what a treasure!

One thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. it is often known in English as "Arabian Nights" from the first English Language edition (1706), which rendered the title as The Arabian Night's Entertainment.

Yes. I found a copy of the first English Language edition! Such a treasure. The cover is badly scratched and the binding is a bit loose but there's no missing pages and the art is as rendered as on the picture on the side.

I am quickly building my library of collected works. My two other fairy tale collections include:

• The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
• Brothers Grimm "The Complete Fairy Tales

I wonder if my child will ever appreciate these books when I am gone. Or at least my nephew who has shown some inkling to becoming a future bookworm.

of desert sands and lost scrolls

• The Masada Scroll by Paul Block and Robert Vaughan


• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown


• The Sword of the Templars by Paul Christopher
  

three books based on historical mysteries in one month! i really think that if my fortune was different, i would have been an academic. maybe an archaelogist like the heroes in these fictional works. i've always loved indiana jones when i was a kid and until now i have a deep fascination for history.

so far Lewis Perdue, James Rollins and Dan Brown are still my favorite authors of this genre. their writing styles are different- Dan Brown is more of a suspense/thriller writer although he does weave history quite well in the storyline. the event happens in 1-2 days so it's perfect for today's generation of instant gratification. James Rollins melds science and history perfectly like a grilled cheese sandwich. he goes back and forth between the characters' arc that you'll never be bored expect when the author gets too technical. Lewis Perdue marries history and the human condition in his novels that you can't help but empathize with his heroes. for me, he's the one who gives more emphasis on the historical aspect of the story giving it plausibility.

my next books are Reliquary and The Ice limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. i've heard great things about these authors from my officemate. i am looking forward to discovering wonderful things from the past and how to save the world from peril.