Welcome to Litsy!

I love the Kingsbridge series! This one is set during Viking times and gives the ‘backstory‘ to the creation of the town and bridge. While it‘s been years since I read Pillars of the Earth, I felt the themes were almost too similar. The brilliant and ‘jack of all trades‘ main character, the pious and smart Monk, the evil Bishop, unrequited love…. Nevertheless, I was caught up in the story, rooted for Edgar and Aldred and was completely satisfied.

My second reading of this book, and still as good as ever - if not better. Taken me a week but got me back into the habit of reading, which was always the plan. Love John Lee‘s narration of Follett‘s books.

Will progress onto the other books in the series, before the new book is released.

#SeriesLove2023 @TheSpineView
#JubilantJuly Book 2 finished.
#Chunkster @Tove_Reads

Starting off #JubilantJuly by listening to The Evening and The Morning.

A big book, which I am already 1/3 of the way through, but I still have over 16 hours of it to listen to.

#SeriesLove2023 @TheSpineView
#Chunksters @Tove_Reads

Started listening to The Evening and The Morning, the prequel in the superb Kingsbridge Series. At 24.33 hours it might take a while. Decided to re-read the whole Series. Hoping it will help me get back in a reading flow.

Can‘t wait for the new book to be published in September.

#SeriesLove2023 @TheSpineView
#Chunksters @Tove_Reads

This prequel to The Pillars of the Earth was like returning home to learn all about your grandparents over summer vacation. Spanning a decade, it follows several characters through the turn of the tenth century in England. There are Viking raids and bad antics by church bishops. There are royals and lepers. So little happens in a day and so much in a decade! Recommended for those who want a long but simple, cozy but challenging read.

The choices are getting harder and harder to make. It‘s shaping up to be a great book year. 😍

#SeriesRead2022 @TheSpineView

I'm sad to have finished the last of the Kingsbridge books. This prequel is a low pick for me and the story definitely can not compare to the first two books. I still enjoyed visiting the time before Pillars was set. The malicious ways of the church are a big part of this story and a theme that survives through the entire series.

Our Thailand adventure finally became a reality and I spent 20 minutes in this swing reading after my obligatory instagram shot. In other news: if you haven‘t read The Evening and The Morning it‘s wonderful! PICK IT UP, TBR LIST IT, READ IT #BookNerdWillTravel #HistoricalFiction #beach #Thailand

Koh Samui sunrises.

Starting this chunkster with my first outdoor read of 2022. It's a beautiful Spring evening where we are. Also enjoying a drink while I dive into the book.

#Chunkster #ChunksterChallenge2022 #ReadingOutside #BookAndDrink

@Amiable

1. Would have to be a Ken Follett book, he writes whoppers. At 928 pages it is the tagged book.

2. I read quite a lot of 500 and 600 page books, but do find recently I‘ve been put off the really large books. I need to correct these as used to love getting lost in a really long book.

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

Thanks for the tag. @Eggs @TheSpineView

I tag @Nute @Crazeedi @EadieB @Tove_Reads @kezzlou85 @tracey38 @CocoReads

1. My greatest achievement and challenge was completing my first ballet exam in 24 years. I think I did ok but I won‘t get my results back until the end of January. 2. Tagged. I read it quickly over winter. Other contenders were My Dark Vanessa and The Inland Sea (Thanks #LMPBC @suvata ). 3. Not get covid. That my family stays safe and be able to see my sister and my new niece or nephew when it arrives safely in June #wonderouswednesday @Eggs

Well, this has all the same tropes as the rest of the series, but other than the actual building of the bridge, it doesn't feel particularly distinctive. Still an enjoyable read.

My grandmother introduced me to the Pillars of the Earth series before she died - it was one of her book club selections - and I loved them! Unfortunately, the two most recent books in the series came out while I was working on my PhD and I didn't have time, so now I'm planning a chronological read-through of the whole series!

I finished this 913 page beast of a book today & loved every minute of it. Follett has such a skill at telling huge stories with incredibly terrible characters & so much heart - and some how makes almost 1000 pages feel like a quick read.
He makes medieval stone masonry interesting. 😂👏🏻
I‘ve read & loved all the books in the Kingsbridge series & this tells the story of the town‘s beginning - how it got its name & who originally built it up.

“It was hard to stay awake all night, Edgar found, even on the most important night of your life.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

See? It's not that hard to complete a chunkster. CJ has finished THREE so far this year, and it's only May!

This makes 2,914 pages read!

@covertocovergirl
#chunksterchallenge2021

1. Days like today when I am helping kids with autism & hearing issues complete their NAPLAN exams with special provisions & their behaviour is perfect so I have a relaxing day. I even wrote a couple of #LitsyLove letters 2. You won‘t always love hospitality. 3. Have a cup of tea 4. At the moment, as it is starting to get cold & I am no good with the cold, I go to bed early with a pot of tea & read for an hour or so. @Eggs #wonderouswednesday

Stupidly started on this this arvo and now I can‘t stop. It began with the bloody arrival of the Vikings now I am in bed super early, reading with tea. Going to be up all night again. Have you read this one @Freespirit ?

1. The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett.

2. Both, nice to read out in Spring if warm enough though.

3. #20in4 and #AwesomeApril, tend to miss starts of some other readathons with a busy COvID life! Need to get back to doing some photo challenges.

