Philosophy of "The Alchemist" || A guest post

“When you set your heart at something, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it”

-Quote from the book

So you’ve got a dream eh? You want to achieve it but you don’t know how? You want to feel inspired and motivated to live your life, and to taste how beautiful life can be? Well then you Lucky twat, have I got a book for you, my friend!

The book by writer Paulo Coelho is world renown and is considered by many a ‘modern classic’ and a ‘publishing phenomenon’. This was the work that brought the writer into the literary genre and he is still best known for writing ‘The Alchemist’.

!Spoiler Ahead!

The story revolves around a simple shepherd named Santiago who has had a dream about searching the treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. He meets with certain people on his journey who guide him towards his dream and we follow Santiago as he travels from Spain to Egypt in search of his treasure all the while making new friends who teach him valuable lessons on life and we even see our titular character falling in love and having his love reciprocated.

The story starts with him doing his daily chores with his flock of sheep while discussing about the dream he had last about traveling to Egypt. He sells his wool to a local merchant and talks to his daughter with whom he falls in love but realizes that she might never reconsider having a future with him as he has low social standing.

We follow him through the night when he meets with a robed man named Melchizedek (Try saying that with a mouthful of sweets, I dare you)

And they both undergo a conversation that defines what this book is all about, following your dreams…

Through his journey he loses all his money, and earns it back by working alongside an old crystal merchant who teaches him the life philosophy around ‘Maktub’ or fate as we call it, meets an English traveler who later understands that to see your dreams come reality you have to work for it instead of simply hoping about it.

Falls in love with a desert girl named Fatima who loves him back and encourages him to follow his dreams averts a bloody war, finds an alchemist, and talks to the soul of the world.

And in the end, he finally finds what he was searching for which was… you know what, I want you to read the book, it’s beautiful so I won’t spoil this section for you, so happy readings!

The lesson:

There is just one main lesson that we can learn from the Alchemist, apart from various miscellaneous teachings, is that you should never, ever give up on your dreams, on your goals. Your methods may change, your fate may change, but your destination can never change because…

“Once you set your heart to something, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it”

- Melchizedek

Thank you for reading and please check out my blog Sushrut Writes on Wordpress for similar content.

"A watched pot" by Mr. Blue || Book Review

OH, COME ON, IT'S NOT OVER, IS IT? I NEED MORE!

This short story was sent to me by the author, Mr. Blue, and I was requested to do an honest review about it. I'm very happy and excited because this was my first collaboration for this blog, I really enjoyed the whole procedure and I hope to do it again soon.

This book is a short read thriller about Graham, a desperate husband, and his much too annoying wife Cressida. Graham seems to have had enough of his wife's (and her friends') conceited (and deceitful, maybe?) behavior and crazy ideas seem to go through his mind. I really enjoyed this little journey. I loved the writing, it was really good. The plot is interesting, it keeps your attention and you can't stop reading. The writer can create some very vivid images and can really convey the feeling of the scene. Some of the descriptions made my hair stand on end and I felt like anything could happen at any moment. Like Graham could snap at any moment and do something crazy. I really enjoyed this feeling.

I could really get a good sense of the characters and their distinct voices, even in this short amount of pages, which was very impressive. I almost immediately connected and had feelings for all of them. I felt sympathy for Graham, while I felt the urge to slap Cressida and her friends. 

The ending was weirdly satisfying, it gave me evil laughter. The only problem I had with it is that I wanted more. I really wanted to know what happened with all of them afterward. How much did they freak out? How did they react? What happened later? Did they walk out of the house alive and well? Or maybe not? Did things take a turn for the worse? Because I would love that! It left me wanting some more and very curious.

I would rate this book with a 4,5 but since I can't, and since I enjoyed it very much, I'm going to give it 5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller story and I'd love to read some more of the author's work in the future.

Thanks for reading!

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green || Book Review

Hello friends!

