Could You Repeat That? CLXII

Ill Will, Dan Chaon
No doubt this must happen to everyone at a certain age: You look up for a moment and you're not sure which life is real. You've split yourself into so many honeycombed parts that they barely notice each other--all of them pacing, concurrently, parallel streams of thought, and each one thinks of its self as me.

"Keeping Friends Close," Book Burners, Mur Lafferty, Max Gladstone, et al
Two hours, thirty-seven minutes, and fifteen seconds after Sal had left the Archives in a maelstrom of fire and chaos, Grace punched Liam in the face.

Death in a Strange Country, Donna Leon
'We are a nation of egoists. It is our glory, but it will be our destruction, for none of us can be made to concern ourselves about something as abstract as "the common good." The best of us can rise to feeling concern for our families, but as a nation few are capable of more.'
'I refuse to believe that,' Brunetti said.
'Your refusal to believe it,' the Count said with a smile that was almost tender, 'makes it no less true, Guido.'

Pandemic, AG Riddle
He knew she was a biology major and wanted to become a doctor. Her pedigree was a little more sophisticated than an orphaned oil well driller who had recently killed a man.

The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton
It gave him a strange feeling to see the wrist and leg sliced open, the chest exposed--but no bleeding. There was something wild and inhuamn about that. As if bleeding were a sign of humanity. Well, he thought, perhaps it is. Perhaps the fact that we bleed to death makes us human.

Marlena, Julie Buntin
It had been building all along, since the day I met her; it clicked into place with a twist of sadness, the opening notes of my first heartbreak.

Broken Elements, Mia Marshall
That had been the cost of my freedom, the only way I was able to live with myself: I chose to feel nothing.

Petroplague, Amy Rogers
While Ramirez tugged furiously on the wrench, Christina opened the box and imagined the appearance of her tiny viruses, a hundred times smaller than their bacterial prey.
Come on, little guys. Kill, kill, kill.

The Assassin's Blade, Sarah J Maas
She was Adarlan's Assassin; she'd freed slaves and stolen Asterion horses and won the respect of the Mute Master. Surely she could do something better than go to bed early.

Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas
"You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if you only dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That's what scares you most."

A Darker Place, Laurie R King
Oh yes; it was easy enough to recognize an omen. The difficult thing was how to read it.

Tongues of Serpents, Naomi Novik
For Consolation, if you should find yourself overcome with Passion and happen to accidentally drop Rankin down a Cliff, or by some Mischance run him through, at least I will not hear of it for as long, and anyway you are already transported, which I must call a great Convenience for Murder.

Crucible of Gold, Naomi Novik
"Wait for me, fellows--now we'll make the beast mind--"
Then he was falling to the sand and throwing his arms over his head: Kulingile was roaring, coming in over the water at full speed; roaring so it shook the trees, and his shadow poured over the bonfire like a flood.