4★

This was an ok cookbook. It was nice to learn about Chelsea and Sariann and their blog - The Inn at the Crossroads. I can really tell that they've done their research on the 15th century foods and recipes in order to bring the Game of Thrones's food to life. They've added some quoted bits of the recipes they found in very old cookbooks.

I'm more of a sweets and drinks cook myself. This cookbook has some good recipes of old and modern. Meaning a very old fashion recipe with some food items old and difficult to find in grocery markets and the modern recipe that has today's common ingredients. A lot of the pictures looked delicious, even for some of the foods with items that I don't like (onions yuck). Chelsea and Sarrian have broken down the foods and recipes to the GoT's regions. I myself don't know much about the story (or show), so their description of the regions and what foods ate found was helpful, along with their opinion of the food.

George's introduction was short and nice to read. He confesses to be not a cook but rather a veracious food lover. It was also interesting and insightful to hear his opinion on why he has written a lot about food in his books

5★♥

** Some Spoilers **

"The Princess Bride: S.Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure" is nothing more than a satire. And if you've forgotten that it's a satire, then William Goldman's commentary throughout the story and Morgenstern and the country Florin, etc., etc. His comments, which pauses the story throughout, can be a bit confusing at times. Sometimes I find the comments helpful, other times (especially when he was going on and on about he was finally able yo right the "abridged" tale Buttercup's baby) I found those comments to be worthless. Goldman himself would lose track of what he was discussing at times. And I'm sure that was supposed to be another satire but I didn't care for it.

I have seen the movie countless times. It's unclear which came first because (according to Wikipedia) Century Fox paid Goldman for film rights and for him to write the screenplay the same year of the book's release (1973). Goldman mention the movie a lot in the anniversary introductions. I liked that added bit of insight but of course Goldman had to mention Morgenstern and this fictional museum. And I did picture a lot of the actors throughout the story because there was some scenes that was almost verbatim to the movie. But I still loved it.

Goldman's satire added more character development than the movie did. I enjoyed that a lot. Getting to delve deeper into who these characters were was fun. Getting to know Inigo more was good. It brought more character I thought, than just a man seeking vengeance for his father. There was also more details about how evil Humperdinck and Count Rugen was.

I did find some of the satire to be funny. Like the way he described Buttercup's jealousy when she first became aware of her love for Westley. I thought her tantrum was quite funny. My favorite character is still Inigo Montoya. Since reading the book, I like Westley and Fezzik as well. I really liked Fezzik's life story the most I think. And Inigo's added life story. I think I liked the part of Fezzik and Inigo going through Prince Humperdinck's "Zoo of Death" the most. I couldn't stop reading at that point. Just... wow... The suspense of going through each of the five levels of the Zoo and not knowing what they'll find - even when sometimes Goldman or "Morgenstern" told us what was coming. It was still suspenseful. I really think that should've been added to the movie. It was really good. I'm also glad Goldman added the story Buttercup's Baby even though it ended with a cliffhanger. Not a big one but it still did leave questions. Questions that Goldman even asked in his comments about the story, in which some were thankfully answered but some had added mystery was added.

So obviously you can tell that I loved this book (save some of Goldman's comments). Now I want to watch the movie again.