Some time ago I read "The fault in our stars" and I really loved it, so I thought I should read something more by John Green. Back then, I decided to give "Paper towns" a try and I couldn't even get past the first couple of chapters, I found it bad and I was disappointed, so that kept me from reading anything else from the author for a while. Lately though, "Looking for Alaska" fell in my hands and I felt instantly curious about it. I didn't feel sure about it and I started the book with low expectations because I had heard that it is so similar to "Paper towns" they could as well be rewrites of the same story. I don't know if this is true since I've only finished one of them, but luckily this one sucked me right in and grabbed my attention. Not only did I finish reading it, but I thought it was quite good.

---POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD---

The story was not the most interesting that I've read; it is simple and a bit predictable, but at the same time it's not bad, or boring either. It keeps you reading, but it's not extraordinary, or mind-blowing by any means. Which I don't necessarily view as a problem, as long as a story conveys its message well and delivers the feelings successfully and this was definitely the case with this book. The characters were well-portrayed and I could get a clear idea of who they were and how they talked. I didn't really like Alaska that much, but Miles and the Colonel and Lara were all likable to me. I also found the Eagle pretty cool and funny too. 

What I liked most about this book was its humor. While it's not supposed to be a funny book or a comedy - as a matter of fact, the story is rather tragic - it still had its funny moments and made me laugh at many points (Their pranks, the basketball scene, and the bj scene were my favorite and made me laugh very much). Humor, by the way, is something that I truly appreciate in all books. I love it when I read a tragic story or even a very heavy and serious one and I can find some humor in it. It doesn't change the overall atmosphere or feeling, but it does add something to it. It feels like the existence of humor in a sad story helps me see and appreciate the sadness and tragedy even more, and on the other hand, the tragedy of a story will help me feel the optimism that the humor offers. If anything, this is a clue in the writing that both gives a more enjoyable read, and adds to its realism. Because, at the end of the day, this is how life is, sadness succeeds happiness and vice versa - a mix of happy and sad moments. John Green is very talented in that aspect.

I didn't cry while reading it, but I did find the story rather sad. It was not so much Alaska's death that touched me, because I saw it coming and the way that she died was very predictable even from the first pages. I knew that something bad was going to happen to her sooner or later and that there was probably going to be an accident since they were drinking so much. What did touch me and made me feel devastated was why she left. The revelation about her mother's grave devastated me. I got a peek from the inside of her brain before she died and being able to see the state of mind and psychology of a desperate person right before she dies is both painful and shocking. It is not cleared out if it was a suicide or not, but it still was heart-breaking to learn what she did or thought and how she was driven to her actions. The second thing that touched me was the revelation that Takumi knew some things all along and the fact that he didn't say anything. Their keeping secrets from each other was sad, but the forgiveness in the end was really cathartic. 

The ending was optimistic and left me with hope and I really liked this. It also got me thinking about all the things that Miles was thinking. Questions about life and death, about the afterlife and about the labyrinth... Life goes on and being able to forgive sets you free and helps you look forward. It's almost impossible not to think about all these while reading this book. One thing that I want to keep from all these thoughts is expressed in one of Colonel's quotes: "After all this time, it seems to me like straight and fast is the only way out- but I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it.". The book had many beautiful and meaningful quotes like this one.

As for the rating, I did like this book very much, so I gave it 4 stars out of 5. I didn't like it as much as "The fault in our stars", which I also rated with 4 stars, but since I can't give it 3,5 stars or something like this, I will give it 4 as well. I do feel though, that the "fault" was slightly better than this one. To cut the long story short, I really liked it and enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it!

Thank you for reading!

Until the next time...

My bookish goals for 2019 || A book chat

Hello friends and a happy new year to everybody!

