Welcome to new members!!... and introduction... if you want

[David]

I'm happy I'm not 15 anymore otherwise I'd suspect my mum naming me after Hasselhof!

[Muphyn]

Sorry for missing out on saying 'hello' to all the lovely new people around here when you joined!! Very bad of me but welcome Deborah, Rooble, Jessica, Victoria, Amalie and David!! Phew, quite a lot of you! :) Hope you enjoy the group! :D

Feel free to start discussions on topics or books that interest you, or if you're not sure what to do, just ask Marieke or myself (Marieke tends to be that little bit quicker with responding, just fyi ;) ).

[Muphyn]

David wrote: "Hi Victoria, this is the list:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv..."

David, thanks!! This is awesome! *sigh* my list of books to read is ever-growing and will never be realistically achievable... :)

[[deleted user]]

I was named for a folk singer my dad liked.

[Muphyn]

Sho wrote: "I was named for a folk singer my dad liked."

Ah, really?! Which country, Sho?

[[deleted user]]

Israel--Shoshana Damari.

[Deborah]

Hi Everyone - thanks for posting the top African reads. My favorite of the list is Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog. Love it! Is there a discussion thread for this book somewhere? Sorry, I'm new to Goodreads and not quiet sure how everything works.
And Marieke - I love that Jacques Briel song!
Thanks,
Deb

[Marieke]

Deborah wrote: "Hi Everyone - thanks for posting the top African reads. My favorite of the list is Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog. Love it! Is there a discussion thread for this book somewhere? Sorry, I'm new ..."

hi Deb, i also loved Country of My Skull. we can certainly set up a thread for it, no problem!

[Marieke]

Sho wrote: "Israel--Shoshana Damari."

i'm totally going to track her down. :D

[Deborah]

Marieke wrote: "Sho wrote: "Israel--Shoshana Damari."

i'm totally going to track her down. :D"

thanks for the introduction to a new singer - well a very old singer, really, but new for me. I like her spirit.

[Manu]

Deborah wrote: "Hi Everyone - thanks for posting the top African reads. My favorite of the list is Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog. Love it! Is there a discussion thread for this book somewhere? Sorry, I'm new ..."

See http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.... for Antjie Krog's keynote address at the Goethe-Institut's Über(W)unden Art in Troubled Times conference which took place from 7–11 September 2011, "The artist's reaction to traumatic events in society: How do societal traumata impact on, or even define, the works of artists?"

[Angela]

Hi, I'm Angela and I am from Virginia. My goal this year is to read books in settings outside of the US. I would love read more about Africa and I look forward to being part of the group.

[Marieke]

Hi Angela and Judy!

We have an ongoing "Tour" here, reading books from each country in Africa in alphabetical order, but we are also starting to try doing organized group reads of contemporary literature. and of course many members are happy to talk about anything and everything having to do with Africa, especially things literary! if you have any questions about navigating the group, just ask...we are a friendly bunch. :D

[Muphyn]

Hello Angela & Judy (fancy meeting you here ;) ),

Please feel free to join in the discussion whenever you feel like and don't hesitate to 'revive' old ones if you want to discuss a previous group read or discussion topic!

[Andrea]

Welcome to new members Angela and Judy. Hope you enjoy the tour.

[Marieke]

Haha, Judy! That makes me happy. Chelsea's been here quite awhile. And I've finally remembered that i first "met" you over at The Imprinted Life, right?

@Deborah--I haven't forgotten about setting up a discussion thread for Antje Krog's book. I was looking at our folders and thinking it might be nice to have one devoted to memoirs. I'll link to it once I've got it set up.

[[deleted user]]

Hi there!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Hi there, I heard about this group over on Around the World in 52 Books, and since I'll be reading a bunch of books from African writers anyway, I figured I might as well align them with your calendar too so I can have even more discussion.

[Marieke]

Yay! Welcome aboard, Jenny!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Haha, you all look so familiar!

[Muphyn]

OHHH!! Everybody IS here!! :D :D :D Welcome to all the 'new' faces! Very excited to have you guys, feel free to join in wherever and whenever you like!

[LaYinka]

Hi everyone,

I'm LaYinka from the UK, and I've been lurking for a while to figure the group out. I love African literature and I'm trying to reach out to read as much as I can, and this group seems like the perfect setting to achieve that. :)

[Muphyn]

Hi LaYinka,

Hello and welcome! :) Join in wherever/whenever you like or feel free to just follow the discussions (I often do as I don't always feel that I've got something to "say")! :)

[Marieke]

Welcome aboard LaYinka! If anything is confusing, just ask... :)

Our main activity has been the Tour...an alphabetic literary tour of the continent, "visiting" a new country every two months. We select each book(s) by discussing options and then voting. Just recently we started a monthly contemporary group read but we certainly don't expect everyone to participate in both activities unless they want to and have time.

And then we have a variety of discussion threads, some more structured than others, but not necessarily "group reads," although spontaneous discussion of books is always welcome!

I hope you like it here with us!

[Melanie]

Welcome LaYinka! I often read the threads without commenting...have learned alot. :-)

[Julie]

Hi, I just joined because Marieke's cool :-)

[Marieke]

Haha Julie! And, um, thanks...
;)

[Muphyn]

Huh! Should I feel slighted, Julie?! ;) Welcome to the group, good to have you! :D

[Andrea]

Hi Julie,
Welcome to the group!

