I’ve recently been in a reading slump and want to get back into reading before 2018 finishes. So here are my top 10 books, I’ve read so far. Maybe I’ll be inspire to read again.

1. The Alchemist – By: Paulo Coelho

I remember picking this book up and was so inspired to follow my dreams and allow the paths of life to lead me back to life. It did! I went out and started doing theater, writing and having fun in my daily life. To summarize this book, it is about a boy who goes on a journey to find a treasure, which doesn’t exist, and he finds himself falling in love with a woman and forgetting the notion of this treasure. If that isn’t inspirational, then I don’t know what is.

2. The Time Keeper – By: Mitch Albom

This book is just wonderful! It drove me to rethink my life and look at the essence of time as a made up idea to get us to do things in a somewhat inhumane manner. I learned to allocate time to breathe and reflect on my day before continuing with everything else. This fable talks about the first man on earth and is punished by becoming Father Time. He listens to voices that complain about time and is forced to help them realize the beauty of living in the moment. I was incredibly moved by this novel.

3. The Pearl ­– By: John Steinbeck

I remember this novel being one of my favorite American classics. It is written in such a beautiful allegory of life. It makes me think so much of the world we live in today and I continue to see the way it relates to our time today. Steinbeck uses the idea of the pearl as the greed of men and how money becomes much more important than a human’s life.Like WOW! I love it.

4. Veronika Decides To Die – By: Paulo Coelho

This book speaks so much to the question of why we exist! Veronika decides to kill herself because she will one day get old and because there are a lot of things wrong in the world. She takes sleeping pills and wakes up in the hospital, only to find out she didn’t die, but is dying. She then wants to live because she was given a second chance. She struggles with death and learns to love life even at its cruel moments. I was on the verge of tears reading this one. One who knows how the feeling of despair is will relate to this tale. The words are breathtaking and metaphors of life become a daily prayer.

5. The Tragedy of Macbeth – By: William Shakespeare

Yes, this isn’t a traditional novel, but in a literature standpoint Macbeth is a character I believe we all can relate to. We have that guilty conscience that will drive us mad and so Macbeth is one of my favorite plays. His struggle and his ambition is just so good to not love. I reread this play every two years and always find something new about Macbeth that I love.

6. Peter Pan – By: J.M. Barrie

I go back and forth with this one, although I do owe around 7 copies of this story. As children literature, I believe this one is one of the top 5 in the world. It’s magical and interesting to see these children rebel against “the law.” It is much different from the Disney version, but it does stay true certain aspects of the novel. I like reading this story because it reminds me that we all have the child in us and we just have to believe in the good outcomes to overcome the evil of the world.

7. Gone With the Wind – By: Margaret Mitchell

This is my all-time favorite movie, novel, story and piece of art. It is just spectacular. Each page uses words so magnifying and, uh, I have words. Must read for everyone! We go on the journey with Scarlet of the loss of one’s home. In this case the South during the American Civil War. The descriptions and images that are portrayed by words are just endless in our American literature with this novel.

These are just a few books compared to all the hundreds I have read. They stood out the most to me while thinking of this list. So maybe I’ll go pick up one of these and see where I can go next.