Tonight I am hosting the monthly book club started by Lindsey Scott in an effort to read all the Jane Austin novels. I have never had the concentration for that kind of reading, and have much preferred the films and tv series. Lazy? Perhaps.But now the book club have officially fininshed the Austin marathon, Debbie asked me to come up with the first non-Austin offering. Tough, considering that books don't come with ratings. I turned to my back catalogue to try and remember if there was something I could offer that would be a compelling read and absolutely free of offensiveness. Not as easy as it should be to find something outside of the kids category. Having said that, this book came to mind and it has been really enjoyable to read again, so I am putting it here by way of hearty recommendation.
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is written in a fairly simple, allegorical style and is a very digestible length (you could finish it within a day if you had a few hours spare). I found it compelling reading and didn't want to put it down. It follows Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd as he tries to realise his life's ambition, or "Personal Legend". It has many thought provoking themes and leaves you feeling around to identify what your own Personal Legend might be. I feel reinspired every time I read it. Which has been 3 times so far. I've not read a book that often since I did A Level English!!
So to you my friends, I can recommend this read. Buy it cheap from amazon, or a local bookstore. Especially if you feel like you need some motivation and inspiration, or if you want to feel as though you yourself have been on an epic adventure. If you have read it, leave me a comment to let me know what you thought of it!
Enjoy!
7 comments:
We have abook club at church and I'm currently got 90 pages of the mammoth Anna Karenina left to read! Can't wait for it to finish!
has nick ever told you that the alchemist is his all time favorite book? he has read it about 100 times and buys extra copies to give to his friends... :) he has read all of coelho's books, so if you're interested in the others, he'll know which ones are good!
hehehe! You know Erin, come to think of it, it is a very Nick book. It was great last night, everyone had really enjoyed it and it sparked some great conversations and comments, so tell Nick there are now a few more Coelho disciples out there!! x
I've always wondered what a bookclub would be like but the only problem is I ready so fast I doubt anyone would be able to keep up :-)
I don't think I've read anything like the alchemist before but as you've recommended it I think I'll give it a go
Pickup the Devil and Miss Prym by the same author...I promise that you will love it! Or you can wait and we can read the whole collection when you get here in December :)
I honestly think I could read his books that quick - he's really good. Although I didn't really get into the Warrior of Light which Mikey found at a charity shop.
Hey- just saw this post, loved the book club- you did a great job, and loved the book. x
Post a Comment