Welcome to Litsy!

This brutal brick of a book is the story of dozens of characters surrounding the real-life events that resulted in the martyrdom of the Archbishop of Canterbury. If you‘re into detailed descriptions of violence, rape, feudalism, architecture, pubic hair, castle politics and Catholicism, this book is for you. I read it based on a recommendation. I finished it because I liked the challenge, not because I liked the characters. I cannot recommend it.

This book was sooooo long. It was interesting. The forward really got me interested. I was surprised I kept reading it. It took me almost a month, when I‘m used to reading 8-10 books a month. There wasn‘t anything particularly thrilling or page-turning or cliff hangers. There were a ton of character & places. But it was interesting enough to read it all. I likely won‘t do book two, but am glad I read this one.

Completed the #ChunksterChallenge for 2024. 🎉 My first year to hit all four chunkster categories.

@Amiable Thanks for hosting and the motivation to get to the larger books on my shelf.

Almost done, last book of the yr, no. 82 and it is worth every page! Every character in this book is perfect! I want William to suffer and Aliena to be everything!!!! Who knew building a cathedral could be so full of love and treachery and battle?!

Not my unusual genre and I‘m not a fan of super long books but it came so highly recommended that I gave it a shot. I‘m glad I did. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ebook on sale. A definite favorite of mine.

I like reading any historical fiction

First read was bare bones by Kathy Reichs

Longest ever was the tagged book, unless I count textbooks from my lit courses, then it was one of them at somewhere around 1500 to 2000 pages. #wondrouswednesday

My favorite #12Booksof2023 from February was also my favorite book of 2023! How can it not be? It‘s a masterpiece and it‘s set during my favorite historical time period. So sweeping, so dramatic! The story is so BIG. I just loved it. I loved some of the characters and I really hated others. It took me a full month to read it and then I watched the movie series! So good.

#WinterGames #TeamEvergreen
#photochallenge #goldfont

My first #kenfollett book. It‘s a hefty thing, weighing in at over 1100 pages. A tale set in the 12th century following 3 characters around the building of a cathedral. That sounds dry I know, but trust me, it‘s a real page-turner. I‘m on page 180, and can‘t put it down! There are 3 other books in this series, god help me! 😂

I am over summer. I know we still have at least two more months of it left, so.... thought a massively long audiobook set in cold damp England would help at least mentally get me a reprieve from the heat and humidity. Am also curious about this book. For years people have said to try it. I only have read Eye of the Needle by Follett before - wondering what a historical drama from him looks like.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView tagged by @The_Penniless_Author ❣️

1. Well, here in Italy we do not have such holiday 😅 Even though I will had to work anyway
2. I will ask for normal things like having all the books that I desire

@mavey @TheNeverendingTBR @Cazxxx wanna join?

Starting this one tonight. Holy #chunkster Batman! I‘m finally caught up, although I‘ll never finish this one by the end of May 🤣

I read 8 books during February (2 were started in Jan but finished in Feb). Here are my favorites:

Pillars of the Earth will surely be a contender for my favorite of the year; Elevator Pitch started slow but built into a tension-filled, super fun read; and Nicole Deese has skyrocketed to the top of my sweet, no-drama author list. A very good month for reading!

#FebruaryReads

A very high pick for this one!! I loved everything about it: the backstabbing and betrayal, the cathedral-building, the lives of the everyday medieval people, the conflict between King Stephen and the Empress Maud in the background which ultimately drove the story. Ken Follett is a master, one of my favorites, and this was everything I‘d heard it would be. The good vs evil was almost exhausting-I went thru nearly every emotion over and over again.

I‘m finally at the halfway point of this book!! I‘m enjoying it so much. The bad guys are SO bad!

Stressful days at work often mean I chop some vegetables and throw together a soup for dinner. There is something about chopping that relieves all the tension from my shoulders 🤷🏻‍♀️ My husband and son are both out right now, and I‘m home alone, which means a few minutes with dinner and my book.

Three weeks after starting, I‘ve finally finished Part One!! I‘m loving this SO much.

Page 287/973

I‘m SOOO excited to be starting this chunkster!! I absolutely loved Follett‘s The Evening and the Morning and I can‘t wait to immerse myself in this world again. I can‘t decide if I want to fly thru the story or drag it out and savor it for a long time. This period of time is my favorite!!

This is my first time reading this book. I hope it lives up to all the praise it has received!!

This book gets so much praise and I figured it was high time for me to finally read it since I‘ve been skeptical all these years because it‘s definitely not one of my go to genres. I must say though it has hooked me and I‘m 60 pages in and don‘t want to put it down.
#ThePillarsoftheEarth #KenFollett #ebook #kindle

I‘m organizing books and working on my 2023 goals.

First goal: I‘m finally going to tackle these two chunksters. 973 pages and 1040 pages

Who else has a chunkster goal for 2023?

