The Friday Five

Five Books I Like to Give as Gifts
(in no particular order)

1. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
3. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
4. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
5. Olivia by Ian Falconer

What books do you like to give others?

The Friday Five

Five Awesome Opening Lines (in no particular order):

• There was once, in the country of Alifbay, a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name. -Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories
• When Josey woke up and saw the feathery frost on her windowpane, she smiled. Finally, it was cold enough to wear long coats and tights. It was cold enough for scarves and shirts worn in layers, like camouflage. It was cold enough for her lucky red cardigan, which she swore had a power of its own. She loved this time of year. -Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen
• It is a day of yellow fog, and the Folk are hungry. -Franny Billingsley, The Folk Keeper
• A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to they eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and hate. -Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel
• I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine's father over the top of the Standard Oil sign. -Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees

January Book #3

Book: Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
Age-range: 12 and up

Skip it.

April Book Review #1

Book: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Age-range: 0 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Not quite

The first book I chose to re-read this month is Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a book that I have recommended and bought for countless people.  (Side note: I just read that he's coming out with a second book in the series!  Squee!)  I read it again to make sure I still liked it.  I did.

I will happily admit it was slightly less magical on the second reading, however.  Because I knew the twists and turns and surprises it was harder to suspend my belief and I got impatient for certain parts.  But it was still as good as it was the first time.

Haroun's father Rashid is the Ocean of Notions, the Shah of Blah, an amazing storyteller who, one day, loses his Gift of Gab.  Haroun then goes on a quest to get it back for his father and meets a number of funny people, including those with the unlikely names of Iff and Butt.

There are a lot of fabulous images, good lines, and an amazing use of the English language.  There's also, at the core, a great moral.  This is a book that can be told to children of any age (if they have the attention span) and even adults will love it.

So go out and read it already!

October Book #2

Book: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

Very cute! Enchanting and whimsical. I only wish it were a series.