Brad B
https://www.goodreads.com/braddd297
“...maybe for that reason it's time for me to fall in love again. I need to feel that my life has some kind of centre, somewhere for my thoughts to return and rest.”
― Beautiful World, Where Are You
― Beautiful World, Where Are You
“In a way, when we love fictional characters, knowing that they can never love us in return, is that not a method of practising in miniature the kind of personally disinterested love to which Jesus calls us? I mean that sympathetic engagement is a form of desire with an object but without a subject, a way of wanting without wanting; desiring for others not 'what' I want for myself but 'the way' I want for myself.”
― Beautiful World, Where Are You
― Beautiful World, Where Are You
“We always say that we are beneath the stars. We aren't of course - there is no up or down, and anyway the stars surround us. But we say we are beneath them, which is nice. So often English glorifies the human - we are whos, other animals are thats - but English puts us beneath the stars, at least.”
― Turtles All the Way Down
― Turtles All the Way Down
“No question; language can free us of feeling, or almost,' der Heer replied, stroking her shoulder. 'Maybe that's one of its functions - so we can understand the world without becoming entirely overwhelmed by it.”
― Contact
― Contact
“Getting dumped is never really about getting dumped.'
'What is it about, then?' I ask.
'It's about every rejection you've ever experienced in your entire life. It's about the kids at school who called you names. And the parent who never came back. And the girls who wouldn't dance with you at the disco. And the school girlfriend who wanted to be single when she went to uni. And any criticism at work. When someone says they don't want to be with you, you feel the pain of every single one of those times in life where you felt like you weren't good enough. You live through all of it again.'
'I don't know how to get over it, Mum,' I say. 'At this point I'm so tired of myself. I don't know how to let go of her.'
'You don't let go once. That's your first mistake. You say goodbye over a lifetime. You might not have thought about her for ten years, then you'll hear a song or you'll walk past somewhere you once went together - something will come to the surface that you'd totally forgotten about. And you say another goodbye. You have to be prepared to let go and let go and let go a thousand times.'
'Does it get easier?'
'Much,' she says.”
― Good Material
'What is it about, then?' I ask.
'It's about every rejection you've ever experienced in your entire life. It's about the kids at school who called you names. And the parent who never came back. And the girls who wouldn't dance with you at the disco. And the school girlfriend who wanted to be single when she went to uni. And any criticism at work. When someone says they don't want to be with you, you feel the pain of every single one of those times in life where you felt like you weren't good enough. You live through all of it again.'
'I don't know how to get over it, Mum,' I say. 'At this point I'm so tired of myself. I don't know how to let go of her.'
'You don't let go once. That's your first mistake. You say goodbye over a lifetime. You might not have thought about her for ten years, then you'll hear a song or you'll walk past somewhere you once went together - something will come to the surface that you'd totally forgotten about. And you say another goodbye. You have to be prepared to let go and let go and let go a thousand times.'
'Does it get easier?'
'Much,' she says.”
― Good Material
Brad’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Brad’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Brad
Lists liked by Brad





