I never set bookish goals for the new year, I just go with the flow and let things take me where they take me. Even when I do set goals I usually fail them anyway, so I was reluctant to do this, but I thought that I could try it for a change. My bookish goals aren't going to be anything special and I am going to set the bar pretty low because I know that the amount of spare time I have is limited. But I am going to try to make it and do even better than I expect, if possible. So here are my 2019 small bookish goals:

1. This year I hope to read at least 15 books. This is the number of books that I set for my Goodreads reading challenge for 2019. I know it is pretty low, but I'm going to keep it the same with last year. I do hope though that I am going to read even more than that and do even better.
2. I really want to keep doing reviews of whatever I read and keep posting them on my Goodreads account as well as on this blog. I also want to get more serious with this blog and work more on it.
3. Read at least 2 classics.
4. Get back to the two books that I have DNF'ed the past year and finally finish them. They were both good books and I didn't intend to give them up, but I only did because I didn't have time, so I really want to get back to them.
5. Complete at least one out of the three series that I have on my Kindle and generally to read more from my Kindle.

So, that's about it. Small, manageable steps... Feel free to share with me your bookish goals for 2019 and tell me how you feel this reading year is going to be.

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful 2019!

"Murder at the book club" by Betsy Reavley || Book Review

Hello, hello people!

I recently read my first Kindle book and I was very excited to share my thoughts on it immediately! Reading a Kindle book was admittedly a very fun and interesting experience. I bought this book at a very good deal and I was really happy that I could read a decent book in such a low price. The good prices of the books also give you the opportunity to buy and therefore read more books, which is always a plus for us bookworms.

Now, when it comes to the book itself, I feel torn as t how I should rate it. There were parts of it that I liked and parts of it that I disliked so I couldn't decide. I decided I should just write down my thoughts about it and try to figure it out in the end.

---NONSPOILER SECTION---

The story initially seemed promising and I feel that it had the potential to be way more intriguing and develop even better than it eventually did. I found the "book club" idea interesting and the idea that the killer was one of these seemingly innocent women was engaging as well. By the time the murder happened, I started trying to guess who might have done it. So, it was fine up until that point. I found the beginning of the book compelling, but the middle - and biggest - part of it seemed to me slow and repetitious. Too many conversations that were similar with previous ones and which added nothing new. Too many meetings and conversations about how they could not believe what had happened and about how the book club stopped being fun and started having problems... Too many unnecessary descriptions of clothes, shoes, bags, and nails, which in most cases - even though they painted a clear picture - didn't make sense or fit the situation, or help the story... The pace picks back up at the last 15-10% of the book and it caught my curiosity again. The ending was predictable and a little disappointing for me, not only because the killer was expected, but also it left some questions unanswered and unexplained. About the characters now... Some of them were better developed, while others were seriously underdeveloped and even felt irrelevant to the plot. Most of the characters were unlikable and I couldn't bond with them, or care for most of them. Also, as I was reading it, I was able to spot some mistakes - both typing or misspelling errors and problems with the story/continuity of it - that must have escaped the editing and which confused me. 

---SPOILER SECTION---

Toni's death was the first shock and the suspicion that there might have been a different secret meaning behind her murder (petals found on her) was very intriguing, so when it was eventually disproved I was disappointed. Janet's death shocked me even more and I was not expecting it at all. I felt sorry for her and her murder gave the situation a whole other feeling. I started trying to guess who might have done it all over again. Johnny's car crash was the most unexpected for me. I didn't expect it and felt very sad and scared that he may not make it. I thought it was a nice plot twist overall and I was satisfied with its happy outcome. Johnny and Amy were the only two characters out of all that I kind of liked and felt I bonded with the most. I also liked Marion a little, even though at times I hoped that she would prove to be the murderer. Maggie was a character that initially seemed minor but ended up being more important for the story. I wish we'd seen more of her, to get a better idea for her character. Toni was the most unlikable character for me even from the first pages of the book. The rest of the characters were either too unlikable, or indifferent and at times even felt like they didn't belong in the story. Some characters only showed up for a moment, so that we'd get to know their life story and then they were never mentioned again. Their stories never went anywhere and felt irrelevant to the plot. I started suspecting that Shirley might be the killer from early on in the story, but really hoped that I'd be proven wrong, or that there would be a big plot twist and something else would happen. I didn't really like the ending, how she was caught and how she confessed. I didn't like at all that the truth behind Amy's threatening note was never revealed. The other thing that also made me feel very angry was that we never learned if Grant really raped Toni. We were never given answers about two major questions and I do not think that this was done to add mystery, but rather because it was convenient. I particularly disliked the last chapter, but I do appreciate that it all had some kind of happy ending and that it left me a happy feeling.

