Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.

I just finished this book and it was amazing! It's an absolute must-read for fans of the Princess Bride. Cary Elwes is just so stinking charming...you kind of can't help falling in love with him all over again. 

He shares some really interesting facts and anecdotes about the making of the film, which I've always loved. I had a Making of Star Wars VHS that I literally watched until the tape was ruined. So this was right up all of my alleys. 

Some of the most interesting tidbits:

• Everyone really did love making this movie. The book is interspersed with blurbs from the rest of the cast and crew, and they all can only say how much they loved working on this project. 
• Billy Crystal as Miracle Max made Cary Elwes laugh so hard they had to replace his "mostly dead" body with a dummy. He was banished from the set when Billy was filming.
• Andre the Giant was as magical, kind, and HUGE as he appears on film. He was apparently just the nicest guy. One day on set, it was freezing (they filmed on location in England), and Robin Wright was shivering in her red, flowy dress. So Andre went over, placed his enormous hand over her head like a cap, and it warmed her up! 
• Mandy Patinkin (Inigo) and Cary Elwes trained incessantly for the sword duel, and apart from the part where they swing from a bar, the entire duel was performed by both actors, not stuntmen. 
• The scene in the fire swamp where Buttercup's dress catches on fire is actually Robin Wright, and her dress totally did catch on fire. And Cary Elwes did very calmly put it out. 

It was just such a beautiful, joyful, and charming book about a movie that is all the aforementioned adjectives. Absolutely recommend to anyone. 

I also finished Loser by Jerry Spinelli. 

It was a heart-breaking-yet-heart-warming story of a strange boy who has absolutely no idea that he's an oddball. He is, as Spinelli so eloquently put it, "the star of his own life." And aren't we all? This was such a great story...Spinelli is an artist. This book reminded me why I fell so deeply in love with Stargirl. Fans of his other books should definitely check this one out. Not sure where I'd catalog it now that I've read it...it's technically a children's book, but it's just such a work of art that I'm not sure every child would appreciate its depth and beauty. There's not much in the way of plot or major excitement, but I'd definitely recommend it to the right readers.