Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Something we haven't done yet is introduce ourselves to each other. We had an amazing discussion last month for our June pick, but before we start our July book selection I want to hear more about you all.

I'll start, my name is Adira and I'm from Detroit, Michigan (USA). I'm interested in African-American Literature and books that focus around transnationalism. My favorite books include, The Blacker The Berry by Wallace Thurman, any book that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has ever written (minus Half Yellow Sun since I'm holding out on reading it until she says she's publishing a new book), and more recently The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

I also have just started BookTubing on my channel, The Young, The Broke, & The Bookish. This channel is aptly named since those are three things that basically describe me right now thanks to my status as a graduate student who has very little money and spends most of her time reading, writing term papers, studying, or with my family. If you'd like to check out my page, you can find it here:



I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think of each of our reading selections. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me in my inbox and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Hi everyone! My name's Louise, I'm from North-East England, UK. I've always been a reader, but I discovered Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in 2012 and Booktube in 2013, and since then i've started to read even more. I don't make videos or have a blog or anything, but I update regularly here and I love to watch Booktube and participate in readathons :)

I love to read classics- my favourites are Jane Eyre and Gone With the Wind. I have a goal to at some point have read the entire full length works of the Bronte sisters (I've only read two so far, I have a ways to go!) and to tackle Ulysses by James Joyce.

I also love the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games and some other YA stuff, but I tend to gravitate to more adult literature, like Gillian Flynn (love her)and Khaled Hosseini. I joined this group to make sure I was reading diversely- I love learning about other cultures and lifestyles through literature and I'm so excited for Giovanni's Room.

Hi everyone! My name is Elli, I'm from Montreal in Canada and I run the youtube channel The Bibliophile :

I mostly read modern classics, contemporary literary fiction and classics! I've been trying to read more diversely over the past couple of months! I currently have a project called #readmorrison2014 ( reading all of Toni Morrison's books this year, and reviewing them all on my channel!

I'm going to be co-moderating the group this month and I'm really excited because I read Giovanni's Room a couple of months ago and loved it!

Hi
I'm Debbie, currently in Yorkshire, UK.

Like Eli I mostly read literary fiction and classics (modern and old), but I also read a lot of graphic novels, short stories and non-fiction. I joined the group as I've been trying to read more diversely. I had hoped I was doing it by upping the amount of writing in translation I was reading, but the amount I read by writers of colour is still pretty shameful. (Though I do recommend more reading in translation, it's been great!).

I don't booktube (though watch a lot of it), but I have a book blog over here:

I'm looking forward to starting Giovanni's Room, particularly as I've recently seen a booktuber I like giving it a good review (ClimbTheStacks), and I loved Oscar Wao. Nice to meet you all!

Hi everybody! I'm Sylvia from Arkansas, USA. I love reading classics (mostly modern classics), historical fiction, both science fiction and non fiction, memoirs, a bit of fantasy, and graphic novels. Oh, and I love me a good mystery.

I run a book review blog at
as well as a Booktube channel that you can find at

Hi Sylvia, Debbie, Elli, & Louise! I'm so glad you all are a part of this group!

Louise I'm with you on reading all the works of the Brontë sisters. One of my best friends who is named Molly and who is Wednesday on my second channel, Flat21Chat is an amazing Austen and Brontë buff. She's read the majority of the sisters works and has read all of Austen's novels. She's basically like my go-to person for these four authors.
If you ever want to check the second channel out, the URL is:



Elli, I'm so excited to watch you in action. I can't wait for your thoughts on Giovanni's Room. I've put your YT review in my que to watch as soon as I'm done.

Debbie, I'm totally checking out your blog and would love to get any recommendations you have on books to read in translation. I don't think I've read any, but I did just get a copy of Dona Flor's Two Husbands and it said it was in translation I believe from Pourtuguese.

Sylvia, I'm a big mystery fan as well. Have you ever read any Steve Berry books? Also, I really like your tumblr layout it's so gorgeous.

Adira wrote: "Hi Sylvia, Debbie, Elli, & Louise! I'm so glad you all are a part of this group!

Louise I'm with you on reading all the works of the Brontë sisters. One of my best friends who is named Molly and w..."

I am rekindling my love for mystery. It was my top genre when I was younger! No, I haven't read any Steve Berry books. Gonna have to look him up now!
And thank you!

