773 books
—
503 voters
“The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave
anything out. I have read like a man on fire my whole life because the
genius of English teachers touched me with the dazzling beauty of language.
Because of them I rode with Don Quixote and danced with Anna Karenina at a
ball in St. Petersburg and lassoed a steer in "Lonesome Dove" and had
nightmares about slavery in "Beloved" and walked the streets of Dublin in
"Ulysses" and made up a hundred stories in the Arabian nights and saw my
mother killed by a baseball in "A Prayer for Owen Meany." I've been in ten
thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers
in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous
English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and
women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me
when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English
language. ”
―
anything out. I have read like a man on fire my whole life because the
genius of English teachers touched me with the dazzling beauty of language.
Because of them I rode with Don Quixote and danced with Anna Karenina at a
ball in St. Petersburg and lassoed a steer in "Lonesome Dove" and had
nightmares about slavery in "Beloved" and walked the streets of Dublin in
"Ulysses" and made up a hundred stories in the Arabian nights and saw my
mother killed by a baseball in "A Prayer for Owen Meany." I've been in ten
thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers
in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous
English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and
women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me
when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English
language. ”
―
“The best that can be said about Victorian hospitals is that they were a slight improvement over their Georgian predecessors. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement when one considers that a hospital’s “Chief Bug-Catcher”—whose job it was to rid the mattresses of lice—was paid more than its surgeons.”
― The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
― The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
“Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book.”
― A Little Princess
― A Little Princess
“We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.”
―
―
“I read a lot. I love books. If they came in a bottle, I'd be a drunk too.”
― Bleeding Hearts
― Bleeding Hearts
The Socratic Salon
— 84 members
— last activity Nov 16, 2015 04:49AM
The Socratic Salon is a place where comments become conversations and spoilers happen. Instead of a singular exchange between blogger and visitor, we ...more
The Classics Club
— 241 members
— last activity Jul 02, 2023 12:46PM
This group is made up of members of the Classics Book Club. Members who happen to be part of Goodreads can meet here to share links, post reviews, etc ...more
Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon
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— last activity May 07, 2026 10:27PM
Our next readathon will be July 10-11, 2026. We'll start reading at 8pm Eastern Time on Friday April 10th, and end Saturday July 11th at 8pm EDT. ...more
Tournament of Books
— 2364 members
— last activity May 19, 2026 05:13PM
This book group was established for those interested in participating in The Morning News's Tournament of Books. Please do not feel the need to finish ...more
Our Shared Shelf
— 222822 members
— last activity May 18, 2026 10:32AM
OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
Jennifer’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jennifer’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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