100 books
—
122 voters
David’s Profile
David's Recent Updates
"So to make the determination that an author's style is turgid, verbose, repetitive and painful to read, one has to "read the whole book"? I don't thin...more
"
|
|
"
![]() After reading just a few pages of this book I kept thinking to myself Hazel Motes is doomed. ![]() First of all he is the lead character in a Flannery O'Connor novel. The only thing that could be worst is if he were the lead character in a Jim Thompso... " Read more of this review » |
|
|
David
rated a book 1 of 5 stars
|
|
| This is turning out to be disappointingly heavy sledding. Maybe because the whole thing feels too much like a cerebral exercise -- the characters are there just as a means of exploring the fallibility of memory, not because there's a story that needs...more | |
|
David
rated a book 4 of 5 stars
|
|
| OK. The fourth star here may simply be a reflection of my guilt at only giving a single star to Rosecrans Baldwin's other book "You Lost Me There". Perhaps this account of Baldwin's 18 months in Paris, working at a French advertising agency while wri...more | |
|
David
is currently reading
|
|
|
David
is currently reading
|
|
|
David
is currently reading
|
|
"Well, duh, of course. That doesn't mean one can't have a little fun with one's review. Ever heard of hyperbole as a humor technique?"
|
|
|
David
rated a book 5 of 5 stars
|
|
|
You could argue that Robin Sloan has stacked the deck in his own favor by writing a book that is an unabashed celebration of ??? Why is that sentence hard to finish? It's because "Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" is not just a celebration of "books",...more |
|
"
The previous two in this series were average and left me wondering if I needed to bother with the final trilogy. But this volume was such a return to brilliance. So glad I hung in! Beautiful, emotional, sad.
"
|
|
“Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Fear no more the frown o' the great;
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renownéd be thy grave!”
― William Shakespeare, Cymbeline
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Fear no more the frown o' the great;
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renownéd be thy grave!”
― William Shakespeare, Cymbeline
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
― Jorge Luis Borges
― Jorge Luis Borges
“Lovers of small numbers go benignly potty,
Believe all tales are thirteen chapters long,
Have animal doubles, carry pentagrams,
Are Millerites, Baconians, Flat-Earth-Men.
Lovers of big numbers go horribly mad,
would have the Swiss abolished, all of us
Well-purged, somatotyped, baptised, taught baseball:
They empty bars, spoil parties, run for Congress.”
― W.H. Auden, Auden: Poems
Believe all tales are thirteen chapters long,
Have animal doubles, carry pentagrams,
Are Millerites, Baconians, Flat-Earth-Men.
Lovers of big numbers go horribly mad,
would have the Swiss abolished, all of us
Well-purged, somatotyped, baptised, taught baseball:
They empty bars, spoil parties, run for Congress.”
― W.H. Auden, Auden: Poems
“Little Willie, full of glee,
Put radium in grandma's tea.
Now he thinks it quite a lark
To see her shining in the dark.”
― Harry Graham, Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes
Put radium in grandma's tea.
Now he thinks it quite a lark
To see her shining in the dark.”
― Harry Graham, Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes
“When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night,
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.”
― Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night,
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.”
― Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds
The Doggerel File (Humor)
13 chapters
—
updated Mar 29, 2010 04:33pm
Description:
Where I give William Topaz McGonagall a run for his money
Elegy for Eliot (Humor)
1 chapters
—
updated Mar 29, 2010 04:33pm
Description:
Lovesong of J. Eliot Spitzer
Literary Collaborations I'd Like to See (Humor)
7 chapters
—
updated Mar 29, 2010 04:33pm
Description:
(and a few screen collaborations as well)
Buttercup (Parenting & Families)
6 chapters
—
updated Mar 29, 2010 04:32pm
Description:
Memories of my family
The Wilbur Chronicles (Horror)
More of David’s writing…
6 chapters
—
updated Mar 29, 2010 04:32pm
Description:
Tales from the trenches of middle management
Books I Loathed
— 1707 members
— last activity Jun 16, 2013 06:52am
This is a public forum for people to kvetch (cleanly, please) about books they absolutely hated, and for others to respond. Though nonfiction is certa...more
Constant Reader
— 4831 members
— last activity 1 hour, 7 min ago
A forum for friendly discussion of classics, literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry and short stories. We also love movies and art. No promotional mater...more
Goodreads Feedback
— 11870 members
— last activity 48 minutes ago
This is a place to give feedback about Goodreads. Feature ideas, bugs, or any other suggestion for improvement. The Goodreads staff monitors this grou...more
The Extra Cool Group! (of people Michael is experimenting on)
— 173 members
— last activity Feb 12, 2013 05:20pm
*Note: This group, although it lives on in a sense, like a photograph, capturing a moment so people can look back later and go, "Oh, wow, you looked s...more
readers advisory for all
— 2124 members
— last activity 11 minutes ago
life's too short to read crappy books. this is why readers' advisory exists. feel free to join if you are looking for "a book like____" or "a book tha...more
More friends…
Quizzes and Trivia
questions answered:
1147 (0.7%)
correct:
961 (83.8%)
skipped:
230 (16.7%)
11367 out of 1814622
streak:
1
best streak:
38
questions added:
0
Polls voted on by this member














































