Tess of the Road, Rachel Hartman
Tess clasped a hand to her heart (she felt it beating even through Florian's jacket) and wished with all her might. Not for the classical piratical standbys--vengeance, fame, or fortune--but that she might shed the past like a skin and walk on with nothing, empty and new.
Snacking Cakes, Yossy Arefi
Okay, okay, raisin haters--you win.
Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak, Charlie Jane Anders
Rachel never told Yiwei she loves him before. Maybe she should have picked a more romantic setting, like a moonlit beach, instead of a mutilation cave.
Akata Woman, Nnedi Okorafor
"Seeing is not the same as caring," the magician replied. "You're American; you should understand that more than anyone."
Saga, Volume One, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples, x2
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, Nghi Vo
They were Dieu's favorite lines, and she was almost afraid to look up to see how the tiger took them. When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and too see that it is lacking.
Saga, Volume Two, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
ALANA: No talking after sunset.
MARKO: Peas. Peas!
ALANA: Mess is closed for the night, moony. Not my fault you didn't eat your dinner.
MARKO: Peas...be unto us. I and you. Not as alone...as we feel.
The Bruising of Qilwa, Naseem Jamnia
Parviz groaned below them, and Firuz dropped to his side, thoughts scattering like coconut seeds bobbing on the Qilwan sea.
In the Serpent's Wake, Rachel Hartman
Once upon a time, there was a quigutl whose name meant "death." She had always tried not to take it to heart, but that's the sort of name that follows you around and makes you pessimistic about your purpose.
Ocean's Echo, Everina Maxwell
"We have solved your situation for you," Tennal announced grandly.
"You haven't!" Zin said. "You absolutely haven't!"
"We have fucked up the situation," Tennal amended, just as grandly, "in a new and interesting way."
Into the Riverlands, Nghi Vo
We belong to everyone and no one, and when some bandit sets up as a ruler, the usual response is to call them what they want to be called and then not cry very much when the next murderer comes in.
Saga, Volume Three, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Over the years, we met every kind of person imaginable. But no one makes worse first impressions than writers.
Ogres, Adrian Tchaikovsky
The ogres have set up their pressure-cooker cities so that it's work or die, and you come to them and say, what if...neither?
Saga, Volume Four, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
What Moves the Dead, T Kingfisher
It is very unpleasant to sit down to a meal when you are trying to determine which of your breakfast companions is a murderer.
Even Though I Knew the End, CL Polk
"Try your coffee first."
I took my first sip and God stroked my hair. It was smooth, the unsweet hint of fruit and flowers unfolding as I swallowed. When I opened my eyes, Marlowe was watching me like she saw something good to eat.
The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal
Tesla shifted in her chair, trying to ease the tension in the base of her spine. And by tension, she meant pain, and by pain she meant red webs of anger that spread out like a spider's revenge.
Hallowe'en Party, Agatha Christie
"It is not unkind in murder to say what the victim was like," said Poirot. "It is very, very necessary. The personality of the victim is the cause of many a murder."
Nona
And the first child asked: Dost thou oppose me, and thou half-dead?
And the second child said, I am as one half-dead, but you would be two-halves dead, bitch.
Nettle and Bone, T Kingfisher
"She's a very wicked godmother, isn't she?" asked Marra.
"Evil magic could flow through her like a river in full flood. Fortunately for the rest of us, there's a lot of Agnes in the way. Whether that makes her wicked, I'll leave to philosophers."
Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Once there would have been nothing here, no light, no atmosphere, no power, no gravity at all. Then came Lain, mother goddess in miniature, to bring definition to the void.
Rivers of London, Ben Aaronovitch
'Are there really gods?'
'I never worry about the theological questions,' said Nightingale.
Saga, Volume Nine, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
UPSHER: But if I worried about how every evil son of a bitch out there would respond to what I typed, I'd never touch a keyboard again.
MARKO: All the more reason that I'm going to stick to writing novels.
UPSHER: Why, because you think made-up stories have never resulted in actual casualties? Putting new ideas into another person's head is an aggressive act, and aggressive acts have consequences. Face it, you can be a writer or a pacifist, but you can't be both.
Saga, Volume Ten, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Monstress, Volume 7: Devourer, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
MAIKA: Soft-hearted...That's what you are. That's what you'll remember.
ZINN: Certainly not. A heart could not survive what we had to become.
Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams, Bartosz Sztybor, Alessio Fioriniello, and Filipe Andrade
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Tom King, Bilquis Evely, and Matheus Lopes
From Dead to Worse, Charlaine Harris
"Miss Stackhouse," the king said, "I am in your debt."
Damn straight.
Buffalito World Outreach Project, Lawrence M Schoen
She took the doggie from my hands and pressed a medical scanner deeply into fur.
"Then I'm going to name her Regina. Regina Catherine Alyosious Nantucket Bitter Almonds St. Croix. What do you think, is it too much?"
