Great African Reads discussion
Welcome
>
Welcome to new members!!... and introduction... if you want
Mary wrote: "Katy,What was it like to be in the Peace Corp in Zimbabwe and when were you there? I would really like to hear more!"
Hi Mary,
Do you want to send me your email address and I'll respond there? I don't want to clog up the list with non-book discussion... :)
Mine is rpcvlibrarian@yahoo.com.
Katy wrote: "Mary wrote: "Katy,What was it like to be in the Peace Corp in Zimbabwe and when were you there? I would really like to hear more!"
Hi Mary,
Do you want to send me your email address and I'll res..."
Katy, we can set up a Rhodesia/Zambia/Zimbabwe thread for discussing books and life. Of course feel free to correspond outside of the group but I'm sure many of us are equally curious about your experiences. But you're right, the welcome thread is probably not the best spot for that.
Hi all! I have been following Great African Reads for awhile, but this is my first post:) Mostly because I have been reading about Africa a lot lately but none of the books in this group so far. Although my "to-read" list has gotten quite long as result of this group. Katy, I would also love to hear about your Peace Corp experience in Zimbabwe.
Marieke wrote: "Katy wrote: "Mary wrote: "Katy,
What was it like to be in the Peace Corp in Zimbabwe and when were you there? I would really like to hear more!"
Hi Mary,
Do you want to send me your email address..."
I agree, I'd like to at least lurk along with that conversation. Hi Sarah! I also follow along more than I actually read along.
Hi Sarah, and welcome!We'll be posting some refreshed rules and guidelines shortly. mostly we have non-rules, one of which is that it is NOT a requirement to have read a book to chime in on a conversation...so feel free to add any thoughts you have to any discussion at any time
I just set up a new folder called "Places" where we can organize conversations about...places! like Zambia and Zimbabwe, for instance. :D
you can find it here.
Hello Sarah, welcome!! Feel free to lurk, I often do that too and you can learn an awful lot just by watching the conversations unfold... :) Do chime in when and where you want, and as Marieke said, don't worry if you haven't read a book!Hope you enjoy the group! :)
Hi, I guess it is time I introduce myself as well. I suspect I will be a little like Sarah -- more of a follower than a contributor, but I do enjoy reading and learning about Africa. Honestly, I enjoy reading about as many other cultures as I can. So, I suspect I will have a difficult time keeping up with all of the African books on this list. I am particularly interested in Africa because of a church trip I took to Zambia in 2007. I spent 2 weeks with Alliance for Children Everywhere, a group that works with children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic (malaria, poverty, etc.). I stayed in a dorm area of a crisis nursery and visited quite a few schools -- meeting some of the most energetic and welcoming children I have ever encountered! I also had a chance to visit the local hospital and an AIDS research center operated by Emory University. I did have a few days of relaxation before returning home. We visited Vic. Falls and spent a few additional days in South Africa. Since then, I have been sponsoring a young girl from Uganda. She sang with The African Children's Choir for a year. I was able to meet her when the choir sang in my city. We occasionally write and send each other photos.
So, that's my story. I look forward to reading and hearing more about this fascinating continent.
Anne
Hi Anne, welcome! i hope you find things useful here even if you just want to lurk...if ever you are seeking information you can't find, please feel free to post a question. i'm sure you'll get plenty of responses!one of our newer members has expressed an avid interest in knowing more about Zambia and Zimbabwe, but especially Zambia if i recall correctly. you've probably seen it already, but i set up a folder yesterday called "Places." please feel welcome to add to Katy's comments. there is no need for comments to commence in any sort of logical order so if you want (don't feel pressured!), tell us more about your time in Zambia and if you've read any particularly good books from or about that country. and if you want to write about your connections with/visits to uganda and south africa, that would be great, too. the more threads we have under "Places," the better!
that is really awesome you got to meet the girl you are sponsoring. and what a neat way to get to meet her! i hope she enjoyed her visit to the US!