So, after having laid my thoughts down, I think I've decided to give this book 2 out of 5 stars. I thought it was good enough for me to enjoy it, but I didn't love it so I cannot give it a higher rating. I feel though, that with some editing it could possibly score higher than that.

My favorite childhood books || A book talk

Hello friends!

Today I wanted to do something different, so I decided not to do a book review. I was thinking about what got me into reading, which was the first book that gave me the passion and which was the point in my life where it all started. I could not remember one book, or one exact moment, because I have been a reader for as long as I can remember, so I guess it all started in my childhood and the books that I was reading as a kid. This is the reason why today I chose to talk about my favorite childhood books. Books that I read as a kid, but I still remember vividly and that captivated my mind in the magic of reading.

Growing up Enid Blyton was definitely and by far my favorite childhood author. I haven't read all of her books, but I know that she has written many and I wish I had read them all because I've heard really good comments about them. Anyway, the ones that I have read belong in the two following series.

1. "The famous five" series. These books feature the adventures of a group of young children - Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina, and their dog Timmy. The stories take place in the children's school holidays after they have returned from their respective boarding schools. Each time they meet they get caught up in an adventure, often involving criminals or lost treasure. In some books, the children go camping in the countryside, on a hike, or on holiday together elsewhere. Blyton intended to write only six or eight books in the series, but owing to their high sales and immense commercial success she went on to write twenty-one full-length Famous Five novels, as well as a number of other series in similar style following groups of children discovering crime on holiday in the countryside. I have read (not all of them, unfortunately, because they were difficult to find) about 13 or 14 of the books in the series and I enjoyed them all very much. I remember these books keeping me company during the summer holidays or after a tiring day at school. I felt like the characters were my best friends and their adventures were always very captivating, so I couldn't stop reading. This series was my favorite childhood series, closely followed by the next one which was...
2. 
   "The secret seven" series. The Secret Seven or Secret Seven Society is a fictional group of child detectives. They appear in one of several adolescent detective series Blyton wrote. The Secret Seven consists of Peter (the society's head), Janet (Peter's Sister), Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, and Colin. Jack's sister Susie and her best friend Binkie often make an appearance in the books; they hate the Secret Seven and delight in playing tricks designed to humiliate them, although much of this is fueled by their almost obsessive desire to belong to the society. Unlike most other Blyton series, this one takes place during the school term time because the characters go to day school. The series consists of several books and I do not even remember how many they were, but I have read about 7 of them. I read them soon after the "Famous five" and I loved them almost as much. They were really interesting, adventurous, and mysterious and I couldn't put them down. 
3. 
   "Spring-heeled Jack". Another one of my favorite childhood authors was Philip Pullman. I have read a couple of his books and I loved them, but to be honest, I still want to read some more, because I think I'll really enjoy them as a grown-up. One of his books that I read and remember loving was "Spring-Heeled Jack". A fun, thriller of an adventure told in words and pictures. Rose and Lily and their little brother Ned live in an orphanage - a terrible place, where the porridge is thin and cold, and nobody smiles. One dark and stormy night, they decide enough is enough, and they run away. But hiding in the shadows, as they make their way through the dangerous back streets of London, is Mack the Knife: the most villainous of villains. Hiding above the streets, leaping through the air, is Spring-Heeled Jack. He dresses like the devil and his name creates shivers in people, but he is ready for action against the evil-doers and scallywags of the city's dark streets - Mack the Knife included - and he might just be able to save the orphans. I remember buying this book for the school library. All of my classmates enjoyed it during the year and when the school year was over I got to keep it, so I re-read it.
4. 
   "Animorphs" series by K. A. Applegate. This series is one of my two favorite series of books from my childhood. It is probably my favorite one, as it introduced me to the science fiction genre which is to this day one of my favorite genres. I read this one a little later than the previous ones when I was a bit older and I believe that this series is intended for older kids than the first books I mentioned and even maybe teenagers. I read them when I was about 12. The story revolves around five kids: Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, who obtain the ability to transform into any animal they touch. Naming themselves "Animorphs" they use their ability to battle a secret alien infiltration of Earth by a parasitic race of aliens resembling large slugs called Yeerks, that can take any living creatures as a host by entering and merging with their brain through the ear canal. The Animorphs fight as a guerilla force against the Yeerks who are led by Visser Three. The series consists of way too many books, I think they are about fifty, but I have only read about 10 of them. I loved each and everyone that I read and I remember being fascinated by how "alive" everything seemed. Reading these books felt like I was watching a movie, or even better as if everything was happening right in front of my eyes. The fast-paced plot and vivid writing had me holding my breath and trembling while holding the book. The stories were thrilling to me and I couldn't stop reading.

