Rainy Days

I finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.
It was 973 pages packed with captivating adventure, trial, heartbreak, tyranny, injustice, triumph, betrayal, tears, schemes, laughter, and enthralling medieval characters that will make you scream and cry and shout for joy. 973 pages that I could not pull myself away from.

I first heard of this book watching "Oprah's Big Give 2007" and she said she could not put it down and gave everyone in the audience a copy and could not give it enough praise...and I couldn't resist the temptation to see what all the fuss was about.

It literally took hold of my life and I spent every waking moment wondering and thinking about what would happen next and how it would all turn out.

Now that I'm done with it I find myself missing the characters. After 973 pages I feel like I walked a journey with them feeling their heartaches and triumphs and I'm left wanting to spend more time with them! Seriously, if you are looking for a great, captivating (and definitely rated R) book. Read Pillars of the Earth (just make sure you have time to devote to reading it straight through because you just can't put this down!)

Inbetween reading I've been watching the Olympics - those athletes amaze me and I love to watch them and envision the effort they throw into these games. I think I love the tradition too, because they began in Athens so many thousands of years ago and while it looked a little different it has evolved into 10 hours of coverage blaring the Olympic theme song in nearly every living room across the world. It's uniting to know that there are so many countries in one place competing with the same passion and sweat.

My dad and I watched Cars tonight and Disney's genius amazes me. They continually develop these Pixar movies that enrapture kids and bring them laughter and keep their attention while challenging the adults who accompany the kids (or avid Disney fans like myself) with a "moral of the story" that strikes a chord that the kids may overlook. I feel like I've learned more about the beauty of life and what the important things are from Cars, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Meet the Robinson's (and many many more). So Disney...you're genius and I'm feeling sentimental.