The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I rarely get book recommendations from boys. I just never ask and don't know an endless supply of men who love to read. This book was recommended to me by one of my guy friends and I was nervous about reading this. I decided to pick it for my book club book because he said he read it at least once a year. After reading some dark books for the book club, I figured we could use some positivity.

This is a quick read, but it's also a deep read. For me, it was a little hard to get into. It was a slow start and you start wondering when am I going to be blown away and that really didn't happen for me until the middle/end of the book.

I feel like you have to read this book multiple times to fully appreciate the book. This book did inspire me and I felt like it hit me out of nowhere. I think I need to read this book again, more slowly, and really digest everything. I didn't pick too many quotes because the whole book is practically quotable.

This book makes a great present for anyone. Everyone should read this book at least once. There are religious elements to it, but it's not preachy, in my opinion. I'm actually really surprised this book isn't taught in school because I think it would make for a great curriculum.

You can get this book for $10.90.

Favorite Quotes:

• “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

• “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

• “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”

• “People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

• “If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”