Haroun and the Sea of Stories


I’ve always wanted to try Salman Rushdie, so I included him in my list for the A-Z Challenge. I have a bunch of his books in my perpetually insurmountable TBR pile, and I’m falling behind in the challenge, so I resolved to pick up the pace so I can finish by the end of the year. Having not read any of Rushdie’s books before, I decided to go with Haroun and the Sea of Stories first, so I can take on his more complex works later on (maybe next year?).

Written in 1990, Haroun and the Sea of Stories was Rushdie’s first novel after his highly controversial Satanic Verses (earning him an Islamic death sentence and causing multiple deaths from violence related to the book). Told from the point of view of a young boy named Haroun, the novel is an allegorical children’s book dedicated to Rushdie’s son, Zafar.

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24-Hour Readathon: End of Event Report

Here we go! It’s the end of the 24-Hour Readathon, and I’m posting my report.

I actually joined the Readathon at the last minute this year, because I realized I couldn’t let the year go by without me joining at least one Readathon. I hadn’t counting on making it home in time for the event, and I did, so I hurriedly grabbed some books from the shelf, took a photo, booted up my lappy and joined the Readathon. And I’m so glad I did. The Readathon is a really fun event that fosters the community spirit across the globe, and I’m always happy to be part of it.

October 2010 marks my 3rd readathon, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

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24 Hour Readathon: 4 hours to go!


A few more hours to go for this October’s 24-Hour Readathon. Just clocking in to let you know how I’m doing before I do my wrap-up later on.

I read two books last night, but the novel got a bit too scary for me so I took it up to bed around 1am and switched on the reading light. It was a shivery-good tale and so I crawled under the blankets and that was a mistake, because I was snoring soundly until 9 am! The light was still on this morning but the batteries had gone kaput! And then I had to read like a maniac until hour 20 to make up for it!

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24-Hour Readathon: The Reading List

I was bummed to have missed last April’s 24-Hour Readathon, so I resolved to join today’s readathon. I’ve joined a couple of readathons in the past and they’ve always been a lot of fun, and I didn’t want the year to end without at least one readathon.

24-hour read-a-thon is an event mounted in memory of Dewey, a blogger and a reader who started the event in October 2007. Dewey passed away in November 2008, and the 24-hour read-a-thon is continued by those who’ve helped Dewey organize the past read-a-thons, and hundreds of book bloggers in the world.

I spent most of the day today in line to see the 17th century galleon replica, the Galeon Andalucia at the South Harbor, and when I got home, I spent the first hour of the readathon starting my first book.

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Timeless Fun

Good, old-fashioned fun is pretty hard to beat, even with all the technology today’s kids have at their fingertips. Looking back at my childhood, I spent an inordinate amount of time reading, but I did come away from the books long enough to create some awesome memories: making bubble blowing solution from hibiscus; sailing paper boats in the gutter; chasing shadows under the street lamp; and drawing chalk pictures on the pavement.

Nostalgia kicked in when I first saw the hardcover volumes of The Dangerous Book for Boys by Gonn and Hal Iggunen and The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz a couple of years ago at the bookstores. I got The Daring Book for Girls when I swapped a book internationally, and just a few weeks ago, I got The Dangerous Book for Boys in the bargain pile at the Manila International Book Fair.

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