Sylvia wrote: "Adira wrote: "Hi Sylvia, Debbie, Elli, & Louise! I'm so glad you all are a part of this group!

Louise I'm with you on reading all the works of the Brontë sisters. One of my best friends who is nam..."

His main character, Cotron Malone, is like a more action packed version of Dan Brown's character, Robert Lanford. Plus, his adventure plots and cast of characters are much more entertaining to me even though I love both authors

Adira wrote: "Hi Sylvia, Debbie, Elli, & Louise! I'm so glad you all are a part of this group!

Louise I'm with you on reading all the works of the Brontë sisters. One of my best friends who is named Molly and w..."

Hi Adira! I'm always happy to give recommendations! Most genres of book have been translated so it just depends what you're looking for really. You might like Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones. It's about a tradition in rural Albania whereby a woman becomes a man in the eyes of the community in order to gain the rights of a man, but has to remain celibate & live as man. The main character in the book emigrates to America after having lived as man for a number of years & tries to figure out how to be a woman again, so it's about gender/identity/culture. It's really good.
Also, on twitter you can follow #translationthurs on a Thursday. It's been a bit quiet recently but it's a good way of seeing what books in translation people are reading.
If you want a bunch of translated book recommendations, just let me know what you're interested in & I'm happy to send you a little list!x

Thanks Debbie! Sworn Virgin sounds like a really Gould book.

Hey Guys!

I'm Lynecia - I'm from NYC, and probably like most of you here I'm a lifelong bookworm. I read extremely widely across all genres, but I feel like I "cut my teeth" so to speak on contemporary African American fiction like Eric Jerome Dickey, Omar Tyree, Mary Monroe, to name a few. lately I've been venturing out into the African diaspora but I read and adore books from authors of all colors, though I consider James Baldwin to be my literary uncle. (Uncle Jimmy!)
I LOVE classics, literary fiction, sci-fi and fantasy, and finding "booktube" in April, I've been reading a lot more YA and of course I've found you lovely people :)

Adira wrote: "Hi Sylvia, Debbie, Elli, & Louise! I'm so glad you all are a part of this group!

Louise I'm with you on reading all the works of the Brontë sisters. One of my best friends who is named Molly and w..."

Ooh, I will definitely check that out! I can see that this thread will help add to my ever-expanding subscription list!

Lynecia wrote: "Hey Guys!

I'm Lynecia - I'm from NYC, and probably like most of you here I'm a lifelong bookworm. I read extremely widely across all genres, but I feel like I "cut my teeth" so to speak on contemp..."

Hi Lynecia! I'm just getting acquainted with Uncle Jimmy! Giovanni's Room is going to be my 3rd time reading him. Have you ever read Pearl Cleage's books or Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant's collaborative novels? They are some of the best works of contemporary African-American Literature I've ever read. These three authors don't just deal with usual tropes in AA contemporary Lit, but look at things like the state of male/female relationships in black community based on impact of slavery, family curses, etc. however, they do these things in a non-preachy way, which makes their novels extremely funny and rich in plot. I highly recommend all the authors books.


Thanks Louise! I'd totally appreciate it. We talk about a variety of topics, but if you request any video, I'm sure she'd love to do a whole video dedicated just to Brontës and Austen novels.

Adira wrote: "Lynecia wrote: "Hey Guys!

I'm Lynecia - I'm from NYC, and probably like most of you here I'm a lifelong bookworm. I read extremely widely across all genres, but I feel like I "cut my teeth" so to ..."

I've read several of Pearl Cleage's novels but not Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant's - I've heard of them but never read them! I love Pearl Cleage and I have "Babylon Sisters" sitting in my TBR that I need to get to.

Lynecia wrote: "Adira wrote: "Lynecia wrote: "Hey Guys!

I'm Lynecia - I'm from NYC, and probably like most of you here I'm a lifelong bookworm. I read extremely widely across all genres, but I feel like I "cut my..."

Ah! That was the one I was going to recommend, but realized it was in the middle of the Blue series. Lol I actually started with that one before I realized this fact. DeBerry & Grant are amazing!

Hello! I'm Sarah and I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I try to read a bit of everything and don't really have a particular genre I'm most indebted to (though I do have a thing for books about boarding schools, possibly ignited by Harry Potter when I was young).