Welcome Anne!! "Lovely" meeting you, and please feel very welcome to contribute whenever you like, or just to watch from the sidelines if you're more comfortable doing that. :)Going into Zambia and visiting the AIDS research centre and orphanage must have been quite an experience for you; I'm sure it had a profound impact on you and makes you see the world with very different eyes. It gives you quite a new perspective on life in the first world, doesn't it?
Please feel free to share in the Places topic, would be fascinating to hear more about your experience! But in any case, welcome to the group and I hope you find it an inspiring place. :)
Welcome to Anne. I, too, would like to hear more about your experiences if you ever feel like sharing. But it's nice to have a new member along.
Hi all!I love the way this group is structured and the non-rules. I also met Marieke in another group, and she is awesome so here I am!
My Africa reads are woefully small. Cry the Beloved Country and July's People are the only ones I can think of off-hand. Pretty sad, really. I really want to read Nnedi Okorafor and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I can't wait to learn more, follow along and get some worldy padding on my to-read list.
Oh, and I love pretty much all African food, but especially Nigerian & west African. Yum!
Hey Cindy, welcome!! :) And thanks for the high praises! ;) We do want this group to be fairly relaxed and fun, and too many rules tend to get in the way of that. And so far, members have been just really wonderful and so polite to each other - it's all just warm and fuzzy here... ;) heheAnyway, hope you enjoy it here and do join in when and where you want to!! (And never mind your small number of African reads - I still haven't read even half the number of books I want to read or think I should have read by now! We all start somewhere and it should always be fun anyway.)
Muphyn wrote: "I still haven't read even half the number of books I want to read or think I should have read by now!"We should put that on an official Goodreads T-shirt! Thanks for the welcome, Muphyn!
Cindy wrote: "Muphyn wrote: "I still haven't read even half the number of books I want to read or think I should have read by now!"We should put that on an official Goodreads T-shirt! Thanks for the welcome, M..."
ha! so true.
i'm so glad to see you here, Cindy! i was going to send you an invite but obviously i don't need to. we have a thread for Chinua Achebe that gets revived from time to time; perhaps you can help out with that! and a lot of excitement about Nnedi's books has been burbling along; hopefully we can get a dynamic conversation going with her soon. she is a member here!
i have a feeling you'll find some more good stuff to read, too!
since i know you have a terrific sense of humor, perhaps you'd like to introduce your outrageous headgear in our "housekeeping" thread...?
and that goes for anyone else harboring a silly streak, as well...
Yay! Hi guys. Outrageous headgear described.
Welcome to my friend, Petra X.
yes, welcome Petra X and the other new members that have joined us in recent weeks! i hope you all enjoy it here. feel free to introduce yourself, but it's not a requirement. nor is outrageous headgear. :D
Hi there. I'm Petra. I live in a rainforest on a tiny island in the Caribbean where I have a bookshop and cafe. I do not make any money but you can't have everything!I've travelled a lot, sailed a lot, had a lot of different businesses/jobs lived in a few different countries and speak only English fluently but can order items from menus in a lot of languages - I know what is important!
I had a period where I read a lot of African & Indian books but now I just read what I fancy. Shoshanah recommended this group to me as not being full of LOLs and OMGs so I shall to watch my own interjections!
Lol!er, sorry.
You can't just tease us like that, Petra. You gotta tell us which Caribbean island you're on. There's a decent chance I'll end up there someday, after all.
Petra X wrote: "Hi there. I'm Petra. I live in a rainforest on a tiny island in the Caribbean where I have a bookshop and cafe. I do not make any money but you can't have everything!I've travelled a lot, sailed ..."
Petra, wow, of course it sounds like heaven but living it might be somewhat different, I would imagine...
In any case, welcome to the group - I've seen you around Goodreads a lot :) so it's nice to have you here! :D (and err, we'll try and improve our usage of LOLs and OMGs and ... what else is there??)
