The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali

When asked what is my favorite book, I always struggle. It’s hard to have one favorite book. But, if the question was if you were stranded on an island and could only bring three books, one of them would be The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali. I have picked this up countless times just to read a few pages. I decided to read it again the week before my actuarial exam as some extra motivation and to help keep things in perspective.

Format wise, this is not your typical book. The text has different fonts, colors, and sizes. The spacing is all over the place. There isn’t any flow, although it is kind of in chronological order with Ali’s life. Somehow it all works. The book is mostly short stories and reflections. There are plenty of life lessons told through ancient tales. Ali shares some of the poetry he wrote during his life, but I’d say this is my least favorite part of the book. The stories are ones that could be reflected upon and shared.

As I read The Soul of a Butterfly again, I noticed all the page corners I folded over. There are a lot of these. If I ever want to hear a good short story, I can pick up the book and turn to one of these pages. I think this is what makes it one of the books I would bring with me if I were stranded on an island. I could read it over and over and still find it thought-provoking.

To show how much I like this book, I don’t think I would ever give it away as part of my Christmas gift giveaway. However, I think I should buy another copy and give it away because it is that good.

My rating for The Soul of a Butterfly: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who read this blog!