2,214 books
—
2,304 voters
Larry Van Valkenburgh
https://www.goodreads.com/larryvv
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currently-reading (76)
read (476)
fiction (79)
history (32)
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currently-reading (76)
read (476)
fiction (79)
history (32)
non-fiction (27)
law-politics (17)
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nature-of-life (9)
historical-fiction (7)
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literary-fiction (16)
harry-bosch-style (10)
nature-of-life (9)
historical-fiction (7)
physics-cosmology (6)
set-aside-temporarily (6)
“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”
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“We’re all seeking that special person who is right for us. But if you’ve been through enough relationships, you begin to suspect there’s no right person, just different flavors of wrong. Why is this? Because you yourself are wrong in some way, and you seek out partners who are wrong in some complementary way. But it takes a lot of living to grow fully into your own wrongness. And it isn’t until you finally run up against your deepest demons, your unsolvable problems—the ones that make you truly who you are—that we’re ready to find a lifelong mate. Only then do you finally know what you’re looking for. You’re looking for the wrong person. But not just any wrong person: it's got to be the right wrong person—someone you lovingly gaze upon and think, “This is the problem I want to have.”
I will find that special person who is wrong for me in just the right way.”
― Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe
I will find that special person who is wrong for me in just the right way.”
― Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe
“Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly. ”
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“Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it saved my ass.”
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“Creatures whose mainspring is curiosity enjoy the accumulating of facts far more than the pausing at times to reflect on those facts.”
― This Simian World
― This Simian World
The American Civil War
— 984 members
— last activity Jan 25, 2026 02:32PM
Focuses on books, discussions, comments, reviews, and questions on the American Revolution. Just kidding.
Tackling the Pulitzer Prize Winners!
— 817 members
— last activity Jan 02, 2026 12:53PM
The Pulitzer Prize literature winners comprise a phenomenal collection of novels. Join us as we tackle the monumental task of reading all of the winne ...more
SCOTUS History and Philosophy
— 47 members
— last activity Jul 19, 2022 04:53PM
A discussion of cases and issues and books related to the U.S. Note that this group is basically defunct. I am referring people to Alan Johnson's very ...more
On the Southern Literary Trail
— 2187 members
— last activity 1 hour, 37 min ago
Whether you prefer Faulkner, O'Connor, McCullers or more recent authors of Southern Literature such as Clyde Edgerton, Tom Franklin, William Gay, or M ...more
Larry’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Larry’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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