541 books
—
155 voters
“Though Mrs Moore wheezed and sputtered and was prone to the bad chest, though her skin looked like linoleum, the features of her face scrunching together to escape the smoke, it was the weather was the culprit. She held the record for ash-balancing. She would work with a burning cigarette held out ballerina-style in one hand, a tower of ash she didn’t need to look at building nicely while she dusted, or performed a slow-motion version of same, the dust in no danger, until the tower was certain to fall, and at the last moment, as though it were a smoking extension of herself, she would bring the cigarette to her small mouth and suck like the damned. She would draw on the cigarette and the smoke-coloured dashes of her eyebrows would float up and leave no doubt that from ashes to ashes was her destiny, and not such a bad one at that.”
― This Is Happiness
― This Is Happiness
“Sometimes, making the world a better place just involves creating space for the people who are already in it.”
― Mad Honey
― Mad Honey
“For the next few minutes, Edith led the room in hollering “Fired up! Ready to go!” back and forth, again and again. I was confused at first, but figured it would be impolite of me not to join in. And pretty soon, I started to feel kinda fired up! I started to feel like I was ready to go! I noticed everybody at the meeting suddenly was smiling too, and after the chanting was done we settled down and talked for the next hour about the community and the country and what we could do to make it better. Even after I left Greenwood, for the rest of the day, every so often, I’d point to someone on my staff and ask, “You fired up?” Eventually it became a campaign rallying cry. And that, I suppose, was the part of politics that would always give me the most pleasure: the part that couldn’t be diagrammed, that defied planning or analytics. The way in which, when it works, a campaign—and by extension a democracy—proved to be a chorus rather than a solo act.”
― A Promised Land
― A Promised Land
“The known world was not so circumscribed then, nor knowledge equated with facts. Story was a kind of human bonding. I can’t explain it any better than that. There was telling everywhere. Because there were fewer sources of where to find out anything, there was more listening. A few did still speak of the rain, stood at gates in a drizzle, looked into the sky, made predictions inexact and individual, as if they were still versed in bird, berry or water language, and for the most part people indulged them, listened as if to a story, nodded, said “Is that so?” went away believing not a word, but to pass the story like a human currency to someone else.
The key thing to understand about Ganga was that he loved a story. He believed that human beings were inside a story that had no ending because its teller had started it without conceiving of one, and that after ten thousand tales was no nearer to finding the resolution of the last page. Story was the stuff of life, and to realise you were inside one allowed you to sometimes surrender to the plot, to bear a little easier the griefs and sufferings and to enjoy more fully the twists that came along the way.”
― This Is Happiness
The key thing to understand about Ganga was that he loved a story. He believed that human beings were inside a story that had no ending because its teller had started it without conceiving of one, and that after ten thousand tales was no nearer to finding the resolution of the last page. Story was the stuff of life, and to realise you were inside one allowed you to sometimes surrender to the plot, to bear a little easier the griefs and sufferings and to enjoy more fully the twists that came along the way.”
― This Is Happiness
“Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.”
― His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope
― His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope
Constant Reader
— 6023 members
— last activity 5 hours, 35 min ago
A forum for friendly discussion of classics, literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry and short stories. We also love movies and art. Don't ask to join th ...more
Movies We've Just Watched
— 2599 members
— last activity May 28, 2026 12:59PM
A chance in quick form to give your recent impressions of a movie you just watched--on the big screen or on dvd. Good or bad; life-changing or just si ...more
Screen & Page
— 15 members
— last activity Mar 01, 2026 06:53AM
For those who love watching movies and reading books, join us to discuss the intersection. Get ideas for books to read that have films based on them. ...more
Opera: The Extravagant Art
— 72 members
— last activity Dec 03, 2023 11:39AM
As Dr. Samuel Johnson said: "Opera is an exotic and irrational entertainment." Or Alexander Waugh wrote, “Opera is a unique and lavish art form quite ...more
Willner Reading Group
— 11 members
— last activity Jun 22, 2012 09:44PM
Meeting the first Thursday of every month at members' homes. ...more
Sylvia’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Sylvia’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Sylvia
Lists liked by Sylvia












































