 on The Broke & The Bookish is a fun one! What books are you dying to see turned into movies? This was pretty easy for me actually...there are lots of books I'd love to see on the big screen.

1. The Thing About Jane Spring by Sharon Krum --this is definitely the one I MOST want to see turned into a movie. It's not a very well known book (at all) but it's so so good and I think it would make an excellent movie. I mean, come on! Just look at that cover! :) Jane Spring is a hard-core attorney but wants to find her "one true love". After a Doris Day marathon on TV one snowed-in weekend, she makes a drastic change.

2. Anna & The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins --one of my newest favorites; wouldn't this be such a cute teen love story?? As long as they don't cast Kristin Stewart and RPatz. Ugh...

3. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood --kind of like Jungle Book or Lemony Snicket in some ways, I think this would be a great kid's movie or maybe animated? Three children are found living in the woods as wild animals and are forced to learn "high society" behavior.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak --because I think, if done well, it would be an incredible story that everyone needs to hear/see.

5. Any of Vicki Lewis Thompson's Nerds books, in particular Talk Nerdy to Me --because I'm shallow and would love to see some hot nerds lol. Also, hello?? Hovercraft! :)

6. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart --I saw this on someone else's list already and I agree, it would make a great live-action movie. Speaking of, I still have the 3rd book to read hmm....

7. The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci --a graphic novel (2 actually) about 4 girls named Jane who start an art tagging program to make their town beautiful. I think it would transfer well to the big screen.

8. Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 5) by Ann Brashares --because I want to cry uncontrollably obviously. :) *True Story: my sis and I saw the first Traveling Pants movie the same day we went to a funeral for a youngish relative. What were we thinking???*

9. The Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine --I think this would make an AWESOME TV series! Yes. Yes I do.

10. Garden Spells or any of Sarah Addison Allen's books --because they would be magical and full of sugary sweetness and I would love them.