good book recommendations

[Munchkin03]

I just finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, and I really liked it.

[honeychile]

^^ Read that last month, and really liked it. Question: how is "Phillippa" pronounced?

I can't say enough about Ken Follett's World Without End and Pillars of the Earth. If you like longer books, these are made for you.

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Question: how is "Phillippa" pronounced?

Philippa is my mom's birth name but like all her brothers and sisters she now uses an American name. It's pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. (Phil-LIP-ah)

I've read that Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. I haven't been able to find out her ancestry. She may pronounce it differently than Italians, such as my mother, would but it's a safe guess that it's similar.

[SWTXBelle]

Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt - The Story of a daughter and a mother in the Gilded Age by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart. Fascinating biography and social history.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Philippa is my mom's birth name but like all her brothers and sisters she now uses an American name. It's pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. (Phil-LIP-ah)

I've read that Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. I haven't been able to find out her ancestry. She may pronounce it differently than Italians, such as my mother, would but it's a safe guess that it's similar.

Thank you! Just to make sure, it's LIP, not LEEP, right? There seems to be dozens of Phillippas in English history (including Chaucer's wife), and I've always gone out of my way not to say the name out loud!



For non-fiction fans, I'm reading Blood On The Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It's quite possibly the best book on the Lincoln assassination I've ever read - and I've read a lot of them.

[Fleur de Lis]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I just finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, and I really liked it.

I LOVE her writings. The earlier books are a little trashy, but her more recent books are really interesting historical fiction. The movie doesn't really do The Other Boleyn Girl justice.

I just read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and it is incredible. If you like Jodi Picoult, I would recommend Anita Shreve. Like Picoult, her works aren't earth-shattering, but still a fast read and keeps you guessing.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by Fleur de Lis

I LOVE her writings. The earlier books are a little trashy, but her more recent books are really interesting historical fiction. The movie doesn't really do The Other Boleyn Girl justice.

I just read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and it is incredible. If you like Jodi Picoult, I would recommend Anita Shreve. Like Picoult, her works aren't earth-shattering, but still a fast read and keeps you guessing.

Did you read the first book, The Kite Runner? Im pretty sure the movie did nothing for the writing. Aside from the corny ending, what a good read.

[Fleur de Lis]

Originally Posted by tld221

Did you read the first book, The Kite Runner? Im pretty sure the movie did nothing for the writing. Aside from the corny ending, what a good read.

I read The Kite Runner and it was very moving, but not as good as A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Kite Runner centers around a single event and one person's lifelong reaction to it, whereas A Thousand Splendid Suns is more of a journey and you have to keep reading to see where everything connects. It also seemed more human to me and less of a far-fetched story. I haven't seen the movie, but I can imagine it doesn't do the book justice, as so few movies do.