Welcome to Litsy!

Holiday epic read finished and on to the next …..

Not your usual beach read pick but so highly recommended to me and pushed on from a friend I had to start it & wow 🤩 so glad I did ! Family drama,aristocracy & class divides,historical fact , figures from history political unrest,suffragettes,the horrors & incompetence ofWW1,Russian revolution & all so engrossing a real page turning gripping read, so glad 😌 I‘m reading it in Greece & don‘t have to move much from this lovely sunbed & beach

#FallInTitle 🍁 #HumbleHarvest 🍂☕️🧣🍁🥧🕯🍎

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

I read this book out of guilt.Two friends (a married couple) loved it,loaned it to me, and there was the obligation to read it. It is my first Ken Follett, and not the one that I wanted to read first. It took me “forever”to finish it. I am certain all of this influenced my rating. Well researched. Period from 1911-1924. Some real Historical characters. And others: Royalty,Miners,Suffragettes,Military,Politicians,RebelsFirst in a trilogy. My last.

This is the first time I've read Ken Follett and I know now what I have been missing out on in all these years!

So, my friends returned to their home in Colorado a few months ago, and left me a few books to read. They are returning the end of the month, and I am trying my best to have read at least two of them before they return! This one is a chunkster. Luckily, I found the audio on Libby. Now, I can exhilarate my completion! #readingthebooksofothers

#SetInAnotherCentury #BookMoods 😊📚

#BookNerd 🤓💙📚

“A baby was like a revolution, Grigori thought: you could start one, but you could not control how it would turn out.”

(Image from Madras shoppe)

So, I have a male friend who is an avid reader. He likes to share books that he enjoyed with me. But not to be sexist, 😉 the two he just gave me seem to shout testosterone to me! Am I wrong? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Anyway, they are chunksters, and I won‘t attempt to read for some time. 🙂

I love books with great character development!

1. Love the characterization of the tagged book and all the Century Trilogy. An excellent read.

2. Animal Farm by George Orwell

3. Historical Mystery.

#WondrousWednesday

Fascinating (historical) fiction of WW1, very enticing characters that fit well and gradually cross paths while eliciting strong emotions. Looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

Great story!

I‘m a fan of historical fiction and this one was packed with history — First World War, the Russian Revolution, and women‘s suffrage. Ironically enough, I like reading about history more now than when I was in high school and college.

Like any huge novel, there were many characters but it wasn‘t hard to keep them straight. I found myself cheering for certain underdog characters and I‘m happy with the way the story ended.

I finished Fall of Giants! Finally! I loved it, but it is a beast of a book. Totally worth the time it took to read it.

https://readinginthewildwood.com/2020/08/10/fall-of-giants-by-ken-follett-review...

Day 2 of #Top20Series #20Series20Days

No list of top series would be complete without Ken Follett who is such a great writer. Two great series, firstly his Kingsbridge Series which includes the great Pillars of the Earth and is definitely worth a place on this list. However I have chosen his Century Trilogy because this was such a journey and loved every minute of it.

A great storyteller.

Read from 7/25-8/2
There was A LOT to unpack in this book! Tons of stuff going on. Plenty of great characters (Billy Twice, Ethel, Walter, Maud) & some rather insufferable ones as well (Lev, Fitz)
Overall I enjoyed this book, as I usually do with Follett, but Kingsbridge will always have my heart, first & foremost. I'm looking forward to Winter of the World & that timeline.
Follett is truly a master at his craft. Solid 4 star

618/850
Hopefully finishing today! It's a wonderful dreary, rainy day, ☔🌧 perfect weather for reading 🤓📖

Calling it a night @ 389/851 pages of Fall of Giants.
45% through, getting there!

Kinda sad, reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett and I'm only 300 pages in & have creases in the spine. So hard to keep books looking decent, especially big ones! I'm trying to be gentle! 🥺 I rarely buy brand new books,& like to try to keep them looking nice if I can. Must. Read. More. Gently 🤣

Beach reads
115/851

Starting my day by reading on the front porch. I‘ve not done a lot of reading in July. It‘s been a busy month. I haven‘t even finished a book. 🤦‍♀️

To be fair, Fall of Giants is massive, but I adore it. Totally worth the time. Today‘s post is just a chat about my reading month so far. If you want to join the chat here is the link.

https://readinginthewildwood.com/2020/07/10/coffee-and-a-book-chat/

My tbr is short this month. Fall of Giants is massive and will take a lot of time. I have one other book on my tbr. What are you guys reading this month?

https://readinginthewildwood.com/2020/07/01/a-short-july-tbr/

I give you a stack of Chunksters this week for #unreadandontheshelf

I‘d say more but it‘s been a long day and my brain is mush.

Finally got my books from book outlet!! :)

Honestly, Ken Follett can do no wrong on my eyes. He continues his brilliance in this fantastic book about the start of WW I.
Absolutely fantastic. 5 stars.

Continuing my latest discovery of the amazing Ken Follett, I'm starting the first book in the Century Trilogy.

My 2nd time through this one, but I learned so much more! Follett is not only a master storyteller, but a breathtaking historian. His blend of fictional characters in historical settings is rich, deep and keeps your captivated for 900+ pages. I learned more about WW1 from this novel than any history class. I cannot wait to dive into book 2, and see what the 5 families are up to in the dawn of WW2.

