Stephanie Schwartz
https://www.goodreads.com/taleasoldastime
to-read
(154)
currently-reading (4)
read (732)
did-not-finish (16)
on-deck (7)
british (36)
historical-fiction (31)
my-childhood (29)
fantastically-fantastical (26)
young-adult (26)
children-s-book (24)
set-in-england (24)
currently-reading (4)
read (732)
did-not-finish (16)
on-deck (7)
british (36)
historical-fiction (31)
my-childhood (29)
fantastically-fantastical (26)
young-adult (26)
children-s-book (24)
set-in-england (24)
twice-told-tales
(23)
little-house (22)
based-on-the-novel-by (20)
mcl (17)
favorites (16)
my-adolescence (16)
love-story (15)
studied (15)
age-of-miracles (14)
small-town-charm (14)
1810s (13)
i-own (13)
little-house (22)
based-on-the-novel-by (20)
mcl (17)
favorites (16)
my-adolescence (16)
love-story (15)
studied (15)
age-of-miracles (14)
small-town-charm (14)
1810s (13)
i-own (13)
“I couldn't help thinking that if I, by pure chance, had found a whole universe in a single unknown book, buried in that endless necropolis, tens of thousands more would remain unexplored, forgotten forever. I felt myself surrounded by millions of abandoned pages, by worlds and souls without an owner sinking in an ocean of darkness, while the world that throbbed outside the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot.”
― The Shadow of the Wind
― The Shadow of the Wind
“We throw our parties; we abandon our families to live alone in Canada; we struggle to write books that do not change the world, despite our gifts and our unstinting efforts, our most extravagant hopes. We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep. It's as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out windows, or drown themselves, or take pills; more die by accident; and most of us are slowly devoured by some disease, or, if we're very fortunate, by time itself. There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) know these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning; we hope, more than anything, for more. Heaven only knows why we love it so...”
― The Hours
― The Hours
“How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all.”
― Atonement
― Atonement
“Was everyone else really as alive as she was?... If the answer was yes, then the world, the social world, was unbearably complicated, with two billion voices, and everyone’s thoughts striving in equal importance and everyone’s claim on life as intense, and everyone thinking they were unique, when no one was. One could drown in irrelevance.”
― Atonement
― Atonement
“In the end, it is my belief, words are the only things that can construct a world that makes sense.”
― Behind the Scenes at the Museum
― Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Goodreads Librarians Group
— 322279 members
— last activity 4 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
Stephanie’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Stephanie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Stephanie
Lists liked by Stephanie



































