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

[Marieke]

Osho wrote: "This was also Jewish practice."

Thats really interesting. I never knew that.

[Marieke]

Kat wrote: "Greetings, all -- I am Kat Warren, new to this group and addicted to fiction and non set in Africa. Not sure where to post what but here's a recap of African mysteries of my ken which are superior..."

Welcome, Kat! I saw you found the recommendation thread, which is a slightly better place to list them but here is fine too, since sharing one's favorite books is a great way to introduce oneself. :)

I hope you like it here!

[Kat]

Thank you, Marieke, for the welcome; this looks a very fine place indeed. I'll get myself over to the recommendation thread with more books I love.

Meanwhile, I was born in Panama many years ago but moved to the U.S. when I was 17 and have lived in New Orleans (and Baton Rouge and Lafayette), NYC (Manhattan), San Francisco and live now in a small town mid-way between San Francisco and San Jose (where I work). I was born to read.

[[deleted user]]

Levirate marriage hasn't been practiced by Jews for quite some time. Though one's brother-in-law sometimes raises the idea in a more-or-less jocular fashion.

[Yejide]

Osho wrote: "Levirate marriage hasn't been practiced by Jews for quite some time. Though one's brother-in-law sometimes raises the idea in a more-or-less jocular fashion."

Thanks :)

[Melanie]

Hey there - Hope all our US East Coasters are staying safe and dry!

[Marieke]

Melanie wrote: "Hey there - Hope all our US East Coasters are staying safe and dry!"

thanks, Mel! so far so good although i can't seem to concentrate on much. also this is crazy: i don't ever remember having two years in a row with major hurricanes. nuts.

[Andrea]

Yes, same sentiments from me. Marieke, I've been getting regular posts from my daughter in the dorm at American University and I think of you too. So far, she says the pumpkin spice latte mix is holding out well and she's just watching the wind and rain outside.

[Marieke]

Andrea wrote: "Yes, same sentiments from me. Marieke, I've been getting regular posts from my daughter in the dorm at American University and I think of you too. So far, she says the pumpkin spice latte mix is ..."

the rain won't quit! and then i keep expecting to lose power, so i haven't really used my time well, except for our little Downton Abbey marathon. eek...the electricity literally is flickering. i might be out of here...

[S.E.]

I echo the same sentiments. Please stay safe if you are on the East Coast. My friends in NYC are mostly complaining about the wind. I will keep everyone in my prayers.

[Marieke]

Suzanna wrote: "I echo the same sentiments. Please stay safe if you are on the East Coast. My friends in NYC are mostly complaining about the wind. I will keep everyone in my prayers."

Lower Manhattan is apparently flooding now...it's still raining in DC, nonstop since yesterday evening. i didn't lose my electricity...still hoping i don't lose it at all. i'm also very concerned about points north and west of here. :(
this storm is insane.

[Mark]

Hi there, I've been a member of the group for a few months but only just realised there's an introduction thread (need to concentrate harder!).

I'm a writer and policy adviser, focusing on international development, and a blogger at Global Dashboard. I'm English, based in Spain, but passionate about West Africa, having spent a year or so in total travelling and working in this fascinating but largely misunderstood region.

I've just authored The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries, a travel book on Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso. The book tells the stories of ordinary people living in extraordinarily difficult conditions, discusses why the three countries lag so far behind the rest of the world, and recounts my often hair-raising journey. Doug Saunders, Canada Globe & Mail journalist and author of Arrival City, described it as 'a truly engaging and informative book that provides a rare tour of one of the world’s poorest and least understood regions.'

I've put up an excerpt on my author page, and there are more details, including a video, photos and a podcast reading, on the website: www.theringtoneandthedrum.net.

Would be very interested to hear what you all think of it, and in the meantime I'll continue trying to get through my backlog of Tour d'Afrique novels.

[Marieke]

Welcome, Mark! very glad to have you among us. i'll be doing a bunch of stuff with our group today, including setting up an author thread for you. :)

[Mark]

Thanks a lot Marieke. Look forward to it.

[Andrea]

Welcome, Mark. Many of us on here enjoy reading travel writing about Africa. I'd like to read your book, also. I have to confess, however, that you should not hold your breathe as I do not get to things very fast:)

[Marieke]

i'm also slow and i also love travel literature.

i did indeed, despite my slowness, set up a thread for Mark here so please join him there to ask questions about his work. :)

[Mark]

Andrea wrote: "Welcome, Mark. Many of us on here enjoy reading travel writing about Africa. I'd like to read your book, also. I have to confess, however, that you should not hold your breathe as I do not get to ..."

