The Alchemist is a pretty amazing book. "to realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation" - The Alchemist. It was written by a Spanish writer, Paulo Coelho, whose other works I unfortunately have never read. Although I have heard that The Alchemist is his best. As the quote implies, the book is about following your destiny - specifically that of a young Spanish boy. So this kid goes off to the Great Pyramids in search of treasure that some old dude said he would find there. Through his journey he meets some wonderfully odd people - also in search of their destinies - and he also falls in love with Fatima, who is the only character that is named. Along the way he learns about Personal Legends, the Soul of the World, and the Universal Language. It has a fun little twist at the end too.