@MoonWitch94 #ThoughtfulThursday

If not completed this consider yourself tagged.

I heard this is the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth.
I guess there is a connection between the two because one of the main characters, Edgar is a builder. It makes me glad I wasn‘t alive in the Dark Ages when evil clergy has way too much power and women had almost no rights. Just found it disappointing, never reached the level of beauty as Pillars of the Earth. Kept waiting for it to get great and it didn‘t. Oh well.

Fun read overall! I‘d watched BBC‘s adaptation of Pillars of the Earth previously and really enjoyed it, which led me to pick up this book. It certainly felt like the Pillars series in terms of characters and plot, and I found the strategies and plot twists to be the strongest part of the novel!

So many loves for this book! Having fallen in love with Pillars so many years ago- this was like coming home. This book captured the ‘beginnings‘ of so many things in Kingsbridge and it was a joy to make the connections between the two books. Fast read and good/evil plot lines that you expect from this series. I enjoyed following the three major characters throughout the book, all storylines kept me on edge! #bookspin

IT WAS SO GOOD!! It was everything I wanted it to be! Long and sweeping, filled with good vs evil that made me FEEL things. The details were my favorite part, things like daily routines and descriptions of buildings and clothing. I loved Edgar‘s story most, even though I held my breath for him in a few places. I wish there was more to read set in the Dark Ages. I love being transported to this world, but I am thankful I do not live in those times!

Finished Part Two and I can‘t put it down. I‘ve seen a lot of Ken Follett‘s videos and livestreams about the research he did for this book, like learning how coins were made in the Dark Ages and studying the Bayeux Tapestry for clues about clothes, etc. It‘s cool to see these pieces of research come together in the story! And I have big feelings about how corrupt some of these characters are. It‘s super fun to really, really dislike the bad guys.

I made it thru Part One! #chunkster

Been a bit busy this week so the reading is a little slower than I like. But I am savoring it, which is also great. I love the Dark Ages setting.

Reading partner tonight! #catsoflitsy

I‘ve debated for *months* about whether to make this tagged book my first Ken Follett read because it is chronologically first or The Pillars of the Earth because it was written first. Just a few days ago I pulled Pillars off of my shelf to go ahead and start it, and the very same day this months-long library hold became available for me! So I put Pillars back and here is where I will start.

I‘m SO EXCITED to be reading this #chunkster!!

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 91
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

#TheEveningandTheMorning #KenFollett

This is the prequel of The Pillars of the Earth. The Vikings are raiding the English villages where Kingsbridge will be located. We learn about the life of Edgar, the builder. Alfred, The Monk and Ragna, the noblewoman. The characters and story are very interesting. Follett is a great writer but I can do without the crude language. I would recommend to those who love history.

#StackingTheSeries #SeriesRead2021

Read Level 1: ✔️The Night Hawk by Elly Griffiths

Read Level 5: ✔️Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Craine
Read book 2: ✔️Killman Creek by Rachel Craine
Now reading book 3: Wolfhunter River by Rachel Craine

Finished ✔️The Evening and The Morning by Ken Follett

#JoyousJanuary #Readathon

After 4 days:
Finished Killman Creek - 16 hrs - 343 Pgs
Finished The Evening and The Morning - 24 hrs. - 928 Pgs
Reading Wolfhunter Creek - 9 hrs. - 180 Pgs.
Total 49 hrs. - 1451 Pgs.

I thought it would be super dense and dry as I‘ve never read a book from this author nor of this genre. However, I was very much wrong and it was an engaging story through and through. Very well written and the plot keeps you wondering what‘s going to happen next. Don‘t let the length of the book intimidate you 😬

It wasn‘t as good as the original but still an enjoyable read.

Last book read for 2020. Happy New Year, everyone!

Ken Follet is gifted when it comes to making me care about things I would normally find boring, such as the intricacies of boat building. I delved into the lives of the British at the dawn of the Middle Ages and happily lost myself in these characters' carefully crafted stories.

I love this series. I hope they turn it into a tv series like they did the first book. If you want to go travel to the Middle Ages this is the series to read. Read for 6 readathons so 770 pts #readnisedreindeer @StayCurious

Total 6863

1. There are several, but the one I'm really going to try to get to is The Evening and the Morning.

2. Not really a regret exactly, but I had bought One Second After, by William Forstchen a while back, and I read it this year. It was truly awful. And I wish I'd never heard of it.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

My favorite way to start the day on a cold morning. It is overcast with snow clouds. The book was gifted to me (I read the others in the series). The tea is day 24 - Santa‘s Secret. A strong black tea with peppermint. Only add sugar because anything else would not go well with the peppermint. 1 pt #readnosedreindeer @StayCurious

A prequel to The Pillars of the Earth--set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages "Just as transporting as. . . A most welcome addition to the Kingsbridge series." --The Washington Post

It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king.

Hubby gets me

Just bloody marvellous 😁❤️ have loved every hour spent in this story.

Today‘s progress, I‘m much preferring being in the dark ages!

Today‘s progress 😁 it‘s a big book!!

Starting today, signed and a lovely matching bookmark 🔖
Wanted to start for a while, but it‘s a chunkster and a wanted not to be worrying about work. Hopefully it will take my mind off the news!!