Hi, all! This meme, Book Traveling Thursdays, was created by Catia (@The Girl Who Read Too Much) and Danielle (@Danielle’s Book Blog). I stumbled upon it a few weeks back but just got around to checking out their Goodreads book in order to join in on the fun, and I’m super excited to be doing my second week of this meme! This week’s challenge is: “It’s National Read Across America Day! Choose a book that you would recommend to everyone.” The book that I’ve chosen to highlight is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I debated for a long time as to which of my favorite books I wanted to share with the world, because a lot of them are ones I’ve previously reviewed (In the Woods, The Martian, Station Eleven, Book of Unknown Americans), or ones I wouldn’t necessarily recommend to those who aren’t heavy readers (Lord of the Rings, Catch 22, 11/22/63, Hamilton). So, eventually, I decided on The Alchemist.
I originally read The Alchemist back in 2010, which seems so far away if you say “I read this seven years ago” – but I digress. I read it for a class in high school, and loved every second of the story and the conversations that followed. It is an incredibly poignant book about a boy named Santiago who leaves his home to find a treasure underneath the Egyptian pyramids, and is helped along the way by various characters to ensure his success, all the while finding unexpected treasures on his journey. The book acts as a statement about humanity and about the treasure within oneself, and how you don’t need to look far to find beauty. There isn’t a lot of humor in it, but the content itself is very light; although there are some sad moments, nothing overtly tragic occurs. I think the general story is one that readers everywhere can connect to, and that is why it is one of my most recommended books. Pick it up if you haven’t read it yet! You won’t regret it.
Original cover:
Favorite cover (Brazil/Portuguese):
Least favorite cover (Dutch):
