Good Reads
Follett writes the must-read prequel to his ‘Pillars’ series
Cameron makes you ask questions ... then gives a gift
n 1989, Ken Follett began the Kingsbridge series with “Pillars of the Earth,” followed by “World Without End” in 2007 and “Column of Fire in 2017.” Now (yippee!) comes the prequel to the Kingsbridge series “The Evening and the Morning.” If you held me down and threatened me to When the Roman Empire disclose my top 10 favorite books, “Pillars” would declined, Britain went surely be on the list and Mr. backward. As the Roman Follett definitely appears villas crumbled, the in my top 10 authors list. It people built one-room may be trite to say, but his wooden dwellings without books get better and better. chimneys. The technology He writes about real people, his characters of Roman pottery – richly drawn. His storylines important for storing food are all you want – action, – was mostly lost. Literacy suspense, a smidge of declined. This period romance, history writ well. is sometimes called the “The Evening and Dark Ages, and progress the Morning” begins in 997 AD, drawing you was painfully slow for into the lives of a young five hundred years. Then, boat builder, a Norman at last, things started to noblewoman, a humble change. . . monk, a power-mad church aristocracy and Vikings. Intrigue, danger, fierce rivalries, love and hate, make this book unputdownable. It simply must be on the top of your to-read book stack. – Deb Laslie
very once in a while you need to read something uplifting, and thoughtful. Something that causes you to pause with the book in your lap, ponder what you’ve read, read that part again and wonder, “Is this about me?” “What do I believe?” “Emory’s Gift” by That day in the woods W. Bruce Cameron (“A Dog’s Purpose”) is a it seemed as if the birds book about a boy and and all other creatures his bear – and more. For went quiet at the sight some, it’s the place a of a thirteen-year-old miracle happened; for boy walking alongside a others it confirms we grizzly bear. The breeze don’t know everything. Charlie Hall and his died down, even, as if father George are reeling stilled in awe. I couldn’t from the loss of their keep the grin off my face mother/wife. Adrift and at the sheer mass of him bereft, they find their moving next to me. way to each other with Emory the bear. the help of Emory a grizzly. But is Emory real? Is Charlie simply making all this up? Charlie doesn’t understand the nuance of adult perceptions about life. He has no past grounding in “spin” or the foundations of religious faith. He only knows that Emory is his friend, so he does what 13-year-old boys do. He protects his friend, believes in him. And Emory’s gift? It’s what you receive when you finished the book. – Deb Laslie
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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021
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