Katrina1968

Does a 4 tier book shelf count as a stack?

Not a problem, So, do you know of any Sci-Fi authors? I saw a couple but I'd like more variety.

Thanks Frankie, I do know for a fact that we have The Invisible Man, a book club is reading it. I havent had a chance to read the blurb on it though. Now that I think about it some of these books ARE in the store but they are so deeply hidden that they might need to be dusted off. I think I'll start pulling them and placing them on shelves of promenance. I really hope that in a few years, we wont need that shelf and then everything can be strictly, fiction, sci-fi, classic, nonfiction, etc..

What you say does make sense Chrissy, but speaking as one whose gone through it with our own teens/young adults, I just cant let any and everything come through our door even in the form of a book. For the type of stuff I have seen in the bookstore, if it were on cable, it would be on an adult channel. I'm not talking about teen angst and exploration, but hard core porn. A person can go to jail for giving a minor pornographic material be it literature or video. I would have to ask myself, if this were a VIDEO, would I allow my minor children to view it? No for a few reasons, its morally wrong, its damaging to the child and its illegal. Once these things are in our minds, they stay there. I know, I've watched and read the material as a young adult and the visuals would pop up and it was disturbing. They may find it somewhere else but that doesnt mean I have to hand it to them gift wrapped. I asked my liberal 19 year old daughter what she thought on the subject (she's married and is having her second child) her opinions, if she would monitor her sons reading and such and she was empathetic in her answer, YES! Now this same daughter wanted tattoos and piercing at 16 but it wasnt allowed. She got them but it was AFTER she left the confines of her family home, to live on her own. She knew how we felt but had respect enough to wait til she was in her own establishment. Its her tat and piercing and its her body but until said body had a home of its own, she had been raised to respect the rules of the house.

Funny you should mention Alex Haley! First and unfortunately, his book is out of print (go figure) and secondly, I have found, during some geneology searching of my family, it appears that Alex Haley's ancestor, Kunta Kente, was on the same plantation as my ancestors, I'm still searching to find if we may be distantly related.

I guess thats where we differ. My children's reading was always monitored. Somethings they just dont need to be exposed to at an early age. And there is also the fact that if the girl is getting her money from her parents and purchasing books they dont want in their home, they have every right to say so. When you are living on your own, do as you please because you are responsible for your actions. Every child is not ready for certain material. Children do mature at a different rate. My children know what we will and wont allow in our homes they either abide or find a new home. Now mind you, our children are now young adults and we have a 14 year old. We dont keep them sheltered but if we have a certain standard for our household then thats what it is. We are not tyrants but we have a line drawn, we are the parents, we are responsible for your well being and so we will lay down the ground rules that just wont be broken. In many things we are lenient but there it is. I would not have told my children they couldnt read Harry Potter or Twilight wither I liked them or not, but for them to be under age and reading porn, its another story.

Its taken two years of nagging but I am seeing headway. Actually, I was mainstreaming some books anyway because they didnt belong where the were housed. We have an Inspirational section and I was more than a mite pissed when I realised that the manager had been putting all the Inspirational books by Black writers on the same shelves as Zane and Wahilda Clark. Blasphame! I mean, if you have an Inspirational section than ALL books that are Inspiration (no matter WHAT color the author is) should be housed together. I patiently explained to her that Christian women would not want to go digging for their favorite Christian author in the urban fiction section. I asked, "if one of the Bibles was written by a Black person, would you stick it in the urban fiction"? She finally got the point.

Hehehe! Yeah, I'd LOVE to avoid her at ALL costs! I dont know, maybe I'm just a prude, but I just dont like those books, they are so unrealistic and tends to make women more prone to compare their mates to some imaginary stud that has no soul, just a penise. Its sad. I hate to think about how many women are having unsatisfying relationships because they think its suppose to be that way. I used to read Harlequin Romance novels and I found myself looking at my hubby and think "why arent YOU like that"? Yeah, I figure if we HAVE to have a separate area for Black authors, I want them to have CHOICES. Wednseday, a mother came into the store irate because she had found a book that her daughter had special ordered from us. I have seen this young girl in MANY times and I have actually questioned her to make sure she knew what type of books she was buying. She was ordering alot of gay (not lesbian) erotica (aka porn) books and she was buying alot of the more salacious erotica books. I had asked her at one point how old she was. She was 16. I had tried to direct her to more appropriate books but hey, I can only suggest so I know my limitations. But this is a small town and I had seen her parents a few times and thought, they cant possibly know what kind of books this girl is reading. Sure enough, they didnt. And they were NOT happy. I wanted to say something to her mother long ago but there is that fine line and most times she just ordered and they picked up without looking at the cover of the book. Well, after Wednesday's blow up, her reading will be monitored by her parents. She's sixteen, still in school and living off her parents. They purchase her books so they will be watching what comes into their home. I feel bad for the girl but honestly, I would feel the same way if I found that in my home.

