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“When someone shows you who they are believe them the first time.”
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“Efforts to reinvent downtown Middletown always struck me as futile. People didn’t leave because our downtown lacked trendy cultural amenities. The trendy cultural amenities left because there weren’t enough consumers in Middletown to support them.”
― Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
― Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
“Barack Obama strikes at the heart of our deepest insecurities. He is a good father while many of us aren’t. He wears suits to his job while we wear overalls, if we’re lucky enough to have a job at all. His wife tells us that we shouldn’t be feeding our children certain foods, and we hate her for it—not because we think she’s wrong but because we know she’s right.”
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“Despite its reputation, Appalachia—especially northern Alabama and Georgia to southern Ohio—has far lower church attendance than the Midwest, parts of the Mountain West, and much of the space between Michigan and Montana. Oddly enough, we think we attend church more than we actually do. In a recent Gallup poll, Southerners and Midwesterners reported the highest rates of church attendance in the country. Yet actual church attendance is much lower in the South.”
― Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
― Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
“The Laughing Heart
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.”
― Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.”
― Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Jake’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jake’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
2,866 books
|
177 friends
1,258 books
|
21 friends
1,794 books
|
61 friends
396 books
|
19 friends
282 books
|
22 friends
518 books
|
89 friends
284 books
|
21 friends
877 books
|
81 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Jake
Lists liked by Jake
