Here I go writing again....

I think I may take this reading to serious, I really do question this every time I finish a book. Needless to say I finished The Walk series by Richard Paul Evans. Walking on Water was the last book in the series and definitely one that should have came with a warning that the reader should proceed with caution because you may cry, laugh and/or get a few nuggets of advice that you didn't even ask for or know you needed. Actually I know several books that could use that warning. In this last installment of the series Alan is heading back to Pasadena after he finds out his father has had a heart attack. Most of the book focuses on Alan and his fathers relationship and him discovering things about his father that he never knew. He even finds connections between his ancestors and even his father that are kind of those it really is a small world type things after all. Ultimately, Alan finds his way back to the small town where he had to abruptly stop his walk to go be with his father and now he realizes just how close he truly is to finishing this journey. In one part of the book he walks through St. Augustine and it was neat reading about the places I've been fortunate enough to see. Kind of made me want to go back. Besides making you think of how everyone we meet attributes to our own story in one way or another this series may (or may not depending on who he is meeting at the moment) make you want to travel and/or make you hungry because the author talks a lot about the foods Alan eats along his journey. For me some of the most peculiar meetings with people happens in the last two books but that is one of those things that will be different for everyone. Without giving much away Alan completes his journey and gets his happy ending. You don't really find out anymore about most of the people he met along the way but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. If I had a complaint to make it would be that the end felt a bit rushed. You spend so much time learning about Alan's father and so little with the last part of the journey and what happens in Key West. However, I guess it's as Jane Austen said, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.

So here's a few things I got while reading this series: 

• We're all on a journey, some may have started for a particular reason but as time has went on the reasons may have changed
• Sooner or later we may find that every hindrance, every road block and detour that we encounter on our journey isn't always something to discourage us but ultimately is just another part of the journey. A way to get us where we needed to be at that time even if we didn't know it.
• Don't assume you know people's stories
• Everyone does have a story
• Everyone we meet adds and sometimes takes away from our story and ultimately leaves some kind of mark on our journey.
• We all have more in common than we sometimes want to admit but we should use those commonalities to strengthen each other because otherwise divided we fall (there is an interesting part towards the end of the book  where this is brought up, it is well written and very true)

Lastly, see I wasn't exaggerating that I may take the reading thing to serious! I guess I look at reading not only as a way to go to different lands and times but an opportunity to learn something, many times about myself. I'm always a little sad for a book/series to end but I got many more books and journeys (real and ones that are written) to take.