I cant seem to sit still long enough to make a lot of head way but I am really enjoying Outlander by Diana Gabaldon!

Thanks Chrissy! Just so you all understand why I am searching its like this. I live in the South and many things that most people take for granted arent always available here. We NEVER had black authors in this bookshoppe till recently, as in within the last 3 years. Unfortunately, the only types of books brought into the store were the types of books I first discribed. No REAL literature. The store buyer bought anything that had Blacks on the cover and shoved them into one bookshelf. I understand her desire for bringing in the books but its frustrating that these are the ONLY books she thinks we want to read:blush: I would not have raised a stink about it with her except that its very obvious. Since she isnt inclined to move ALL the books into the mainstream of the bookstore (we have a bookshelf called "urban fiction") with all the other authors, its imperative that I get good quality books in here as our young women of color are only exposed to the rubbish. Just think your raunchiest MTV video vixon and thats what we offer these girls:motz: Until I can convince her to mainstream all the Black authors into the bookshoppe, its my goal to improve and expand the quality of books we offer, especially as its so "in your face". I am like you Chrissy, I just want a good book and dont think about the color of the author but as its unavoidable, I want to put the best we have out there on my shelves.

Thanks Kylie, Echo and Chrissy:) I have many of these authors on the shelves already. I guess what I'm looking for is something more "rounded"? You know, different genres like Sci-Fi, Historical Fiction (not necessarily Civil War or Civil Rights) Mystery. Most books that I have found tend to be either Inspirational or what at best, would be called "light" reading that are pretty much urban street reading. I just KNOW there are more mainstream Black contemporary authors out there!

I was doing some googling and came across this author. Has anyone ever read any of her work?

Thank youf for your input.

Frankie, I guess I do need to clarify. Its not sex per se, its that these books (google Zane) are ONLY sex, not plot no sustanance, just sex for sex sack. There is a genre specifically for that, but these books are being passed off as "literature" which its most definately not. These are books about sex and nothing else, only about how many, what variation and so on, porn. Toni Morrison wrote about a "life situation" it has a plot, her writing is rich and has depth. If sex is in there its not the main focus of the book, just a side which allows us to see the problem of incest. What I described above seems to be the norm for books written by and for Black readers.

I couldn't decide if this post should go here or in "looking for a book" but as this is not about a particular book, I thought it fitting to ask here. As many of you know, I work in a bookshoppe (love the spelling:mrgreen:). We are very mainstream and pretty up to the moment with most genre. There is, however, one genre that we have ignored. Its the Black authors. We have some really trite and disgusting books written by Zane (porn between book covers) and other derogatory books with such catchy titles as The Bitch Is Back:roll: Honest, I lie to you not. There really is nothing of substance and it is very grievous to me. Being a Black woman of some intelligence it really me off because I KNOW there have got to be more substantial Black authors out there. I've convinced the store manager to bring in a more varied variety of books by Black authors. We have Toni Morrison and Zora Neal Hurston, etc, but I am looking for other genres that can meet the needs of a more diverse reader whose not into gang banging and perverse sex. Do you know of any Black authors across the pond that may be of interest?

A Christmas Story!!!! I LOVE THIS MOVIE:mrgreen:

C.S. Lewis said it best when he said that most adults tend to underestimate the childs mind and their capacity to understand. He LOVES childrens books. He always said that he wrote books that he wanted to read and so he wrote the Narnia series. There was a man who practiced what he preached!

Simple, The Bible and Outlander. I really should have read more than I did yesterday but I was godawful lazy:mrgreen:

I got my first blinding migraine January 1, 1996 and it was consistent for almost 2 years only to drop down to about 2 dozen a year. I worked at a hotel in security and it got so bad one day that my employer had to put me up in a room til someone could come and take me home. I was on all kinds of meds and have even passed out several times (twice in church:blush:) I started with a chiropractor a little over a year ago and I can honestly say that while I was seeing him, my migraines and headaches disappeared. We havent been able to afford for me to go back and I have since noticed an increase in the headaches. One day I'll be able to go back. The doctor showed me how my spine was out of alignment which caused excessive pressure on the back of my head and my neck. If I hadnt experienced it for myself, I wouldnt have believed that having a "crack" doctor adjust my spine would work!

Started and finished Into The West, this week and now I'm going back to Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Definately is the weekend to get into some time traveling!!

Tired of turkey so we do a broiled lamb and duck. Collared greens mashed sweet potatoes w/marshmellows baked macaroni and cheese homemade cranberry sauce homemade dinner rolls wild rice peacan pie sweet potatoe pie pound cake

I may be reading two books at a time:blush: I started Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill but got side tracked by Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. So, I'll bite the bullet and read them both!