This is such a long book and so rewarding. The characters were so well developed that I wanted to keep listening. I had the written version too so I could flip back and forth as my attention span demanded. I knew it was about the building of a church, but I didn‘t know that there would be villains and heros, peasants and royalty. Well worth the investment of 41 hours. Not sure I‘ll finish the series but I will get the dvd miniseries to relive it!

Started this book one once again.
I'm listening to the audiobook atm as my novels are still boxed & sitting in a gigantic pile below the stairs of our new house and not yet on shelves since our move 2 months ago.
Enjoying this story so fat :)

This book has a pretty harrowing #childbirth scene…and other harrowing scenes. #indeliblemoments

#alphabetgame
#letterP

I read it in my teens and I think it started as a joke with my father, it was his book and I couldn't believe he could find such a big book interesting from start to finish.. I ended up reading it in a couple of weeks! 😅
(Bonus: the miniseries is a good adaptation and there's a great cast!)
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Next up! One of my best friends gifted me this for my birthday this year. Told me that this book made him fall back in love with reading 10 years ago ❤️

#BookMoods @eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#SetInAnotherCentury

📖June 7th: 600+ Pages #BookMoods #June7th #600plus

This is one of my most favorite novels of all time. I just adore it, and think maybe it‘s time for a revisit to Kingsbridge 🥰

June #bookspinbingo list. Lots of car time traveling for baseball tournaments this summer, so 5 audios on here. I should also finish Don Quixote my 2nd quarter #chunksterchallenge book.
#bookspin
#doublespin

My May #bookspinbingo board. Not a very productive month, but had a lot going on. I also was working my way through Pillars of the Earth off and on all month. I didn‘t quite finish though, about 150 pages left.
#bookspin
#doublespin

#SavvySettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

The setting of the fleece #Fair in this epic novel and mini-series is one of my favorites in the book because it's where Aliena realizes she can stand on her own too feet and take care of herself.

#savvysettings #church

Love how beautiful this book cover is. Still need to read it.

My favourite scene when the bf is here for the weekend… always a table scattered with lots of books 📚❤️

What a strange origin for a book. A bit of research by Follett to help him better describe buildings in his novels becomes an obsessive hobby visiting Gothic cathedrals, which leads to an interest in the people who actually built the cathedrals, which culminates in this, a thousand-page dramatization of the lives and events responsible for the construction of fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral in 12th-century England.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

1. Tagged
2. Knife of Dreams
3. I don't actually have any at the moment. You can't go too wrong with Agatha Christie though, so I would definitely read The Mystery of the Blue Train.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Philip had not yet got used to sleeping alone.

(First line of Chapter 4, Part II - it's taking me a LONG time to finish this book 😄)

In a broad valley, at the foot of a sloping hillside, beside a clear bubbling stream, Tom was building a house.

#ThoughtfulThursday @MoonWitch94

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView !

1. I never set reading goals, but even if I did they'd be out the window already. Work has been nuts since the New Year. I haven't read a single page in 2021.
2. Derivative
3. Tagged (hopefully I can finish it by summer 😂)

Tag @Ast_Arslan @IuliaC @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @RamsFan1963 @bthegood

March pick! I loved this book! I need to finish the series and plan to early 2022. #12booksof2021

Just a couple of bookish items included in my gift from @Nerdfins 😍 Not pictured: the coffee I am enjoying this morning.

My goal this year is to finish Drums of Autumn (75% in!) but I‘ve already got quite the line up waiting for 2022 and I‘m pretty excited to dive in to this one!

#ThoughtfulThursday

📚I really dislike when this happens. It makes me feel stupid for putting my trust in that character. I then question every single thing about the story that I thought to be true, and it sort of ruins the read for me 🤷🏻‍♀️
📚Any of my Gryffindor/Ravenclaw items 😍
📚I love the tagged book! I recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction.

✨Everyone is welcome to play! Don‘t forget to tag me & some others to play✨

Been a while but this was an enjoyable romp in jolly ol England. A bit preachy!!!

#witchgang

#BookCoverChallenge
Day 86.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

I was daunted by its size but jumped in anyway. It took me a few chapters to get interested in the story. I personally was not prepared for the vulgarity and the triggers contained in this book. Yet I could not put it down. I always wanted to know what happened next. By the end of the story I had characters I hated and those that I loved. I will recommend it for anyone who is ready for an amazing story with complex characters and vivid imagery

#FallTreasures #Day14 #PublishedYearYouWereBorn

This book was published in 1989, and it‘s been on my TBR for at least a few years. I‘ve seen the miniseries, and definitely still want to read this one eventually.

I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it. Some will be old, some will be new - don't judge me, I have a lot of books.

Day 124th

Join the fun if you want!

#tbrpile

I have been working with the same list since January, so I switched it up a little for the month of July. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

Currently about halfway through. So far, I'm enjoying it.

I love this book; this is a story you can get lost in. The rich detail of the everyday lives of people in twelfth century England provides an immersive reading experience and shows that Ken Follett did his research and knows his history. This book tells the story of Kingsbridge, a fictional English city, and its cathedral which is the center of life there. This book has a large cast of fascinating characters and an interesting storyline.