So, these were some of my favorite childhood books and I am so happy that I finally get a chance to talk about them a little and have them all concentrated in a small list like this. I feel that the books that we read early on in our lives shape us as readers and even contribute to the forming of our minds. I hope this post wasn't too tiring.

Thanks for reading for one more time!

   

"The diary of a young girl" II Book Review

I really don't know where to start from with the review of this book. The first thing that comes in mind is that it was a truly unbelievable journey and an unexpectedly powerful read. It managed to "suck me in" and transfer me to the time and place of the events; half way through the book I was already googling for details about the house, the historical events, or the family, so that I could get a better understanding of everything. Having finished the book, I can definitely say that I have learnt so many more things and that I still want to learn more about this tragic era and the people that suffered during this time period.

To start with, this book is not fiction and it's not written by a professional writer, it is a diary of a teenager and it involves real events and real people. This means that it cannot possibly be perceived or judged as any other book. The writing is flawed, because that's how 13 year old girls write and some parts are slow, because that's how life is; some days are just boring and nothing really happens - even if you live during WWII. We cannot expect this book to be a thrilling ride with fast pace and perfect plot, we have to view it as what it is; a diary of a young girl. It's a very interesting documentary by a young girl, a recording of events - some of them more and some others less interesting - concerning these people who are victims of this war. Anne's entries vary from prices of products to actual bombings or attacks happening close to them. Her relationships with her parents and the rest of the people in the annex is one of the main subjects. It's a unique book and being able to read it so many years after the events have taken place is very educational.

The Diary itself has its own two different sides - much like Anne herself - not just because of the personality of the writer, but also because of the nature of their life and the events they had to endure. On the one side there is Anne's beautiful journey from childhood to adolescence; her development from a happy child to a much more mature, conscious and self aware teenager, her progress both mentally and psychologically, and her emotional evolution. These were the parts that made me smile for a while and feel closer to the families, the parts that helped me bond with Anne, start to like her and support her and her family. On the other side - which is also the more prominent and significant of the story - there is the horrible face of the war; the transition from their normal, happy life before the war to a life of deprivation and isolation. They are forced to survive, hiding, excluded from the world and the society, with very few resources and with very little contact with the outside world. Their hunger, exhaustion and despair is more obvious in each page that passes and it made me feel both compassion for what they were going through, and admiration for managing to stand it for so long. Thinking of the war's darkness, the victims and the unbearable tragedy of these years, makes it even more painful to read, especially since the ending is defined and well known beforehand. It was sad reading about Anne dreaming to go back to school in September, when I knew that she would be arrested in August, it was awful reading about how much she wanted to become an accomplished writer, when I knew that she wouldn't even make it to her adulthood. So tragic and so real... 

To cut the long story short, I enjoyed it very much, especially the second year of entries - I have to admit that I found the first one a little tiring, but I think it must be because of Anne's young age when she was writing it. Towards the end it gets much better as a read, but so much more tragic and sad as a story. I would like to finish with something positive that this book left me though, which was the curiosity and eagerness to learn more about this particular story and about other stories like this and to find out more details about this historical time and about particular events (which is what I will be doing the following days).