Thirty-fifth challenge finish of the year.
This is a newly published continuation of the story of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. It was very satisfying follow through with the characters, and I really enjoyed reading it. The vivid descriptions of sights and sounds put me right into the setting with them. This is the third book I've read by this author. All very good.
Thirty-sixth challenge finish of the year.
Took me awhile to settle on a book for this prompt. Then I was reminded that in the movie The Princess Bride, the grandfather is shown holding and reading the book of the same name to his grandson. Since I knew I've had the book on my Kindle (since 2012), I decided it followed the intent of the prompt close enough (as well as my own intent to get books I already own read!)
I did enjoy it, but it was a bit challenging. Having already seen the movie, which was pretty straight forward as fairy tales go, I wasn't prepared for the satyrical bent of the rest of the book. It was a work of metafiction in which the author breaks the fourth wall, and speaks directly to the reader. I didn't realize that the 'introductions' of the anniversary editions of the story were actually not introductions, but were how the original story was spun by the author; also the follow up story at the end of the book was actually still part of the original story. It made it difficult to understand where to start and stop reading. I don't always read introductions, and I did skip part of it in this one, only to find that I needed to go back and read it.
It was very imaginative with the inclusion of actual living people. I found myself wondering if the author had to get their permission to include them in the story. Once I caught on (thanks to some research on the book and author), it made more sense to me. The portion that was made into the movie was followed pretty closely, and had additional back story of the characters' histories which was enjoyable.
