1,654 books
—
18,679 voters
Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Each one an attempt—an immense leap of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.
“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”
― The Things They Carried
― The Things They Carried
“The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness.”
― The Things They Carried
― The Things They Carried
“You were merely wishing for the end of pain, the monster said. Your own pain. An end to how it isolated you. It is the most human wish of all.”
― A Monster Calls
― A Monster Calls
“Because humans are complicated beasts, the monster said. How can a queen be both a good witch and a bad witch? How can a prince be a murderer and a saviour? How can an apothecary be evil-tempered but right-thinking? How can a parson be wrong-thinking but good-hearted? How can invisible men make themselves more lonely by being seen?
"I don't know," Connor shrugged, exhausted. "Your stories never made any sense to me."
The answer is that it does not matter what you think, the monster said, because your mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day. You wanted her to go at the same time you were desperate for me to save her. Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.”
― A Monster Calls
"I don't know," Connor shrugged, exhausted. "Your stories never made any sense to me."
The answer is that it does not matter what you think, the monster said, because your mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day. You wanted her to go at the same time you were desperate for me to save her. Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.”
― A Monster Calls
“To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative.”
― Man's Search for Meaning
― Man's Search for Meaning
Shivani’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Shivani’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,000 books
|
37 friends
2,823 books
|
1,114 friends
402 books
|
13 friends
354 books
|
228 friends
439 books
|
84 friends
6,445 books
|
211 friends
294 books
|
60 friends
709 books
|
70 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Shivani
Lists liked by Shivani