80,130 books
—
298,555 voters
Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
“Will it ever be perfect?” I wondered. “No,” he told me with a smile. “Nothing in life is. But, my dear mademoiselle, life is not about achievement. It is about the effort. If one takes pleasure in every step, one enjoys the whole journey.”
“The stories are charmingly told. They were (and are – the book is still in print) the gateway for so many of us into Greek myth and the classical world. But because we read them as children, we don’t always consider them critically: we tend to see them as a neutral, authoritative version from which other versions deviate. And – like all books – they reflect the values of their time. So while I don’t want to dissuade you from reading these stories to children, I would urge you to counterbalance the quiet prejudice which lurks within them.”
― Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
― Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
“When people ask why tell the stories that we know best from the Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective, or Circe’s perspective, they presuppose that the story ‘should’ be told from Odysseus’ point of view. Which means the answer to this question should always be: because she’s in the damn story. Why wouldn’t we want to hear from her?”
― Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
― Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
“color blindness is an act of gaslighting. It is a cruel way of making BIPOC believe that they are just imagining they are being treated the way they are being treated because of their skin color, thus keeping them in a position of destabilization and inferiority.”
― Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
― Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
“Is there any feeling as delicious as the beginning of a new adventure? To be perched upon the precipice of a fresh endeavor, poised for flight, the winds of change ruffling the feathers, ah, that is what it means to be alive!”
― A Dangerous Collaboration
― A Dangerous Collaboration
“It was no wonder, then, that Dumas lost his temper when he read the official report of the battle, compiled by Napoleon’s aide-de-camp General Berthier, and saw that his role had been diminished to one of “in observation at San Antonio.” Berthier did include a phrase about Dumas’s fighting the enemy “well,” but this did nothing to make Alex Dumas reconsider what he was about to write into the official military record of the Army of Italy. Dumas picked up his quill and wrote to Napoleon a letter of such fantastical insolence it would be cited in every historical account of him as an example of his legendary temper: January 18, 1797 GENERAL, I have learned that the jack ass whose business it is to report to you upon the battle of the 27th [the 27 Nivôse, i.e., January 16] stated that I stayed in observation throughout that battle. I don’t wish any such observation on him, since he would have shit in his pants. Salute and Brotherhood! ALEX. DUMAS”
― The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
― The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
Natalie’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Natalie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
483 books
|
86 friends
644 books
|
6 friends
647 books
|
7 friends
1,137 books
|
57 friends
194 books
|
99 friends
464 books
|
168 friends
5 books
|
36 friends
179 books
|
32 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Natalie
Lists liked by Natalie