[S.E.]

Glad to be a member of this group. I write books about Africa and I am interested in finding out about African books that I have not read. I am giving away free ebooks today to raise awareness on the plight of human trafficking. Looking forward to your posts.
Suzanna

[Muphyn]

Hello Suzanna,

Welcome to the group! It's always fabulous to have authors join us, we'd be keen to hear more about your books here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_....

I think we may have missed your giveaway, are you planning on doing another one? If so, feel free to promote in the above discussion thread.

[Andrea]

Hi Suzanna,
We have some authors who join us here and it is always interesting to hear about their work and also what they have to say about other things we are reading. Hope you will join some of our threads.

[S.E.]

Thank you Muphyn and Andrea. I look forward to reading your post, and yes I will join the group above. Thank you for the invitation. I will let you know when I have the next giveaway.

[Marieke]

Welcome (officially!) Suzanna! i don't know how i missed your intro here when you first posted. :/

[S.E.]

I am more of a tourist I must admit. I loved Cape Town also, Muphyn. I think to date it's the most beautiful place I have ever visited, simply because it has every type of topography in one place. Watching CNN Inside Africa the last couple of weeks has brought back the Cape memories. Would love to write about that town. Maybe in my next book.

[Muphyn]

Suzanna wrote: "I am more of a tourist I must admit. I loved Cape Town also, Muphyn. I think to date it's the most beautiful place I have ever visited, simply because it has every type of topography in one place. ..."

I'd love to go back to Cape Town, I feel like I've only seen a tiny part and aspect of it. It's such an amazing and beautiful place. Would love to read any of your (future) travel musing!:)

[Adam]

Alex wrote: "Awesome. And I'm totally stoked about King Leopold's Ghost. Already ordered it."

This is a wonderful account of a simply horrific colonial adventure.

I have visited Brussels many times, but saw some of its magnificent buildings - those built with money raised by Leopold's activities in the Congo - in a differebt light after reading Hochschild's book.

[Adam]

Hello, I am Adam and I live in London (UK).

My interest in Africa lies mainly in Southern Africa (South Africa and Namibia), and I have read quite a few books about South Africa and its history in particular.

Currently, I am working on my second novel set in 19th century South Africa (well, the old Orange Free State, actually).

I have also read about other parts of Africa, including: "The Emperor" by Ryszard Kapuscinski,"Ama" by Manu Herbstein, "The Porthole Murder" by Denis Herbstein, "King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hochschild, "The Music Programme" by Paul Micou, "Black Mischief" by Evelyn Waugh, and "An Ice Cream War" by William Boyd ... to name but a few.

I have joined this group in the hope of being introduced to a wider range of books about a truly fascinating continent, and to find out what others feel about those books.

[S.E.]

Adam wrote: "Alex wrote: "Awesome. And I'm totally stoked about King Leopold's Ghost. Already ordered it."

This is a wonderful account of a simply horrific colonial adventure.

I have visited Brussels many ..."

Hello Adam,

Welcome to the group. Speaking of King Leopold, I mention him a lot in my book 'The Helpers' which is set in Congo and goes back to it's colonial past. You can see the book here and the excerpt from Kirkus review.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006C24UYM

When can I find your books?
Suzanna

[Andrea]

Welcome to the group, Adam. You will get lots of ideas for further reading here!

[Marieke]

Welcome Adam! And thank you for the wonderful photos you shared in our photo section. Yours, too, Andrea! I need to go back through and click the like button. I don't think the like button existed the last time I visited the group's photos. I suppose I should add a couple from Egypt. :)

Adam, we have two main projects here for group reading: a "Tour" of the continent and contemporary literature. The Tour has a focus on place but the emphasis for Contemporary Literature is the author (the author must be African or have African parents if his or her family moved abroad). I hope you find things here that you like!

[Adam]

Marieke wrote: "Welcome Adam! And thank you for the wonderful photos you shared in our photo section. ..."

I get the idea, but never realised how richly the continent is endowed with literary talent. I look forward to making new discoveries.

[Fela]

Adam wrote: "Hello, I am Adam and I live in London (UK).

My interest in Africa lies mainly in Southern Africa (South Africa and Namibia), and I have read quite a few books about South Africa and its history in..."

Then Zakes Mda novels are a great option. His stories always have a historical element. Nadine Gordimer is also not far behind....

[Melanie]

Welcome Adam!

[Muphyn]

Adam wrote: "Hello, I am Adam and I live in London (UK).

My interest in Africa lies mainly in Southern Africa (South Africa and Namibia), and I have read quite a few books about South Africa and its history in..."

Welcome, welcome!! :) Good to have you here, hope you like the group and get some good recommendations out of all of us! :D

[Adam]

Thanks, Muphyn.

[Tahir]

Hello! I'm a writer living in Casablanca, after moving my family down from London seven years ago. The transition was full of so many unexpected things that I wrote a book on it. I look forward to getting to know the group.

[Marieke]

Hi Tahir and welcome! That's terrific you decided to write a book about your experience with your move. I have a feeling members here will want to know more. :)

[Tahir]

Thank you for the welcome! Just getting started here, and of course don't want to be salesy, so if anyone has any questions, they are more than welcome!

[Andrea]

Tahir, I loved your book The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca. Welcome to the group!