Hi Andrea - there's no rush. One thing I've learned during the process of writing and getting published is patience!

[Muphyn]

Hello and welcome to all the "new" members! Fantastic to have you guys (and apologies for the general welcome).

And to everybody else, I am back!!! I am so sorry to have been absent for so long, I've had a really crazy year at work and have had to leave pretty much everything to my wonderful co-mod Marieke (who's done an awesome job setting up stuff for 2013!!!!!! :D ).

Anyway, I'm just excited to be back here, chat to you guys and "travel" across Africa on our tour and other adventures again!! YAY! :D

[S.E.]

Welcome back, Muphyn. We missed you. Yes, Marieke has done a great job.

[Marieke]

Suzanna wrote: "Welcome back, Muphyn. We missed you. Yes, Marieke has done a great job."

thanks, Suzanna! honestly i could not have done it without Muphyn--even though we live on opposite ends of the earth and have never met each other in person, we totally trust one another to make decisions and give each other unconditional support so i knew i could go ahead and get things started while she was buried under piles and piles and piles of work. BUT I'M SO GLAD SHE IS BACK WITH US!! because: not only is she ten times more organized than me, she is FUN. XD

[S.E.]

You are both very cool. I like that fact that you promote African Books. Thank you.

[Muphyn]

Marieke wrote: "Suzanna wrote: "Welcome back, Muphyn. We missed you. Yes, Marieke has done a great job."

thanks, Suzanna! honestly i could not have done it without Muphyn--even though we live on opposite ends of ..."

*LAUGH* You are so ridiculous, Marieke!! :D (You're very sweet, thank you :) Haha, me being organised... some people think I've lost that... :)

How on earth have I been able to survive without you guys??!! I seriously have missed you all (thanks Suzanna! :D). So glad to be back. :D

[Merinde]

Hi! Well, I'm new, I know hardly anything about African literature and I'd like to learn. I took a good look at my bookshelf and realised the closest I came to African literature was my old "Tippi: my book of Africa" book from when I was six, so...

[Andrea]

Welcome, Merinde! This is a great place to learn.

[Marieke]

Andrea wrote: "Welcome, Merinde! This is a great place to learn."

yes! we have been a little slow the past couple of months, but things are kicking into gear for 2013. we have two projects happening at this group. One focuses on contemporary African writers and in January we will be reading the short story collection of Uwem Akpan Say You're One of Them.

And then we have a "tour" and we will be visiting six countries in 2013. We'll be reading Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar for Madagascar in January and discussing it in February. I hope you find things that are interesting to you! :)

[S.E.]

When we get to Sierra Leone, I would recommend
"The Street Boy" by Ibrahim Oumarr Jalloh. It's not yet on Goodreads but it is on Amazon. I have sent a message to the author to add it on Goodreads. I just finished it. My review is here: http://www.amazon.com/review/edit-rev....

[Chinook]

Hello all. I'm Amanda, or Chinook. I hang out with Marieke elsewhere and intend to be hanging around here in 2013 - I'm taking a history course on Africa.

[Paul]

Jambo yote (hello all) I have been "lurking" for some time but hope to be more active in the new year. I love Christiane Bird's work but especially "The Sultan's Shadow" about the true story of a Zanzibari princess. I do recommend it..

[Marieke]

Suzanna--Sierra Leone is a long way off...i feel like we should have a place to log recommendations for future Tour reads. :)

Hi Chinook! Very happy to have you more active around here.

Welcome Paul! i hope you will jump in frequently.

[Buffy]

Hello all. My name is Buffy and I live in London. I am especially interested in African mythology and have been researching for my next novel which I would like to write based on that topic. I'm also interested in reading contemporary African novels as I've never actually read any. I'm fascinated by the multitude of countries, cultures and languages in Africa and am keen to learn more about them.

[Marieke]

Buffy wrote: "Hello all. My name is Buffy and I live in London. I am especially interested in African mythology and have been researching for my next novel which I would like to write based on that topic. I'm al..."

Welcome, Buffy! i think you've come to the right place. :)

[Buffy]

Thank you! :D

[Andrea]

Welcome to Chinook, Paul and Buffy! Sounds like you all have some solid New Years' goals.