I have a booktube channel but it isn't very good, haha.
(result of 3am sense of humour)

Hi Sarah! I'm a huge fan of boarding schools as well. I love that feel of living and learning in school, but that's probably because I'm a huge nerd. I'm already subscribed to you on YT. I say keep working on your channel, you'd be surprised at how much you could impact other people when you're in front of your camera just shooting the breeze and talking about books. I bet your an inspiration to someone and don't even know it.

Hello! I guess I should introduce myself here as well!
I'm Lydia and I'm from south England, but currently studying in Wales.
I have no idea what genre of book I read, although I think I like classical literature and modern literary fiction??? Maybe?? Haha I am so terrible at trying to figure out what type of books I like, but I'm a sucker for beautiful poetic prose. And recently I have been trying to read more diversely than I used to.

I do have a YouTube channel but don't feel pressured to subscribe or anything!
I won't be reading Giovanni's Room this month because I read it in February this year. But safe to say I fell completely in love with it to that point where I can't even talk about it rationally because I'm just too emotionally-involved with it! Seriously my review was just 9 minutes of me gushing and being speechless and completely un-objective!

If I don't post much it's because I get really anxious about it and overthink things too much (I know it's irrational!), but I'm always reading the discussions! (:

Hello Everyone! I'm Savannah from Austin Texas and I'm currently in school for graphic design. I tend to read more young adult, and adult fiction, but I really want expand my horizon book wise which I think this group will really help me do.

I booktube like a lot of people here but no pressure as well.()

I will hopefully be picking of Giovanni's Room today and if not I will probably be checking it out from my local library. I'm really looking forward to discussing books with other because I haven't really gotten a chance to really delve into a book with others because of school and work! :)

Hi, I'm Stephanie! I'm 27 and I live in Montreal. I read mostly literary fiction and non-fiction. I am a bookseller at an independent bookstore. I read mostly in English, but also in French and a little bit in Spanish.

Welcome Savannah!
I hope you like Giovvani's Room as much as I did!

Savannah wrote: "Hello Everyone! I'm Savannah from Austin Texas and I'm currently in school for graphic design. I tend to read more young adult, and adult fiction, but I really want expand my horizon book wise whic..."

Hi Sarah!
I also like books set in boarding schools! I don't know why, maybe because of Harry Potter! When I was younger I dreamed of going to one!

Sarah wrote: "Hello! I'm Sarah and I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I try to read a bit of everything and don't really have a particular genre I'm most indebted to (though I do have a thing for books about boardin..."

Welcome Stephanie!

³§³Ùé±è³ó²¹²Ô¾±±ð wrote: "Hi, I'm Stephanie! I'm 27 and I live in Montreal. I read mostly literary fiction and non-fiction. I am a bookseller at an independent bookstore. I read mostly in English, but also in French and a l..."

Hi Elli and Adira! (i don't know how to respond to particular comments on my iPad)
I was also obsessed with the idea of boarding school growing up! I lived at a residential college last year and kind of got that experience of living in a tight knit learning community, minus the Harry Potter magic stuff, so I got to fulfil part of that dream, haha.

Thank you so much Adira! I'm trying to persevere with it and not give up like last time I tried booktubing!

³§³Ùé±è³ó²¹²Ô¾±±ð wrote: "Hi, I'm Stephanie! I'm 27 and I live in Montreal. I read mostly literary fiction and non-fiction. I am a bookseller at an independent bookstore. I read mostly in English, but also in French and a l..."

What's the name of your store? My friend and I have been talking about making Montreal a end of summer trip and I'd love to check out the city's indie booksellers!

It's called Bibliophile bookstore!

Hello! My name is Antonia, I'm 24 years old and I'm from Romania. I've recently completed an MA in British Cultural Studies and I enjoy reading classics and literary fiction mostly, but I like trying other types of books as well. Elli recommended this group, and even though I'm sad I missed Giovanni's Room, I'm excited to read other books in the future. :-)

You can find me on youtube at 28 Bookmarks (I hope the link works)

Hi Antonia! You totally haven't missed Giovanni's Room. We just started. BTW we have studied for similar exams. I got my Masters in a Cultural & Literary Studies as well, but from an American university.

