huh

go figure. who knew that oprah and i actually have something in common - we both like Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. (that and goldens i suppose)

the rens bought me the book years ago for xmas, and it's one of the few books that i can recall pretty vividly (meaning i really liked it). that question of what books would i bring with me if i was stranded on an island is always answered by my wanting The Dark Tower series, the entire Dune series (old & new) and Lord of the Rings. Pillars would be one of the few non-series books i'd want with me.

it's a long book and well worth reading (and it's not scifi - go figure). must be those cathedrals i seem to have a passing interest in.

Ken Follett is latest Oprah Winfrey pick

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

NEW YORK - Oprah Winfrey went for the big time Wednesday with her latest book club pick, choosing Ken Follett's 973-page "The Pillars of the Earth," an announcement that will likely mean hundreds of thousands more sales for an author with a huge, international following.

Winfrey, whose TV talk show airs from Chicago, called Follett "a best-selling author that everybody has heard of, but this novel is unlike any of his books he's known for around the world."

Follett, a 58-year-old native of Cardiff, Wales, is famous for spectacular thrillers such as "Lie Down With Lions," "Eye of the Needle" and "World Without End," published last month, and a sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth," which came out in 1989.

Follett has called "The Pillars of the Earth," a love story set in England in the 12th century, his favorite novel. According to his Web site, the book still sells around 100,000 copies a year in the United States alone.

"My publishers were a little nervous about such a very unlikely subject but paradoxically, it is my most popular book," Follett writes on his Web site.

"It's also the book I'm most proud of. It recreates, quite vividly, the entire life of the village and the people who live there. You feel you know the place and the people as intimately as if you yourself were living there in the middle ages."

A year after "Pillars" came out, Follett was so popular he agreed to a two-book, $12.3 million deal with the Dell Publishing Company. He reportedly has 90 million readers worldwide and recently signed with Penguin Group (USA), which released "World Without End," for a planned multigenerational trilogy set in the 20th century.

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Associated Press writer Tara Burghart in Chicago contributed to this report.