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1,321 books
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1,631 voters
“He gave us music that reached into the ear like a lover's tongue and changed the color of our feelings. He presented movement so exquisite and fluid it coaxed our souls out of our bodies to dance with him, weightless in the perfume of divinity.”
― The Merro Tree
― The Merro Tree
“You have wings and courage and a brain. Do not annoy me by asking permission." Lily 500 in The Bees”
― The Bees
― The Bees
“Lo! we are diseased and dying, cried the dark hosts; we cannot write, our voting is vain; what need of education, since we must always cook and serve? And the Nation echoed and enforced this self-criticism, saying: Be content to be servants, and nothing more; what need of higher culture for half-men?”
― The Souls of Black Folk
― The Souls of Black Folk
“Do not let any of them tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough. Anyone who looks at you and sees darkness is blind.”
― Nothing but Shadows
― Nothing but Shadows
“John Ronald Reuel Tolkien wrote his first story aged seven. It was about a “green great dragon.” He showed it to his mother who told him that you absolutely couldn’t have a green great dragon, and that it had to be a great green one instead. Tolkien was so disheartened that he never wrote another story for years.
The reason for Tolkien’s mistake, since you ask, is that adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out. And as size comes before colour, green great dragons can’t exist.”
― The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
The reason for Tolkien’s mistake, since you ask, is that adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out. And as size comes before colour, green great dragons can’t exist.”
― The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
Emily’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Emily’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
596 books
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188 friends
546 books
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44 friends
287 books
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4 friends
710 books
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233 friends
506 books
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78 friends
26 books
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49 friends
0 books
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21 friends
1 book
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18 friends
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