17 books
—
79 voters
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
― The Catcher in the Rye
― The Catcher in the Rye
“But even so, every now and then I would feel a violent stab of loneliness. The very water I drink, the very air I breathe, would feel like long, sharp needles. The pages of a book in my hands would take on the threatening metallic gleam of razor blades. I could hear the roots of loneliness creeping through me when the world was hushed at four o'clock in the morning.”
― The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
― The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
“Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest.
The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”
― An Essay on Man
Man never Is, but always To be blest.
The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”
― An Essay on Man
“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.”
― Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
― Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
“What Reason weaves, by Passion is undone.”
― Essay on Man and Other Poems
― Essay on Man and Other Poems
Beatdom
— 555 members
— last activity Mar 16, 2025 05:45PM
Beatdom is the world's most popular Beat-themed literary journal. Now we have a Goodreads group, where you - the reader, contributor or passer-by - ca ...more
Alt-Lit
— 44 members
— last activity May 28, 2016 04:06AM
Lovers and writers of alternative literature, experimental literature, flash-fiction, weird forms. No poetry, no short stories, just worded, narrative ...more
Literary Fiction by People of Color
— 13323 members
— last activity 5 hours, 37 min ago
This can include genre fiction that is literary (e.g. speculative fiction, historical fiction, etc.), as long as it's written by a person of color (Af ...more
Underground Knowledge — A discussion group
— 25303 members
— last activity 3 hours, 25 min ago
This global discussion group has been designed to encourage debates about important and underreported issues of our era. All you need is an enquiring ...more
21st Century Literature
— 3627 members
— last activity 6 hours, 8 min ago
We read literary fiction from 2000 to present, with the intent of finding those literary gems of timeless and enduring quality. We're less focused o ...more
Townsend’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Townsend’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Adult Fiction, Art, Biography, Book Club, Children's, Comics, Contemporary, Crime, Ebooks, Erotica, Gay and Lesbian, Graphic novels, Historical fiction, History, Horror, Humor and Comedy, Literary Fiction, Manga, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Romance, Science fiction, Suspense, Spirituality, Thriller, and Young-adult
Polls voted on by Townsend
Lists liked by Townsend




























































