“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
― The Bell Jar
― The Bell Jar
“There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams -- not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”
― The Great Gatsby
― The Great Gatsby
“Karen wasn't hard, she was soft, too soft. A soft touch. Her hair was soft, her smile was soft, her voice was soft. She was so soft there was no resistance. Hard things sank into her, they went right through her, and if she made a real effort, out the other side. Then she didn't have to see them or hear them, or even touch them.”
― The Robber Bride
― The Robber Bride
“Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”
― The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
― The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
― Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
― Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Our Shared Shelf
— 223419 members
— last activity Nov 11, 2025 05:28AM
OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
belletrist
— 3964 members
— last activity Feb 10, 2024 11:58AM
celebrating literature, authors, and the literary community, curated by Emma Roberts & Karah Preiss ...more
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
— 42418 members
— last activity 16 minutes ago
This group is for people participating in the Popsugar reading challenge for 2025 (or any other year). The Popsugar website posted a reading challenge ...more
Devan’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Devan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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