Yeah we are seriously funny in this group so no worries if you're impelled to interject with lol or omg... :D
Petra X wrote: "Hi there. I'm Petra. I live in a rainforest on a tiny island in the Caribbean where I have a bookshop and cafe. I do not make any money but you can't have everything!I've travelled a lot, sailed ..."
I agree with Alex - you can't leave us hanging! I wonder around the Caribbean from time to time and if there is a bookstore and cafe on some particular island I happen to be on, I can't nresist! Would love to know where you are so that I can look out for your bookstore next time I happen to be in the neighborhood!
i think we need to have a Great African Reads meeting somewhere in the Caribbean...
Marieke wrote: "i think we need to have a Great African Reads meeting somewhere in the Caribbean..."YEAH, count me in!! will be a bit of journey for me but never mind... travelling right across the world for a bookshop and cafe on a tiny island sounds just like what i need! :D
Maybe we should do an extended cruise and visit as many islands as possible.
An African reads Caribbean cruise sounds like a completely sensible and practical plan. I'm in. Rather than pressing Petra to give us her address, we'll just visit every single independent bookstore / cafe in the sea. It'll be like the quest for the Holy Grail!
Yes! The Petra X Scavenger Hunt! There must be clues on the other islands somehow related to the books we read. This will be so much better than The Amazing Race.
Yes! It'll be like Amazing Race except with awesome people instead of total jackasses! And our detours will be, like, "You can either sit over here and read for a while, or sit over there and read for a while."
...right now Petra's thinking, "I wish I'd never joined this group full of insane stalkers."
yeah, errmmm...Petra might accuse Shoshana of false advertising...i wonder if there will ever be any Goodreads Grants to fund this little Amazing Race??? (imagination now running out of control...)
uuuh, I'm in, I'm in!!! :D and of course, Petra X won't mind!! On our cruise, we'll tell everybody about our scavenger hunt and then she'll get a million people come and visit her bookstore and cafe...but she might be wondering why on earth she ever joined this silly group, true true... ;)
I think we (somebody) should write up a book proposal. "A group of total strangers from the far corners of the globe , they were united only by their love of African literature, food, and strange headgear. And yet, they were determined to complete the quest for the small cafe and bookstore on a Caribbean island." A good proposal should get us a nice advance to pay for the trip.
Andrea wrote: "I think we (somebody) should write up a book proposal. "A group of total strangers from the far corners of the globe , they were united only by their love of African literature, food, and strange..."now we're getting somewhere...it could make a really funny book in the end too, with each participant writing at least one chapter...and it will be a race, right?
"The Hunt for Petra X" even sounds really...interesting...
i hope we're not creeping you out, Petra!
I am loving this! What great elements: a bookstore/cafe on a mysterious Caribbean island; a groups of strangers meeting up for the first time; a Scavenger hunt for a missing group member and her bookstore; and the end product of a compilation of stories about the whole adventure! I agree we are absolutely on to something here! Now to just find a cruise/bookstore finding/book writing grant to get us all there!
Hi, I'm Ingy, I'm from Egypt.. You can see I was lucky to join this group just in time for your September and October Egyptian tour :D I'm really happy to find and African community on Goodreads, and by 'African community' I don't just mean Africans, but also anyone interested in this great continent.
I hope this group will help me to know more about my home, Africa.
Ng wrote: "Hi, I'm Ingy, I'm from Egypt.. You can see I was lucky to join this group just in time for your September and October Egyptian tour :D I'm really happy to find and African community on Goodreads, ..."
Welcome, Ingy! should we call you Ingy or Ng? I saw already that you posted to our Egypt Tour thread--thank you so much for your comment (i hope you post more)!
maybe you'll find out that you are interested in reading more from the continent and will join us on our tour (we have a long way to go). but there are many things to do at our group besides the tour.
Hi Marieke, About the name, 'N-G' it's my way in shortening Ingy..
But then I'm not sure how these 2 characters are pronounced in different English dialects! So go for Ingy (or Injy, both are pronounced the same) :D
As for the African tour, I'm very excited about it :D I'll keep track of it and contribute in any way I can..