TRUTH!!! Preach, Mr. Follett! This book was written 10 years & is SO poignant. #hardcoldfacts #listentoeachother #disagreewithgrace

This coffee cup ☕️ couldn‘t be any more spot on. Hoping to finish this book 📖 so I can move on to the rest of the series (since this is just a refresher anyway). #Yogapantsandcoffee #FallofGiants #CenturyTrilogy

Thanks @maich for the tag ♥️ #selfcaresaturday on Sunday but who cares! 🎶 Yes, but it‘s instrumental only and very low & generally not all the time. 🐕Sadly No ☕️🍿🥨🍷 Coffee,Wine,Popcorn,Pretzels are my favorites. Tagging Anyone who hasn‘t played yet! 📚

🌕New Year has been positive for me thus far. I have been doing well so far on my resolutions. I am determined to turn them into permanent habits. 🌕 Re-reading the tagged book because I want to finish the trilogy this year & it‘s been 10 years since I read it. 🌕 @Linsy @rather_be_reading @NeedsMoreBooks @DebinHawaii @Meaw_catlady @OriginalCyn620 @Stacypatrice @Eggbeater #ThoughtfulThursday

I am in a reading slump. So I‘m revisiting some novels in hopes of breaking the slump. I want to finish The Century Trilogy this year, so I‘m re-reading this one again so I can get acquainted with all the families & their stories. At nearly 1,000 pages, it may take a while. Wish me luck! 📚How do YOU break a reading slump?📚 #YearoftheChunksters

Saw They Shall Not Grow Old today. The books and the movie have different perspectives (Fall of Giants has at least 3 perspectives on the World War). The combination of the prescriptions about Russian workmen and England normal soldiers help me build a comprehensive introspection about the World War I.

This weekend's book haul! So excited! Used book sales are the best 🙂

If you are looking for great books #Over500Pages look no further than Ken Follett‘s Historical Fiction. The top line is the Century Trilogy and the bottom line the Kingsbridge Trilogy. All great reads and all well over 500 pages. #GratefulReads

As I said before I learned more about World War One from Ken Follett than I have ever learned in school. Very interesting. 🤩

I liked most of the characters and how Follet manages to provide them with authentic backgrounds.
As my knowledge of the facts wasn‘t very deep I was surprised here and there but it was nice how certain journeys through life puzzled together in the end.

I am already curious for Volume 2 since Follet alludes to it wittily.

Cooking 👩🏽‍🍳,
eating 🥘,
audiobooking 🎧.

Still entertaining (one third is over).

At times I‘m not sure if I find the description of military manoeuvres tiring – because at other times I find it interesting to learn more about World War One than I have ever learned in school. For example, I yesterday by a five minute research finally found out how it came that Germany is considered to be a guilty party even if an Austrian 🇦🇹 has been murdered in Serbia. 🙊 (Don‘t judge me, please.)

It‘s only Tuesday but feels like the whole week can go to waste.

I left work earlier. “We need to dismiss people by the end of the year but sorry folks, we can‘t yet say how many and who.” Great news. 🤢 Not.

I‘m glad I have this audiobook. It distracts.

I like it so far. My first thought was that there obviously are people who get up even earlier than I do.
My second thought was that I know almost nothing about mining.

Not the audiobook I wanted to start tomorrow but since it took me 3 different audiobooks to lend and uncounted tries to try to download each one on my device I was happy that 1,5 hours ago at least _this_one_ was finally downloaded properly so I will have a functioning companion tomorrow morning.

I know in this situation it‘s kind of complaining about first world problems but still I would have preferred “Widow for a Year” … 🤷🏽‍♀️

1) Tagged
2) Joy in the Morning, War and Peace, Harry Potter series
3) I am afraid to count
4) A Memoir of Vincent Van Gogh 4⭐️
5) @gimmeabook @JaneyWaneyB @nichollinlove

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

This book is exactly what I wanted. I finished today, on the day the second book is set to be delivered. Perfect timing. Like any large book it did lag in places but personal relationships I loved. And Maud and Ethel are the real badasses in this book.

Freezing water but plenty of sun! Started this one today. 🤞🏾

I just finished it, reading through the last 200 pages without being able to stop! Historical fiction at his best with Ken Follett, no doubt. To me being passionate about history this is another way of reading about it. Now, let‘s start the second book of the XX century trilogy! #2019

????1/2
Finally ended this one today.
Highly recommended for everyone who likes historical fiction, it's detail is it's USP.Looking forward to other parts.
If you do read it, please keep an ice pack with you for the hand cramps and comments like "how can you read such a long book""I would run away just by looking at the size of this book" etc etc

PS:Comments translated to bad English from Hindi(my native language), kind of loses the essence!

As I finish this book, one has to appreciate the extensive research that must have been done to write this book.I loved the parts of fictional characters with real life people.It also argues correctly that WW I was an unnecessary war, and the part aristocracy played in starting a brutal war in Germany, Russia and even Britain.America comes out good BTW. Read it if you love historical fiction but there is a lot of realism for history buffs as well.

Grigori and Walter are two other characters whose arc i really enjoyed. Walter, a very intelligent and astute man and Grigori, a brave man who defied his masters and contributed in starting a revolution.