Here’s a little fact about me. Believe it on not, the now daily writer and reader I am, I turned strongly away from the bookshelf as a teenager. I used to tell myself that I only wanted to publish the truth and set my sights on becoming a journalist. Oh, how we can all laugh now at that oxymoron.
But as the years went on, my taste quickly changed and well, now I’m here, constantly cultivating stories tapping away on the keyboard, and quickly needing to invest in another new bookshelf.
I wish that I could say that it was incredible English literature and the divine pen of Hemmingway and Fitzgerald that reignited my love for fiction reading and writing. But in fact, it was quite the opposite. With my stubborn mindset it was simply by chance I landed my hand on my first some of what you could call a fable, only from my pure desire to learn, the second was The Alchemist, and so it went on, my love of fiction grew, and my writing soared.
I would not call any of the following unbelievable works of literature, more beautiful hero’s journey stories that ignite your mind and enlighten ideas – my favourite type of story. And soon, I hope to be yours too.
Honestly, if you haven’t read this book yet, what are you doing? An easy afternoon read, The Alchemist was published in 1988, filled with hidden wisdom, The Alchemist is a book that can be re-read almost every year with a new perspective and a new takeaway. The Alchemist is a delicious dose of life inspiration and there’s a reason why this book has had an excess of two million duplicates sold worldwide.
You can go to your closest second-hand bookstore right now and find two different copies of The Alchemist with two different covers that will sell between 9-11 dollars. I can 97% guarantee it. If there’s any book I love to discuss it would be this one, do me a favour if you are yet to read it, give it a go and please contact me with your biggest takeaway.
If there was a fable about the way life works, then this would be it. If you’re an absolute science nerd that wants to scream at me right now about the world of physics then this is not your platform sorry, you’re reading a fiction author's blog.
The Celestine Prophecy is about an ancient manuscript that has been found in Peru, containing nine insights that humans must grasp as we enter an era of spiritual awareness.
It’s a story about developing self-awareness, the coincidences of life, the people we meet, the routes we take, the terrible detours but how life always seems to bring us back to our end goal if we’re willing to listen to the signs, grow and develop into the person we are destined to become. A beautiful read, with hidden lessons on how to live your best life. Or, read it yourself and come up with your take of what it’s about – once again please share it with me.
An ESSENTIAL story for anyone who wants to achieve big things. I love the way that Robin Sharma writes, The 5am Club is Robin’s second book, his first, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is also another one of my highly recommended books in the category. The 5am Club is a personal development book about how to get the most out of your life and to achieve everything that we want to, told through a fictional story of two struggling strangers who meet an eccentric tycoon who decides to become their mentor.
Don’t get turned off by the title. I believe even the deepest routed atheist could find a pocket of gold within this book. Conversations With God is a book about an angry man, unhappy with his current life circumstances finds himself having a conversation with ‘God’ himself. Not related to any specific religion, I find Conversations with God a beautiful chat about life, or even a conversation in one’s mind a tug of war between the shadow and light.
Search for Neale on YouTube or in your favourite podcast app to listen to how the compelling story came to be. This is another book I can almost guarantee you will find many well-loved copies with characters at your local bookstore.
Newest on the list, I do not doubt that The Midnight Library will go down in history with the above greats. An incredibly well-written book that I believe lovers of all genres or if you’ve never picked up a book in your life, this is where to start. The Midnight Library is centred around suicidal Nora who lives a life full of regrets. Nora decides to overdose after a concoction of too many pills. Nora finds herself inside the Midnight Library, a place between life and death where Nora gets to explore all the lives she may have lived if she had made different choices. The Midnight Library is about the choices we make, the regrets we keep and the outcomes we have no control over, and what it means to live a good life.