Thank you :D
Welcome Ingy, Injy or Ng! :D I think I'll stick with Ng as it's nice and short :)Hope you enjoy the group, stop by wherever you like and feel free to post or just watch.
Hi, I'm Nashwa I'm Egyptian & i like the idea of this group it's very interesting to know much about your neighbors
Hello I am Egyptian I am 2 weeks old in the group , so I am so late in introducing myself :o I was just busy but I hanged around & I am happy to join you :D
Welcome Nashwa and Nile Daughter - it's fantastic you've joined us and please please please, feel free to participate in the Egypt book discussions (and any other ones, of course) whether you've read the books or not. And feel free to be controversial, it's great to have some authentic voices! :)
Thank you very much , this was a a very warm welcome :)
Hi and welcome Nashwa! and you as well, Nile Daughter! XDand welcome to all the new folks who have joined us in the past couple of days! Please feel free to introduce yourselves, but it's certainly not a requirement. :D
About Me: Myne Whitman is a pen name. I have lived in Nigeria and the UK and now live with my husband in Bellevue, Washington. I write full time and also volunteer as an ESL tutor for Hopelink, a local charity. I am the managing editor of Naija Stories, a critique website for Nigerian writers. I belong to the Seattle Eastside Writers Meetup and the Pacific Northwest Writer's association. A Heart to Mend is my first novel and I am currently working on another romantic suspense novel to be released in 2011. My Book: A Heart to Mend narrates a love story and a journey of self-discovery. Newly graduated Gladys moves to Lagos and a new job gradually transitions her into an independent young woman. When she meets Edward, a wealthy businessman, she is cynical of his advances but falls in love with him. Edward is physically attracted to Gladys but is not ready to give his heart. He is haunted by the past of his illegitimate birth and other secrets. Just as he starts to open up, Gladys finds herself embroiled in a plot to take over his business empire. Their happiness is in jeopardy and Gladys has to find a way to prove her innocence. Will Edward trust her enough to give love a chance?
Hello Myne, welcome to the group and thanks for introducing yourself! Hope you enjoy the group.I see that you've also set up a Myne Whitman thread in the GAR - Authors topic (great spot!) where you posted exactly the same message so could I ask that you please remove the reference to your book from this 'Welcome' thread. We don't generally like people posting duplicate messages and it'd be great if you kept book promotion to your author thread, other book discussions or news threads as appropriate.
Check out the rules and guidelines or ask Marieke or myself if you're unsure about things! :)
I'm not sure where to put general Africa-related banter, so whatever, I'll put it here: the contestants on The Amazing Race have been in Ghana recently. I love when AR goes to Africa because there's always one team that breaks down and ends up screaming something like, "I'm so sick of all these black people!", so now I know who to hate.Anyway, one of the challenges involved African geography, and I was all excited because I'm awesome at that. But I think it turns out that all they had to do was locate Ghana - the country they were actually in - which many of them couldn't do anyway.
I think I've posted this before, a long time ago, but here's a great Flash game that tests your knowledge of African geography. I play it (and the other geography games from that site) periodically to make sure I still know where everything is.
Alex wrote: "I'm not sure where to put general Africa-related banter, so whatever, I'll put it here: the contestants on The Amazing Race have been in Ghana recently. I love when AR goes to Africa because there..."i can't believe i missed that episode! anyway...this isn't the best spot for this comment so i made a new thread for it. We have a folder called "anything on Africa" and i made a thread where you can post this...you want to move it?
Great African Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
The Shadow King (other topics)The Moor's Account (other topics)
Half of a Yellow Sun (other topics)
Huit leçons sur l'Afrique (other topics)
Africana: Viaggio nella storia letteraria del Continente (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Tsitsi Dangarembga (other topics)Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu (other topics)
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (other topics)
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (other topics)
Yefon Isabelle (other topics)
More...
Thanks so much for all the aid thoughts and suggestions
That is really helpful. I will investigate all and eventually get back! I really appreciate you sharing.