The Pillars of the Earth. Ken Follett

The Pillars of The earth was my first of his novels and I have to admit I cried a bit when I realised I only had 100 more pages left to read.

I have never read a more full and beautifully written book ever and have just started reading World Without End.

I've also almost finished the wonderfully made mini series, which I have to say is extremely close to the book, minus a few of the more long winded bits but you can't make a movie of a book of over 1000 pages without shortening it a little!

I know this is a bit sad but I also emailed Ken Follett last week to express my delight at finding his book on the Oxfam bookshelf. He replied so I was chuffed he read how much I liked his writing.

This book has tragedy, love, lust, violence, loss, morality and bravery and a whole lot more and above all, I learnt about a dying trade that is stone masonry, something which I had known little about before.

This is so very not my style of book - I am really history averse - but I could not put this book down when I was first introduced to it. I have revisited it on many occasions - a true comfort read.

Some of the characters were a little two-dimensional - eg the pantomime villain who rapes every woman he encounters and Only Ever Does Nasty Things. But I liked the strong female characters in the book.

Read this book few months ago. It is a really good book. It's amazing how much you can find out about that period. I could not put it down.

It is a big book but it's worth reading it. Also if you read this one and if you like it you should also read World without end by Ken Follett.

A friend of mine recommended me this book. She said that Oprah Winfrey's bookclub put it on the highest (if not the first) place between all bestsellers. I started reading it- and just could not put it down! The book is huge- more than 1000 pages but what a grip it will have on you! Fantastic book. I highly recommend it to everybody.