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Member: greytone

CollectionsYour library (831), African American subject (428), African American author (400), Debut Novel (35), Memoir (59), Male Author (168), Favorites (22), Cooking (118), Currently reading (2), Early Reviewer (1), All collections (833)

Reviews18 reviews

Tagshardcover (616), african american subject (428), african american author (400), fiction (353), male author (168), non-fiction (144), cooking (118), recipes (93), entertaining (83), memoir (59) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsAfrican/African American Literature, Books By Us, Cookbookers, Pro and Con

Favorite authorsChimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Raymond Andrews, James Baldwin, Pearl Cleage, J. California Cooper, William Faulkner, Ernest J. Gaines, Bernice L. McFadden, Toni Morrison, Suzan-Lori Parks, Delores Phillips, Mary Burnett Smith, August Wilson (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresBarnes & Noble Booksellers - Jack London Sq, Barnes & Noble Booksellers - Redwood City, Bell's Books, Borders - Palo Alto, Feldman's Books, Kepler's Books, Know Knew Books, Marcus Books

Favorite librariesAlameda County Library - Fremont Main Library Branch, Palo Alto City Library - Downtown Branch

About meI am a retired telecommunications manager; born in Nebraska, living (once again) in Northern California after decades of corporate relocations all over the United States. I love to read and constantly seek all the sensations involved when handling the hardcover representation of an author's creative energy. I hope to write one of my own one day, and plug away sporadically at composing a publish-worthy narrative. I am an accomplished seamstress/tailor, and the handwork I can expertly accomplish today (embroidery, quilting, cross stitch) is because of the many hours spent without electricity waiting out the tornadoes and snowstorms of my Nebraska childhood. Most often, I was completely content as long as I had my flashlight and a book.

I have one son, and he has officially made me a grandmother. My grandson is now 3 years old, and I hereby testify that grandparenthood is much even sweeter than parenthood. I've concluded that full enjoyment of childhood begins only when (at least) 50 years separate your ages. When my son married, I also became grandmother to an older grandson (8 yrs old) with whom I have developed a really strong bond. I'm grateful to now live less than two driveable hours away from them. I love to cook, enjoy entertaining, and take each event as an opportunity to try out new recipes. I love to 'step' (Chicago style), and take lessons wherever I go to socialize. When I am not sewing, I'm definitely reading. Thanks for stopping by.....

About my libraryI'm very pleased you made time to visit my library! Sharing libraries is one of life's most intimate activities. It's like agreeing to allow someone into your mind, revealing what things exite you, your interests, and a great deal about your personality. You are now getting a front row seat to mine.

What you see on my shelves are the books I have made a commitment to purchase, fully realizing early in life that I could not possibly buy every book I read or wanted to read. So, I made a decision to line my walls with books by and about the African American experience. I wanted every dollar I pinched away from the small budget that supported my young son and I to be an investment that he would benefit from when I am no longer around.

You will see that I love a angst-driven love story (i.e., Zachary's Wings by Rosemary Robotham, Another Good Lovin' Blues by Arthur Flowers, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston), but lean away from a lot of the 'lust in the dust' urban romance novels that are currently popular. It appears I buy in streaks, and will purchase successive books in a row (beginning with the first novel) from authors whose work I particularly like. It seems I've bought quite a few biographies, and I deliberately seek the first books of African American men. I've never viewed my collection before in this way, and am excited about doing further viewing using my tags, the tag mirror, and My Connections to lead me toward new authors and subjects.

LT has enabled me to take a long, hard look at my collection and really see what I have and where my tastes are going and where the gaping holes are in my collection. My shelves at home were organized alphabetically, but also separated by category: biographies, reference, fiction, cooking. The collection should be fairly accurate because I entered the data from a record made while packing them away a couple of years ago, prior to returning to California to care for my mother, who had been in ill health. Right now, seeing these books again is very therapeutic, and I am relishing hanging around other bibliophiles.

The posted photograph is one taken of my mother smiling brightly at 20 years old. Seeing this picture each time I log onto LibraryThing reminds me to continue to smile...and not let the speedbumps in life change my spirit or lessen my joy.

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameCynthia

LocationSan Francisco Bay Area, CA

Emailgreytoneaol.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/greytone (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/greytone (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (40), Awards (215), Characters (1591), Places (276)

Member sinceAug 16, 2007

Currently readingZora Hurston and the Strange Case of Ruby McCollum by C. Arthur Ellis, Jr., PhD
Taking After Mudear by Tina McElroy Ansa