Decked

I have never been able to read while running on my treadmill.  It is too bouncy and too hard to turn the pages and then keep them open.  I gave up trying...until, my husband gave me my Kindle Fire for Christmas a year ago!  I learned that if I set the type big enough, I can read while I do my runs!!  It changed my life!  So, now I have books that I buy or get from the library on my Kindle that are solely for when I run on the treadmill.

A book that I read on my treadmill has to have three things:  1-)  it has to keep my interest without a lot of characters or details that I have to remember.  2-)  It can't be too long  3-)  It can't be too complicated of a plot.

This book had all three.  I think that you'd classify this as a "cozy mystery" (although my teenage daughters made fun of me when I told them that term!)  I've read a few Mary Higgins Clark and really liked them.  This author is her daughter and I wanted to see if her books were as good.  Take this review with a grain of salt remembering that I read it while gasping for air and willing my legs to do just one more mile!  That being said, it was a good little mystery that kept me interested.  It was a bit predictable, but sometimes I'm ok with that. I wanted to like the main character more, Regan Reilly, and maybe as I continue the series I will.  All in all, I liked it, but didn't love it.  It's a great "treadmill" book or "beach read".

Stars:  3
Prude Police:  a few baby swear words

"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

I saw this book at a book sale and HAD to have it.  I adore the movie-doesn't everybody??  It's probably the only time in my life that I've seen the movie before ever reading the book (or, in this case even knowing a book existed).  I was thrilled to find this and excited to read it.

First let me say that the story of "The Princess Bride" was as delightful as the movie.  Having seen the movie dozens of times, I was able to vividly picture where Inigo and Wesley dueled, "The Fire Swamp", and the "Cliffs of Insanity."  Of course, it gave so much more detail and insight into the characters that I grew to love in the movie which added so much more depth to them.  I love that so many of the phrases that my sisters and I have been quoting for years were in the book.  I really loved reading this.  I am actually torn as to if I love the movie more, or the book...I have NEVER loved a movie more than it's book.  Pros for the book:  more detail, more back stories on Buttercup, Inigo, and Fezzik, and so much more evilness to Humperdink.  Pros for the movie:  um, well, it's FABULOUS and timeless!!  What more can I say??

Although I loved reading the book, I was confused.  It says on the cover that it is written by S. Mortgenstern and then abridged by William Goldman.  Goldman starts the book with a narration of his personal life including why he loves Mortgenstern's book and why he wanted to abridge it.  He also talks about his son and how he tried to get him into this book that shaped his life.  Then he starts to tell the story and "breaks in" every so often to tell the reader what he has abridged from the original book and why.  For instance, he said that the original author got very long-winded about several things that he thought readers would find very boring.  So, after reading this book, I looked it up.  This is what it said on Wikipedia: 

The Princess Bride is presented as Goldman's abridgment of an older version by "S. Morgenstern", which was originally a satire of the excesses of European royalty. The book, in fact, is entirely Goldman's work. Morgenstern and the "original version" are fictional and used as a literary device.

Goldman's personal life, as described in the introduction and commentary in the novel, is also fictional. In The Princess Bride, Goldman claims to have one son with his wife, a psychiatrist. In reality, Goldman has two daughters, and his wife is not a psychiatrist. The commentary is extensive, continuing through the text until the very end.

 I wish that I would have known that before I read it!  It would have made a lot more sense.  Knowing it now, I find it brilliant!  His writing is very witty and I feel that this idea of his made the book very enjoyable to read.

Stars:  4
Prude Police:  I can't remember, but there may be a few baby swear words.  It is squeaky clean (except in the beginning, in one of his commentaries, he talks about a woman in the hotel swimming pool in a bikini.  I think it could have been left out, but it's not too crude).