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Ace

2,889 books | 227 friends

Hossein

87 books | 37 friends

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313 books | 440 friends

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1,364 books | 198 friends

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54 books | 59 friends

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166 books | 1 friend

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75 books | 138 friends

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Donna Levin

Goodreads Author

Born

in Oakland, California, The United States

Website

http://www.DonnaLevin.com/

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DonnaLevinWrite

Genre

Contemporary

Member Since

September 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/donnaelle

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Donna Levin is an almost-San Francisco native, since she was born in Oakland. She’s the author of four previous novels, *Extraordinary Means*, *California Street*, *There’s More Than One Way Home*, and *He Could Be Another Bill Gates*, as well as two books on the craft of writing, *Get That Novel Started* and *Get That Novel Written*. Her papers are part of the Howard Gotlieb Research Center at Boston University, and the California State Library’s collection of California novels. On April 23, 2024, Skyhorse Publishing published her latest novel, The Talking Stick.

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Average rating: 3.83 · 359 ratings · 90 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	Scrivere un romanzo 3.91 avg rating — 106 ratings — published 1996 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	There's More Than One Way Home 3.67 avg rating — 61 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Extraordinary Means 3.64 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 1987 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Get That Novel Started! 4.02 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1992	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Talking Stick: A Novel 4.35 avg rating — 31 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	He Could Be Another Bill Gates 4.15 avg rating — 26 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	California Street: A Mystery 3.16 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 1990 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	California Street 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Get That Novel Started (And Keep It Going 'Til You Finish) Signed Copy by Donna Levin (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	GET THAT NOVEL WRITTEN! by Donna Levin (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Donna is Currently Reading

Donna Levin is currently reading

Shaken Free

by Ilana DeBare (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 02, 2026 10:17AM

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The Safekeep

by Yael van der Wouden

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Dec 14, 2025 08:57PM

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Bleak House

by Charles Dickens

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Dec 14, 2025 08:57PM

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Donna Levin is currently reading Shaken Free by Ilana DeBare (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 02, 2026 10:17AM · 1 like · like
Donna Levin is currently reading The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 14, 2025 08:57PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Donna Levin is currently reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 14, 2025 08:57PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bleak House by Charles Dickens <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Donna Levin and 59 other people liked Doug's review of John of John: "Even as I was ecstatic to have the privilege of reading Stuart's third novel a full six months prior to publication, I also had a touch of trepidation. After two such astonishingly assured works as the Booker-winning Shuggie Bain and the equally enth" Read more of this review »
Nov 08, 2025 12:03PM · see review
Donna Levin and 12 other people liked Doug's review of The Two Roberts: "Until this book, I had never heard of the two Roberts - Scottish painters who thrived in the post-war years and were lovers between 1933 and the death of Robert Colquhoun in 1962. I found their life stories fascinating, nay enthralling, even in this " Read more of this review »
Nov 02, 2025 01:39PM · see review
Donna Levin finished reading Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Fiction	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 30, 2025 07:54PM · 2 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Donna Levin is currently reading Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Fiction	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 28, 2025 09:25PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Donna Levin finished reading What's with Baum? by Woody Allen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 10, 2025 05:26PM · 2 likes · like
Donna Levin is currently reading What's with Baum? by Woody Allen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 01, 2025 05:02PM · like
Donna Levin and 20 other people liked Doug's review of Jean: "First off, I really do appreciate the ARC via Netgalley and Norton - but sadly, this just did not work for me hardly at all. The debut novelist lists 6 well-known authors (J. Eugenides, J. S. Foer, K. Kitamura, G. Greenwell, B. Markovits, Brandon Tay" Read more of this review »
Sep 29, 2025 03:49PM · see review

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Quotes by Donna Levin (?)

“Scrivere vuol dire vivere in uno stato di tensione tra l'arrendersi ai processi inconsci (ovvero aspettare che sia la Musa a ispirarci) e l'imporsi una forma rigorosa su ciò che si sta facendo. Se si possiede solo la tecnica, il lavoro sarà senz'anima, ma se si ha solo l'istinto, il lavoro potrà essere sciatto e troppo personale.”
― Donna Levin, Scrivere un romanzo

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Donna’s Quotes

“The light at the end of the tunnel is just the light of an oncoming train.”
― Robert Lowell

tags: death, life

134 likes

“How quick, brutal, and fragile is life. You are born, you live a few years in wild hope, then you are dragged back into the night. You might have breathed on a little longer, had you not dared think yourself a human creature instead of an engine of muscle and bone.”
― Donna Gillespie, The Light Bearer

tags: fragile, humanity, life, wild-hope

6 likes

“Better a spirit that does not quite fit in this world than one that is broken.”
― Donna Gillespie, The Light Bearer

tags: bend-don-t-break, spirit, unique

5 likes

“Happiness is not having what you want. It is wanting what you have.”
― Rabbi Hyman Schachtel

28 likes

“There should be a law passed to keep people like me from being alone with their thoughts for too long."

'Mona Rogers in Person”
― Philip-Dimitri Galas

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Donna’s Year In Books

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Donna Levin

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