The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

This book came highly recommended by my current fave 10 year old who declared this book his favorite.

A short, easy to read book tells the story of a boy chasing his dream or as the book calls it - his Personal Legend. Philosophical, and scattered with gems throughout, this book has the potential to make you think about your own life and your own dream.

We find that Santiago does not stop because things are good or because he finds the love of his life. And the love of his life does not want him to give up his dream for her. Rather, she chooses to wait for him to return to her once he has found his treasure.

While there is literal alchemy that this book addresses, the core of the book is that the alchemist is a person who transforms things or themselves for the better. And I think that idea is something we can all get behind.

This is a book that will have a different meaning to you depending on where you are in your life. Trying to read this book with a ten year old's perspective in mind, I find it very inspiring filled with resilience. Reading it as an almost 40-year old, I take it a little differently. This young man took a huge risk in leaving his true love behind in pursuit of his personal legend. That is a major risk to 40-year old me because I have learned that time is not guaranteed. I also don't see the need to sacrifice your true love for a personal dream and vice versa. What I gather from this book is that if she was willing to wait for him, she could have helped him achieve his dream and alternatively he could have done the same for her. I don't see it as an either/or, but rather a both. Perhaps, I am still too much of a romantic!

Get your copy.