false 1142227 I have been an avid reader ever since the third grade, when the elementary school librarian introduced me to the Little House on the Prairie books. Later, in junior high school, I read Steinbeck and Hemingway as a way to find common ground with my father.

In high school I became heavily involved in church, and abandoned my reading for a time, believing that any free time I might have to read should be devoted to biblical study. In my 20s I discovered books again, and spent many happy hours consuming the books that I had previously shunned as "too secular" and trivial. Throughout my 20s I experienced my own personal renaissance...and I've never looked back.

I belonged to a Book Club for several years that eventually disbanded as people's lives changed. I have volunteered as a literacy volunteer and spent several fulfilling years working with an adult student, teaching her to read. I currently serve on the board of directors of my community's Literacy Council.

How I spend my Days
I teach business classes at the local university, sing with a community choral group, play the guitar, write songs, crochet (and I'm learning to knit), and hang out with my two dogs, Milo & Gracie, and my 4 cats, Mama, Handsome, Bert & Ernie. I am happily married to Mark (for 18 years).

For Christmas 2007, I received a Cybook Gen3 eInk book reader, and I'm steadily building a library of ebooks. I hope to reduce the amount of "clutter" in my physical bookcases as I switch over to electronic books in my virtual bookcase. I love the convenience and portability of my Cybook and am hopeful publishers will eventually come to embrace ebooks.

Thanks for reading my profile and reviewing my bookshelves. If your interest in books and genres matches mine, please think about becoming my reading buddy. I'd love to share books with you.

If you feel so inclined, you can also follow me on twitter.]]> female Douglasville, GA 05/2008 12/2009 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
I love these authors' books immensely.]]> 13 897 732 true 5719749 read 9 true 2377233 currently-reading 131 true 2377232 to-read 25 true 4272768 reference 223 false 4249243 imported 122 false 4249045 recycled 112 false 4043564 ebooks 69 false 5170332 on-the-cybook 47 false 4324461 business 38 false 4953571 pulitzer-prize 33 false 2544429 to-get 28 false 4954101 religion 20 false 2616350 library-books 17 false 4954096 female-interests 17 false 4324483 poetry 16 false 4324479 fitness 14 false 4324466 biography 13 false 4324471 organization 12 false 4954098 essays 12 false 4862576 epilogue 10 false 4954109 short-stories 10 false 4949972 children-s 7 false 4324474 housekeeping 5 false 2616351 audio-books 5 false 4318242 travel 2 false 4030637 blah 1 false 5195475 referred-by-others 1 false 5173637 needle-crafts http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/204680-general-news-about-the-book-club http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1241124675p2/18052.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:21:09 -0700
"Elbow Room" is a collection of 12 short stories taht explore blacks and whites in America.]]> Elbow Room (Mass Market Paperback) by James Alan McPherson]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54499866 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175628629s/538059.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:14:18 -0700 The Keepers of the House (Paperback) by Shirley Ann Grau]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54499612 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173281071s/266978.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:07:13 -0700
6/20/2009: I just downloaded the audio book of The Keepers of the House from the library. I usually prefer to read books versus listen to them, because I often get distracted with I am listening to books on tape. But I've transferred the book to my Zune and I think I'll...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/174557-meeting-is-sunday-august-9th http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1241124675p2/18052.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:56:40 -0700
The Epilogue Book Club will discuss The Keepers of the House, by Grau. We will meet at 2:00 pm on Sunday, August 9th, at the Border's Books bookstore in Arbor Place Mall.]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/151880-interesting-links-reviews-etc http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1241124675p2/18052.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:36:31 -0700
I'm about half way through Olive Kitteridge and have enjoyed it so much! There are lots of interesting characters and I appreciate Elizabeth Strout's compassionate handling of the complex social and familial issues in the book.]]> Guard of Honor (Paperback) by James Gould Cozzens]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54499923 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181000528s/1102194.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:26:30 -0700
6/9/2009: This book is set during World War II and is over 600 pages long. Since it is a "big" book that deals with a serious topic, I think it will take me a while to get through it. I noticed that Amazon.com sells the book for $27.85, but I found a us...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/135586-pulitzer-prize-book-club http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/groups_nophoto-50x66.jpg 1142227 Julie http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1240701439p2/1142227.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1142227-julie Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:59:41 -0700 Tom wrote: "It's early Monday morning and I am writing at my kitchen table, the table being a significant fact in light of our experience at Chicago's LitFest yesterday.

The excitement that had been bulding..."

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I wish I could have gone to hear Elizabeth Strout. I started reading Olive Kitteridge last week and I'm really loving the book - I am sure I will also read Ms. Strout's other books too.

I really enjoyed hearing from Ms. Strout in the following links because she seems like a regular, down to earth kind of person:

On Point with Tom Ashbrook, Interview with Elizabeth Strout, date May 7, 2009

WGBH Forum Network

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