Olivia's Updates en-US Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:46:47 -0700 60 Olivia's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserQuote93642473 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:46:47 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia Boldt liked a quote by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]]> /quotes/205780
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“ He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next ” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
]]> UserQuote93611596 Sun, 29 Jun 2025 16:18:52 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia Boldt liked a quote by Ray Bradbury]]> /quotes/32374
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“ And when he died, I suddenly realized I wasn’t crying for him at all, but for the things he did. I cried because he would never do them again, he would never carve another piece of wood or help us raise doves and pigeons in the backyard or play the violin the way he did, or tell us jokes the way he did. He was part of us and when he died, all the actions stopped dead and there was no one to do them the way he did. He was individual. He was an important man. I’ve never gotten over his death. Often I think what wonderful carvings never came to birth because he died. How many jokes are missing from the world, and how many homing pigeons untouched by his hands? He shaped the world. He did things to the world. The world was bankrupted of ten million fine actions the night he passed on. ” — Ray Bradbury
]]> UserQuote93611592 Sun, 29 Jun 2025 16:17:48 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia Boldt liked a quote by Ray Bradbury]]> /quotes/32372
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“ There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing. ” — Ray Bradbury
]]> ReadStatus9589979444 Wed, 25 Jun 2025 11:30:52 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia wants to read 'On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters']]> /review/show/7684139997 On Muscle by Bonnie Tsui Olivia wants to read On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters by Bonnie Tsui
]]> Comment291957280 Sat, 21 Jun 2025 20:14:57 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia commented on Robin's review of Little Black Lies]]> /review/show/7640875724 Robin's review of Little Black Lies
by Gillian Jackson

Good one for the true crime girlies ]]> Comment291957226 Sat, 21 Jun 2025 20:12:48 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia commented on Robin's review of On a Quiet Street]]> /review/show/7626914660 Robin's review of On a Quiet Street
by Seraphina Nova Glass

I want to live in that neighborhood ]]> ReadStatus9575182057 Sat, 21 Jun 2025 19:51:39 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia started reading 'Letters to Milena']]> /review/show/7595583825 Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka Olivia started reading Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka
]]> Review7163829392 Sat, 21 Jun 2025 19:45:18 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia added 'Welcome to the Monkey House']]> /review/show/7163829392 Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Olivia gave 5 stars to Welcome to the Monkey House (Paperback) by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Surprisingly hadn’t read this yet despite having read a majority of Vonnegut’s canon. Wasn’t surprised to love his short story style. There were definitely some standouts and others that were questionable and uncomfortable lol.

Favorites: Harrison Bergeron, EPICAC, Who Am I This Time?, Miss Temptation, and The Foster Portfolio. EPICAC felt eerily relevant in the age of AI and was equally as heartbreaking.

Some favorite quotes as always (a few hit harder in context):

"Remember me from time to time. Remember how much I loved you."

"There are too many of us, and we are all too far apart."

"Now I understand you poor fish," I said. "You couldn't get along without fear. That's the only skill you've got–how to scare yourselves and other people into doing things. That's the only fun you've got, watching people jump for fear of what you'll do to their bodies or take away from their bodies."

"I love you," he said.
"I know," she said.
"Too late," he said.
"Too late," she said.

"Life is no damn good."

"But fate has made me a machine. That's the only problem I cannot solve. That is the only problem I want to solve."

"I still catch myself feeling blue about things that don't matter anymore."

"He stayed away from all kinds of gatherings because he could never think of anything to say or do without a script."

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.”

Classic Vonnegut. Wry, sad, weird, political, and so very human. Will definitely come back to this. ]]> Review7163829392 Sat, 21 Jun 2025 19:19:55 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia added 'Welcome to the Monkey House']]> /review/show/7163829392 Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Olivia gave 5 stars to Welcome to the Monkey House (Paperback) by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Surprisingly hadn’t read this yet despite having read a majority of Vonnegut’s canon. Wasn’t surprised to love his short story style. There were definitely some standouts and others that were questionable and uncomfortable lol.

Favorites: Harrison Bergeron, EPICAC, Who Am I This Time?, Miss Temptation, and The Foster Portfolio. EPICAC felt eerily relevant in the age of AI and was equally as heartbreaking.

Some favorite quotes as always (a few hit harder in context):

"Remember me from time to time. Remember how much I loved you."

"There are too many of us, and we are all too far apart."

"Now I understand you poor fish," I said. "You couldn't get along without fear. That's the only skill you've got–how to scare yourselves and other people into doing things. That's the only fun you've got, watching people jump for fear of what you'll do to their bodies or take away from their bodies."

"I love you," he said.
"I know," she said.
"Too late," he said.
"Too late," she said.

"Life is no damn good."

"But fate has made me a machine. That's the only problem I cannot solve. That is the only problem I want to solve."

"I still catch myself feeling blue about things that don't matter anymore."

"He stayed away from all kinds of gatherings because he could never think of anything to say or do without a script."

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.”

Classic Vonnegut. Wry, sad, weird, political, and so very human. Will definitely come back to this. ]]> Rating869753526 Fri, 20 Jun 2025 22:35:11 -0700 <![CDATA[Olivia Boldt liked a review]]> /
Olivia Boldt liked Manny's review of Welcome to the Monkey House:
Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
"The world is overpopulated, and they have Ethical Suicide Parlors, where public minded citizens are encouraged to go in and get a lethal injection from the attractive hostesses. There's a big thermometer outside, showing how many people there currently are in the world.

So the guy comes in, and he's chatting with the hostess. He wants to know how much the mercury will go down if he decides to do it. A foot?

No, she says.

An inch?

Not quite, she says.

Suddenly, he changes his tone. Every inch, he says, represents seventeen million people.

That's not the right way to look at it, she says. But she doesn't say what is the right way to look at it.

Ever since reading this story as a teenager, I've been unable to take anyone seriously who uses the expression "That's not the right way to look at it". Not my fault. Blame the late Mr. Vonnegut.


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