77,989 books
—
290,828 voters
Shireen Jawed
https://www.goodreads.com/sheru
to-read
(817)
currently-reading (6)
read (106)
did-not-finish (0)
owned (104)
these-will-change-my-life-apparentl (41)
35-lifetime (35)
vlogbrothers (33)
career-advice (28)
intl-required-reading (28)
currently-reading (6)
read (106)
did-not-finish (0)
owned (104)
these-will-change-my-life-apparentl (41)
35-lifetime (35)
vlogbrothers (33)
career-advice (28)
intl-required-reading (28)
true-crime
(22)
this-year (16)
misc-blog-recs (14)
fiction-2015 (11)
programming-et-al (10)
steve-donoghue-s-darkest-mordor (8)
later (7)
2024 (5)
maths (5)
sci-fi (5)
this-year (16)
misc-blog-recs (14)
fiction-2015 (11)
programming-et-al (10)
steve-donoghue-s-darkest-mordor (8)
later (7)
2024 (5)
maths (5)
sci-fi (5)
“So bring on your clubs and parties, your acrobats and magicians, your daredevils, jet cars, motorcycle helicopters, your sex and heroin, more of everything to do with automatic reflex. If the drama is bad, if the film says nothing, if the play is hollow, sting me with the theremin, loudly. I'll think I'm responding to the play, when it's only a tactile reaction to vibration. But I don't care. I just like solid entertainment.”
―
―
“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.”
―
―
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
―
―
Shireen’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Shireen’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Shireen
Lists liked by Shireen














































