4,942 books
—
6,294 voters
Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
“The railway was part scalpel, part movie camera, slicing the city open, parading its inner workings at fifty frames per second. It was on the S-Bahn that she felt least abandoned, as if the act of travelling turned back the clock, and brought her nearer to the future she had lost.”
― The Einstein Girl
― The Einstein Girl
“We drank our coffee the Russian way. That is to say we had vodka before it and vodka afterwards.”
― The Valley of Unknowing
― The Valley of Unknowing
“Desire is an appetite, quickly sated. Longing is a wound, an opening in the heart or the spirit. Whatever the cause, whatever the duration, it almost always leaves a scar.”
― The Valley of Unknowing
― The Valley of Unknowing
“One thing I knew about the novelist’s task: when in doubt, write; when empty, write; when afraid, write. Nothing is more impenetrable than the blank page. The blank page is the void, the absence of sense and feeling, the white light of literary death.”
― The Valley of Unknowing
― The Valley of Unknowing
“All writers are insecure, the male ones especially. It's well known. Why else would they spend so much time on make-believe? They're only happy in their imaginary worlds, because that's where they're in charge - where they're God. Did you know that Hemingway's mother dressed him as a girl until he was six years old?"
I was not offended by Claudia's glib psychological theory. Like many glib psychological theories, it struck me as fundamentally correct.”
― The Valley of Unknowing
I was not offended by Claudia's glib psychological theory. Like many glib psychological theories, it struck me as fundamentally correct.”
― The Valley of Unknowing
Francis’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Francis’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Polls voted on by Francis
Lists liked by Francis