331 ratings (4.03 avg)
4 reviews

A.J.

Add friend

https://www.last.fm/user/mudtoy

https://www.goodreads.com/mudtoy

A.J.’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (735)
currently-reading‎ (4)
read‎ (431)

did-not-finish‎ (2)
books-i-ve-read-to-the-kids‎ (47)
unfinished‎ (16)

favorites‎ (14)
my-library‎ (6)
dnf‎ (0)

Stats | More…

A.J. is Currently Reading

A.J. is currently reading

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

by Raymond Carver

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

3 hours, 32 min ago

A.J. is currently reading

How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

by Mortimer J. Adler

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

progress:

(page 102 of 424)
— Jan 21, 2026 03:13PM

Jan 01, 2026 12:52AM

A.J. is currently reading

Nobodaddy's Children (Collected Early Fiction 1949-1964, Volume 2)

by Arno Schmidt

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

progress:

(page 95 of 236)
— Jun 17, 2025 01:50PM

Jun 10, 2025 02:48PM

See all 4 books that A.J. is reading…

A.J.’s Quotes

“Spend the years of learning squandering
Courage for the years of wandering
Through a world politely turning
From the loutishness of learning.”
― Samuel Beckett, Collected Poems in English and French

55 likes

“well merciful martyrs in heaven.. did you ever hear the likes of it?.. drinking whisky in a first class carriage and us on a pilgrimage to kneel at the feet of the holy father”
― Flann O'Brien, The Hard Life

1 likes

“Books don't offer real escape, but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw.”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

tags: books, escape, reading

1590 likes

“In the name of Bacon will you chicken me up that egg.
Shall I swallow cave-phantoms?”
― Samuel Beckett, Collected Poems in English and French

tags: breakfast, philosophy

19 likes

“Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.”
― James Joyce, Dubliners

133 likes

More of A.J.’s quotes…

recent posts
A.J.’s Groups

Erasable Book Club — 21 members — last activity Jun 13, 2020 11:53AM
An extension of the Erasable Pencil Facebook group

James Joyce Reading Group — 324 members — last activity Mar 12, 2026 07:18PM
A discussion group dedicated to the writings of James Joyce.

Shakespeare Fans — 2317 members — last activity Mar 28, 2026 10:01AM
Anyone who likes Shakespeare and wants to discuss anything about his plays can join!

¡ POETRY ! — 22529 members — last activity May 04, 2026 06:38PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read it!) Goodreads honors wordsmiths: poets and poetry promoted and prompted here. ~~~ "Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." -- Carl Sandburg “God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton On Clouds – “…what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another about…” —Yevgeny Zamyatin “If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn’t wish to revise, let the poet abandon poetry and take up stamp-collecting or real estate.” —Donald Hall “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.” —Boris Pasternak “Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.” —Charles Simic “Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” —Gustave Flaubert “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg. ~~~~~ Amy King, Moderator Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the WNBA Award (Women’s National Book Association). Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She serves on the executive board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and is co-editing with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology, Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She is also co-editing the anthology, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College. ...more

Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge — 26941 members — last activity 2 hours, 19 min ago
An annual reading challenge to to help you stretch your reading limits and explore new voices, worlds, and genres! The challenge begins in January, bu ...more

More of A.J.’s groups…