418 ratings | 52 reviews | avg rating:3.90

Ron’s Year In Books

Ron’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Ron’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Ron D. Smith’s Followers (109)

Ron’s Bookshelves

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read (571)
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L.J. Cohen

15 books | 199 friends

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760 books | 1,024 friends

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870 books | 120 friends

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Ron D. Smith

Goodreads Author

Website

http://smithdeville.wordpress.com

Twitter

Ron D Smith

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Humor, Young Adult

Influences

Daniel Woodrell, William Gay, Wendell Berry, Cormac McCarthy, Elmore L ...more

Member Since

December 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/smithdeville

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I started my adult life as a journalist, but gave it up when I realized I wasn't going to become Walter Cronkite. I grew up in small towns in Missouri and Iowa, which make my adopted hometown of Louisville look like Manhattan.

I envy the dialogue of Daniel Woodrell, the sense of place of Silas House, and how Wendell Berry makes writing seem deceptively easy. I appreciate Elmore Leonard for being Elmore Leonard. I don't write like anyone but me.
...more

43 posts
Ron D. Smith's Blog

A loss that sticks with you

Remembering a loss.
http://smithdeville.com/2014/07/09/th...

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Published on July 28, 2014 12:19

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Combine Editions
Ron D. Smith’s books

Average rating: 4.5 · 28 ratings · 5 reviews · 9 distinct works

	The Night Budda Got Deep in It 4.15 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Storm Before the Calm: The Early Lives of Venus and Hiro 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Farmer's Goodbye it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	First Comes Marriage 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Habeas Equus 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Wife is a Lazy Liar 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fisherman's Guide to Life 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Ron D. Smith…

Ron is Currently Reading

Ron Smith is currently reading

Dig Me a Grave: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Who Seduced the South

by Richard A. Harpootlian

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Mar 14, 2026 04:08PM

Ron Smith is currently reading

Lethal Prey (Lucas Davenport #35; Virgil Flowers #16)

by John Sandford

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Oct 02, 2025 12:52PM

Ron Smith is currently reading

Salt Lane (DS Alexandra Cupidi, #1)

by William Shaw (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 10, 2025 12:37PM

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Ron’s Recent Updates

Ron Smith is currently reading Dig Me a Grave: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Who Seduced the South by Richard A. Harpootlian	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 14, 2026 04:08PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dig Me a Grave by Richard A. Harpootlian. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dig Me a Grave by Richard A. Harpootlian <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book liked it Running Deep: Bravery, Survival, and the True Story of the Deadliest Submarine in World War II by Tom Clavin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 14, 2026 01:45PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Running Deep by Tom Clavin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Running Deep by Tom Clavin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book liked it A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 14, 2026 01:43PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book it was amazing Thoughts That Burned: William Goodell, Human Rights, and the Abolition of American Slavery by Steve Gowler	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Gowler delivers an overdue and important biography of one the most important abolitionists in American. Goodell was lauded by men as revered as Frederick Douglass and held the attention of no one less than A. Lincoln. Goodell never wavered in his fig ...more
Mar 14, 2026 01:36PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Thoughts That Burned by Steve Gowler. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Thoughts That Burned by Steve Gowler <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book it was amazing The Impending Crisis: America Before the Civil War, 1848-1861 by David Morris Potter	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 03, 2026 03:37PM · like
Ron Smith rated a book really liked it Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 03, 2026 03:36PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dead Wake by Erik Larson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dead Wake by Erik Larson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith finished reading Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 03, 2026 03:34PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith has read Educated by Tara Westover (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 13, 2026 12:48PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Educated by Tara Westover. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Educated by Tara Westover <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book it was amazing Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story by Jeffrey Kluger	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 12, 2026 06:23PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Gemini by Jeffrey Kluger. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Gemini by Jeffrey Kluger <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ron Smith rated a book really liked it The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 04, 2026 09:14AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Gales of November by John U. Bacon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Gales of November by John U. Bacon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Ron's books…

Quotes by Ron D. Smith (?)

“He must have started putting away a little money right after he cleaned up his first projectile vomit. It didn’t matter that he was only making a few dollars a day. Here’s the thing you have to understand about most immigrants. They’re experts at stashing cash in their Serta Sleepers. You pay a dude from Ghana or Guatemala a buck and he’ll sock away 90 cents of it. Pretty soon he’s made a down payment on a nice three-bedroom ranch in the burbs just by busing tables during the day and delivering pizza at night. Meanwhile, the rest of us are bitching because our six-figure incomes won’t cover the mortgage on the McMansion.”
― Ron D. Smith, The Savior of Turk

1 likes

Ron’s Quotes

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
― Thomas Merton , No Man Is an Island

tags: art

3378 likes

“The first draft of anything is shit.”
― Ernest Hemingway

tags: attributed-no-source, writing

4219 likes

“We can make a little order where we are, and then the big sweep of history on which we can have no effect doesn't overwhelm us. We do it with colors, with a garden, with the furnishings of a room, or with sounds and words. We make a little form, and we gain composure.”
― Robert Frost

tags: inspirational

25 likes