Sarah wrote: "Hi Elli and Adira! (i don't know how to respond to particular comments on my iPad)
I was also obsessed with the idea of boarding school growing up! I lived at a residential college last year and k..."

Ah! I'm so jealous Sarah lol the closets I got to boarding or residential school was college.

³§³Ùé±è³ó²¹²Ô¾±±ð wrote: "Hi, I'm Stephanie! I'm 27 and I live in Montreal. I read mostly literary fiction and non-fiction. I am a bookseller at an independent bookstore. I read mostly in English, but also in French and a l..."

Hi Stephanie! I love that you can read in multilevel languages. I wish I was able to do that. I'm currently trying to learn Spanish, but I don't think I'm going about it the tight way since I don't like to speak to actual Spanish speakers for fear of messing up and looking stupid. However, I've just found the Spanish speaking BookTube community and have taken to watching videos from there to see how much I understand.

Savannah wrote: "Hello Everyone! I'm Savannah from Austin Texas and I'm currently in school for graphic design. I tend to read more young adult, and adult fiction, but I really want expand my horizon book wise whic..."

Hi Savannah! I'm glad you're a part of this club! I hope you find awesome book recommendations from our club picks. Don't be shy about proposing books from your favorite genres by authors of color for us all to read. I'm sure people would love to find new recommendations across the board.

Lydia wrote: "Hello! I guess I should introduce myself here as well!
I'm Lydia and I'm from south England, but currently studying in Wales.
I have no idea what genre of book I read, although I think I like class..."

Hi Lydia! This is a totally low pressure type of situation. We all just want to hear each other's thoughts on the books we read. I'd totally love to hear what you have to say on what we read even if you have to send it via message.

Adira wrote: "Hi Antonia! You totally haven't missed Giovanni's Room. We just started. BTW we have studied for similar exams. I got my Masters in a Cultural & Literary Studies as well, but from an American unive..."

Congrats! :D

I think I'll join you for the group read. I'm currently buddy reading A Game of Thrones and that book just won't end lol. So I can easily fit in Giovanni's Room. :D

Hi -

I am Beverly. And I cannot remember the time when I was not an avid reader. I love a good story, discussing books, and matching up people with a book they would enjoy. So I am always recommending books. :)

As a friend of mine says - Every book is not for everybody but every book is for some.

And since there are too many books and not enough time - one of my quirky book habits is I do not re-read books.

I enjoy a variety of genres - but favorites are literary fiction, cultural fiction, historical fiction and speculative fiction.

Beverly wrote: "Hi -

I am Beverly. And I cannot remember the time when I was not an avid reader. I love a good story, discussing books, and matching up people with a book they would enjoy. So I am always recomme..."

Welcome Beverly! Lol I like that you stick to your guns about not rereading books. Do you make exceptions for your favorites?

I hope you enjoy our group. Don't forget to nominate anything you want to read or share your thoughts on.

Hello!! I'm Sara. I was born in Sudan although I am South Sudanese. However, I now live in the Unites States of America. I like music, running, and playing volleyball. I've always loved reading but a friend just told me about goodreads earlier this year. My favorite book at the moment is The Color Purple. I enjoy African American literature, books that empower women, young adult, mystery and suspense, and poetry. I'm also looking to get into African literature.

Sara wrote: "Hello!! I'm Sara. I was born in Sudan although I am South Sudanese. However, I now live in the Unites States of America. I like music, running, and playing volleyball. I've always loved reading but..."

Hi Sara! I'm so happy you've found Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. LOL I found it last year and have been hooked ever since. I
remember reading The Color Purple back in highschool. It was the first paper where I had to write a full thesis on it without any teachers help topic wise. Have you ever seen the Broadway play?

I'd totally recommend reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) and Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana) if you want to get into more African Literature and want to do it gradually through books written from a modern perspective. Also, Lynecia, who is another club member, just posted two really great links over on the Author Recommendation tab that has some really amazing finds. Each of the books on the two links she gave are written by African and African-American women. It's another really great place to start for finding books written by African authors.

Hey,
I'm Salina, and I'm currently living in Taipei, Taiwan (plus, I also just joined). All the way in Asia, and apparently far away from everyone else here :)

I love discussing about books and such, though I can't ever quite find an audience in real life to listen to me xD so goodreads it is!

