Topic Tuesday[1] - Retellings - One Thousand and One Nights(Arabian Nights)

A Thousand and One Nights, also known as Arabian Nights, is a collection of stories. From this collection of stories tales such as Aladdin have come to life. However, there aren't many book retellings of these tales. The few that do exist are pretty good and I would recommend the following books.

Amazon | Goodreads

I think this book is kind of where the retelling of the stories truly started within the Young Adult community. I could be wrong, so don't quote me, lol. But this book is when I first started really hearing about A Thousand and One Nights. I had no idea what the tales were truly about. I kind of just figured Aladdin was it. Boy was I wrong. This book is a really good retelling of the tales. Each night the main character tells the King a new story in an attempt to save her own life. And with each of these stories the King becomes entranced and wants more. There is a second book that is coming out and I believe it has to do with the story of Aladdin. I am not entirely sure though.

Amazon | Goodreads

This book is pretty much another retelling of the book. It came out shortly after The Wrath & The Dawn but this was the first one that I read. I think I liked this one a little bit more. Both of the books are amazing and beautiful but something about this book just stuck with me a little bit more. Retellings are all about making your own twist on a very well known story. This specific retelling kind of gave me a Hunger Games-esque feeling because the main character puts her life on the line in order to save her sister. I would suck if I had to live in this world as the girl telling the stories. I can't tell stories to save me life it seems.

Amazon | Goodreads

Now this book. I picked it up at Costco because it is a twist on Aladdin. Aladdin is ONE of the many stories that the girl tells the King in order to live for just one more night. I have always loved Aladdin. The Disney version, obviously. Because I didn't know about all this 'telling stories in order to not be killed' crap when I was 8. But I had all the blankets and VHS tapes and everything else. Aladdin was MY JAM. So I picked this up not really knowing it was actually part of the A Thousand and One Nights things but I have since done my homework and learned a thing or one thousand. 

 Amazon | Goodreads

Now, this book, I haven't read yet because it isn't out until the end of February BUT it is an Aladdin retelling and it sounds really good. I do kind of feel like people keep jumping on bandwagons when it comes to retellings or specific topics in the YA genre. But I am willing to give this one a chance.

So... while I was writing this entire post up I came to the conclusion that I am special as hell. LOL. I thought, for the longest time, that A Thousand and One Nights was just a bunch of stories. That's it. I figured this tale of a king killing girls was just one of those stories. Weeeeellll. After thinking about it I finally REALIZED that the book is ABOUT a girl and this horrible king and the stories are the ones she has told him in order to stay alive. HOLY CRAP. I am so special sometimes, hahahaha. I have been in love with Aladdin for so long and I never knew anything about its origin. I am glad I know now. It's a lot less confusing.