Reviews with TLC

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was one of those books I put on my reading list a long time ago and finally got around to reading recently. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I'd heard from many people The Alchemist was worth reading. I'm glad I finally did even though at times I found it a bit too symbolic. The weaving of the supernatural, religion, and culture seemed to be a bit on the cliche side in spite of the message of the story.  The Alchemist works as an allegory for having faith in the "signs" life presents as one travels through it. Coelho's writing immersed me in the story and made the characters seem all too real and surreal at the same time. The Alchemist is filled with a sense of wonder and mystery in the simplicity of the story that seems to transcend itself but really always comes back to the message that one must seek in order to find.

The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson is the kind of book you want to finish but don't want to end. I read it slowly forcing myself to stop reading after a few pages each day, so I could stay immersed in the story just a little longer and yet the story pulled me back. In fact, it stayed with me as I went about my day waiting to read some more. The characters grabbed me and held on tight. Everything Wilkinson writes has a way of transporting me back to my childhood growing up in a holler where family was everything and everyone knew everyone's business. The town of Opulence feels like a place I've been, longed to leave, and yearned for despite my best efforts to leave it behind. Secrets, lies, and truths combat each other through characters that seem trapped in tradition and freed by imagination in the pages of The Birds of Opulence .