[Muphyn]

Hello and a big fat welcome to all the new people around!! Fabulous to have you in the group. :D

Marieke, good point about capturing future recommendations, I'll organise something!

[Max]

Hi everyone from Max Norton! I've recently returned to the US after 15 years working across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. I'm currently awaiting the birth of our twins and working on some e-books that draw on my international experiences. I still read travel-related stuff when I have time, which seems to be rapidly running out! I look forward to interacting with you all through this great forum.

[Max]

Hi Buffy! I've lived in Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa, and travelled to several other countries in Africa. I'm very happy to assist in any way I can.

[Andrea]

Welcome, Max.

[Marieke]

Hi Max! I'm glad you found us!

[Max]

Hi Andrea and Marieke and thanks for the kind words of welcome. I'm glad to be here and look forward to interacting with you and the rest of the group. Enjoy the weekend.

[Vered]

Hi all - I'm South African, grew up in Canada, and have lived for the past 12.5 years in Nairobi, Kenya with my family. I've just started getting into books written by African authors. Partly because I'm starting an online radio show interviewing African authors (as well as musicians and film makers) in order to help get them more into the international limelight. So I'm looking forward to picking up on ideas for books to read and authors to interview.

[Marieke]

Vered wrote: "Hi all - I'm South African, grew up in Canada, and have lived for the past 12.5 years in Nairobi, Kenya with my family. I've just started getting into books written by African authors. Partly becau..."

What a great project to have, Vered! You should definitely check our contemporary literature project from last year and this year (this year we are focusing on genre writing). You should also stop in at the author threads...we have several active authors here who will likely be interested in chatting with you.

[Vered]

Thanks, Marieke - I will definitely do that!

[Sally906]

G'day all

My name is Sally and I am an Australian. I lived in Nigeria from the age of 6 months until my parents were recalled to England and then moved to The Gambia for a few years. We moved to Australia in the 1970s.

I love books set in Nigeria, or written my Nigerian authors - but read books set all over Africa.

I am hoping this group will help me to add to my African reading repertoire

[Bajen]

Sally906 wrote: "G'day all

My name is Sally and I am an Australian. I lived in Nigeria from the age of 6 months until my parents were recalled to England and then moved to The Gambia for a few years. We moved to ..."

Hi Sally, I am Bajen and I am from The Gambia and I am currently living there as well:)

[Sally906]

Bajen wrote: "Hi Sally, I am Bajen and I am from The Gambia and I am currently living there as well:) ..."

So cool - hi Bajen - nice to meet you :)

Have many wonderful memories of The Gambia - was only there for 2 years, and I was mostly at boarding school in England - but my term breaks were there. I was 12 when we left there for good.

I read a book a while back set in The Gambia
Our Grandmothers' Drums by Mark Hudson and there was a more modern one more recently only the title escapes me. Always up for more suggestions :)

[Bajen]

Sally906 wrote: "Bajen wrote: "Hi Sally, I am Bajen and I am from The Gambia and I am currently living there as well:) ..."

So cool - hi Bajen - nice to meet you :)

Have many wonderful memories of The Gambia - wa..."

I have never heard of it but I will definitely check it out.

[Marieke]

Welcome Sally and Bajen! Sally, you'll definitely find books from all over Africa here. I also have a penchant for Nigerian writing, so you'll find a lot of that, too. We currently have two regular projects--one is a Tour taking us all over the continent in alphabetical order (we are in the Ms now) and the other focuses on contemporary literature. this year we are exploring contemporary literature through genre writing. right now we are doing our first memoir/biography selection and next month we have science fiction. i hope you find things here you like!

i've got some ideas for future projects, but if anyone has an idea of something they'd like to see here, please tell me or Muphyn.

[Marieke]

Bajen, i used to have an aquaintance from Gambia. i met her when my dad was living in Kenya so we had many conversations about the wonderful weather on both coasts while we were enduring miserable weather in DC. :)

[Mary]

Hey there,
I Mary. African Lit. blogger. www.maryokekereviews.blogspot.com

Please feel free to visit, join, leave comments.

Thanks.

[Sally906]

Mary wrote: "Hey there,
I Mary. African Lit. blogger. www.maryokekereviews.blogspot.com

Please feel free to visit, join, leave comments.

Thanks."

Mary - I love your blog - what a great source of African books. I have added a few must reads to my wish list :)