Shirin

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Shirin’s Bookshelves

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Shirin is Currently Reading

Shirin is currently reading

Catherine de' Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen

by Mary Hollingsworth

bookshelves: currently-reading, biography-and-memoirs, early-modern-history, french-history, history, southern-european-history, women-s-history

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— 2 hours, 2 min ago

May 23, 2026 07:22AM

Shirin is currently reading

The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror)

by Eliza Parsons

bookshelves: currently-reading, gothic-fiction, historical-fiction, horror

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Apr 29, 2026 12:13PM

Shirin is currently reading

The Queen and the Mistress: The Women of Edward III

by Gemma Hollman

bookshelves: currently-reading, biography-and-memoirs, british-history, french-history, history, medieval-history, women-s-history

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Feb 05, 2026 07:34AM

See all 31 books that Shirin is reading…

Shirin’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry (From Agnes Sorel to Madame Du Barry)

The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry (From Agnes Sorel to Madame Du Barry) by Tracy Adams

2 highlights

The kings of France from Charles VI through Henri II relied on a woman as a close adviser, with the exception of Louis XI. For Charles VI it was his queen, Isabeau of Bavaria; Charles VII, first his mother-in-law, Yolande, then his ...more

See Shirin’s 25 books with notes and highlights…

Shirin’s Quotes

“But although the cliche says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said ... is that power always reveals. When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, concealment is necessary. ... But as a man obtains more power, camouflage becomes less necessary.”
― Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power

tags: human-nature, power

147 likes

“I’m forever near a stereo saying, ‘What the fuck is this garbage?’ And the answer is always the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
― Nick Cave

tags: humor, music, musical-taste, musicians

287 likes

“Of all the ways to lose a person, death is the kindest.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

tags: death, death-and-dying, loss

323 likes

“Death might appear to destroy the meaning in our lives, but in fact it is the very source of our creativity. As Kafka said, “The meaning of life is that it ends.” Death is the engine that keeps us running, giving us the motivation to achieve, learn, love, and create.”
― Caitlin Doughty, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

185 likes