The Fisherman and the Jinni : and Other Tales from the 1001 Nights by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Nine stories from The Thousand and One Nights, told plainly, the way they were always meant to be told.

A cobbler lies his way into a kingdom. A fisherman bargains with a jinni older than anger itself. A porter breaks the one rule three strangers asked of him. A woman is found dead over three apples. A man wakes from what everyone believed was his own execution. A silent bride from the sea keeps a secret worth a kingdom.

No stated morals. No forced reading order — each story stands completely on its own. For readers seven to ninety, this is a collection built for what happens next.