Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Review from Drew: I might catch some hate for this one but I loved The Alchemist, especially for the time in which I read it, right near the beginning of my spiritual journey. Sometimes, so much more can be said it short, simple fiction than in any nonfiction format.

Retold in Thich Nhat Hanh’s inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life over the course of 80 years—partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy, and partly through the eyes of the Buddha himself. Old Path White Clouds is a classic of religious literature.

Review from Drew: This book feels like getting a hug the entire time you’re reading it, which is for a while, because it’s quite long. It’s Tich’s straightforward, low-frills telling of the story of the Buddha in narrative form - how he came to enlightenment and built his sangha, the people he touched along the way, and the main tenets of the teachings of Buddhism. It’s soft and slow and such a joy to come home to in our face-paced world.

Though set in a place and time far removed from the Germany of 1922, the year of the book’s debut, the novel is infused with the sensibilities of Hermann Hesse’s time, synthesizing disparate philosophies–Eastern religions, Jungian archetypes, Western individualism–into a unique vision of life as expressed through one man’s search for meaning.

Review from Drew: It’s simple and straightforward, written in an engaging narrative style, and you’ll feel goosebumps all along the way. I also love the fact that Herman Hesse had to pause his writing of this book between Part II and Part III and live alone on a mountain for several years in order to feel enlightenment, before he felt like he could write about it.