Some of my favorite genres include contemporary, historical fiction, high fantasy, literary fiction as well as classics.I could go on but lets not :D

Looking forward to being part of this group :) :)

No, I've never seen the Broadway production, but it's definitely on my bucket list now. Thanks for the recommendations, Adira. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been on my list for a while now but it's been hard for me to find one of her novels at my local library. I'll for sure check out the links Lynecia has posted! :)

Salina wrote: "Hey,
I'm Salina, and I'm currently living in Taipei, Taiwan (plus, I also just joined). All the way in Asia, and apparently far away from everyone else here :)

I love discussing about books and s..."

Hi Salina! I think it's totally cool that you live in such an interesting place like Taipei! LOL I think it's funny that so many people say that their real life friends don't understand when they talk about books or not interested. SMH I totally know the feeling. That's why I love Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and BookTube. Welcome to the group. Here, you can talk as much as you like about reading and no one will be put off.

Sara wrote: "Hello!! I'm Sara. I was born in Sudan although I am South Sudanese. However, I now live in the Unites States of America. I like music, running, and playing volleyball. I've always loved reading but..."

If you don't mind used books, Thriftbooks is a great site to grab a copy of Adichie's books. They also have free shipping so, you could theoretically get a copy of one of her novels for about $3/5.

Hi!
I'm Alexandra (I much prefer Alex... just saying). I'm 21 and French. It took me a while to join that group because 1. I thought, for some reason, that it was only for booktubers, 2. I'm always a little bit afraid to step out of my comfort zone. I read mostly Classics (French and British Classics in general though I'm trying to open up to American Classics lately), Detective Stories, and Historical Fiction... And I realised that most of the books I've read so far were written by white authors, mainly from Britain or the United States. I'm willing to discover new authors, and to read a bit more diversely... While sharing with other people! :)

Adira wrote: "Lydia wrote: "Hello! I guess I should introduce myself here as well!
I'm Lydia and I'm from south England, but currently studying in Wales.
I have no idea what genre of book I read, although I thin..."
Thank you! I've managed to post in regards to Giovanni's Room this month, so I'm improving! It was easier than I thought it would be, but probably helped by my general affection for that book. And everyone's been realy nice!

And hi to everybody else as well! (:

Hi Alex! I'm glad you joined. Sorry if we gave off that impression that we only like BookTubers (^_^)that's totally not true. We love everybody here.

I'm just getting into Classics and boy are their a lot. If you want some good recommendations for authors who write diversely be sure to check out the Author Recommendation tab. There are a bunch of great books and people to checkout there. I hope you enjoy the discussion!

Yay Lydia! \(^0^)/ I feel like a proud mama bear! Keep the comments coming!

Sarah wrote: "Hi Elli and Adira! (i don't know how to respond to particular comments on my iPad)
I was also obsessed with the idea of boarding school growing up! I lived at a residential college last year and k..."

Awesome!

Alexandra wrote: "Hi!
I'm Alexandra (I much prefer Alex... just saying). I'm 21 and French. It took me a while to join that group because 1. I thought, for some reason, that it was only for booktubers, 2. I'm always..."

Hi Alex!
What are some of your favourite classics? Welcome to the group! :)

Adira wrote: "Hi Alex! I'm glad you joined. Sorry if we gave off that impression that we only like BookTubers (^_^)that's totally not true. We love everybody here.

I'm just getting into Classics and boy are the..."

Thank you so much :). There are a lot of classics indeed! And when you think about all the new books coming out every day... Ugh. I will make sure to check out the Author Recommendation tab!

Thank you Elli ;). It's so hard to choose... I always feel like I haven't read enough Classics to rank them :p. My favourite French classics are Les Faux-Monnayeurs by André Gide, Les animaux dénaturés by Vercors, and I may add Madame Bovary by Flaubert or Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal, but these need a re-read! As for British classics, Jane Eyre, A Room with a View, Northanger Abbey and North and South ;).

Nice choices! I love North and South!

Alexandra wrote: "Adira wrote: "Hi Alex! I'm glad you joined. Sorry if we gave off that impression that we only like BookTubers (^_^)that's totally not true. We love everybody here.

I'm just getting into Classics a..."

Adira wrote: "Yay Lydia! \(^0^)/ I feel like a proud mama bear! Keep the comments coming!"

Aw thank you!!! :3