74,780 books
—
277,427 voters


“I could have had one life but insteads I had another because of this book my grandmother protected. What a miracle is that? I was taught to love beautiful things. I had a language in which to consider beauty. Later that extended to the opera, to the ballet, to architecture I saw, and even later still I came to realize that what I had seen in the paintings I could see in the fields or a river. I could see it in people. All of that I attribute to this book.”
― Bel Canto
― Bel Canto
“Sometimes he missed the numbed, walking-underwater feeling feel that the cocktail of narcotics used to give him. But if a situation went down in here, he was going to need all of his wits to get out of it.”
― The Zombie Room
― The Zombie Room

“This was not to say, however, that she did not long, at times, for some greater change, that she did not experience some of those exceptional moments when one thirsts for something other than what is, and when those who, through lack of energy or imagination, are unable to generate any motive power in themselves, cry out, as the clock strikes or the postman knocks, for something new, even if it is worse, some emotion, some sorrow; when the heartstrings, which contentment has silenced, like a harp laid by, yearn to be plucked and sounded again by some hand, however rough, even if it should break them; when the will, which has with such difficulty won the right to indulge without let or hindrance in its own desires and woes, would gladly fling the reins into the hands of imperious circumstance, however cruel.”
― Swann’s Way
― Swann’s Way

“Paul, careening down the slide with his arms out flung, and Phoebe, present somehow through her absence.”
― The Memory Keeper's Daughter
― The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Clemente’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Clemente’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Clemente
Lists liked by Clemente