The Hotel Nantucket, Elin Hilderbrand
"I bet the two of you will be best friends by the end of the summer."
"That's such a mom thing to say."
"Sorry," Love said. "I bet the two of you are going to hvae a tumultuous summer marked by incidents of envious backstabbing."
Season of Love, Helena Greer
"Girl," said the quiet, ancient woman, her white curls bobbing as she shook her head, "if you can't get laid and stay sober at the same time, there's something wrong with your sobriety."
Buffy the Vampire Slayer S8: Time of Your Life, Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, and Jeph Loeb, x2
BUFFY: Ooh! Ooh! Empire State Building!
WILLOW: She's never been in New York.
BUFFY: I'm the King Kong of the Worrrrld!
WILLOW: Or, apparently, a limo.
The Birthday Party, Laurent Mauvignier, translated by Daniel Levin Becker
In her kitchen, Christine thinks there's a draft somewhere, she has the feeling she heard footsteps, but no, no, surely her dog has just come back in, what else could it possibly be, there have never been any ghosts in this house.
Tricked, Kevin Hearne
I'm not sure if there's any onomatopoeia that properly describes the sound of an unholy bobcat punching its paw through a log.
Below Zero, Ali Hazelwood
He's still staring at me. Like he's found his long-missing house keys and is afraid he'll lose them again if he looks away.
Viscera, Gabriel Squailia
"My family taught me, too, to begin every burial with these words, which my mother said were true of everyone who lives long enough to walk and talk--from the most honorable person lying here, down to the very worst."
He closed his eyes and touched his chest.
"'How they tried,'" said Rafe. "'How long, how hard they tried.'"
The Lost Hero, Rick Riordan
She could smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passed in front of quaint little shops. The street was lined with bottlebrush trees and blooming azaleas as if winter was a foreign concept.
In other words: she was in California.
The Demigod Diaries, Rick Riordan
After a few lines, Candy hissed. "That is not the Bacchanalian Jingle! That is the theme song for Psych!"
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, x2
It's the final word in camouflage. Forget chucking weights around. Peeta should have gone into his private session with the Gamemakers and painted himself into a tree.
Medusa's Sisters, Lauren JA Bear
(But that's how stories are cultivated. Words and actions are sown, spreading repercussions like wildflowers: monsters begetting lovers begettting conflict begetting heroes. On and on, endlessly.)
What freedom exists when men find you dangerous!
A Long Time Dead, Samara Breger
Poppy knew of Pandora, of Psyche, of Bluebeard's wife--all women punished for their fatal curiousity. But this was her house and she was Poppy Cavendish. No door or morality tale could stop her. After all, she couldn't read.
Mammoths at the Gates, Nghi Vo
Chih's heart nearly broke when they saw Myriad Virtues where they had left her, still perched next to a plate of untouched food and a cup of undrunk wine. She gazed into the flicker of the candle flame, unmoving, as patient as the dead.
People, but not human, Chih thought with a pang, and they knelt beside Myriad Virtues, their hands folded respectfully in front of them.
The Son of Neptune, Rick Riordan
His last image of Grandmother was of her glaring out the window, as if thinking about the terrible scolding she would give the ogres when they invaded her home.
Hungry Ghost, Victoria Ying
She Is a Haunting, Trang Thanh Tran
Revenge has always been easy to understand, but hunger implies that something can be filled. What is a ghost’s limit when they have no real body?
Under One Roof, Ali Hazelwood
"I love Old Spice, by the way. Solid choice."
"Oh." Liam looks everywhere but at me. "I just grab the first one I see at the store."
I know in that moment, I simply know, that Old Spice is William K. Harding's favorite brand of personal hygiene products, and that he suffers deep shame because of it.
The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen, Sean Sherman
We've become so accustomed to ridding our gardens and lawns of dandelion greens, purslane, plantain, and other wild greens that we've forgotten they are good food.
Moon of the Crusted Snow, Waubeshig Rice
"We've seen what this...what's the word again?"
"Apocalypse."
"Yes, apocalypse. We've had that over and over. But we always survived. We're still here. And we'll still be here, even if the power and the radios don't come back on and we never see any white people ever again."
I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Casey McQuiston
"Hi, Chloe, you have a fire in your eyes tonight and I hope it's for theater."
"It's definitely for something," she says.
"Great, no further questions."
Hurricane Diane, Madeleine George
RENEE. She also used to say there are only two ways to live: in your truth, or as a coward. As a matter of fact, that was the last thing she ever said to me.
DIANE. In my experience, it's hard to move in the world if you don't show people all of who you are.
RENEE. In my experience, it's extremely easy.
City Under One Roof, Iris Yamashita
She thought better of the whole idea and instead began reflecting on the sum of her existence. All the things she hadn't done. All the things she hadn't seen. If she were to die, her life wouldn't be even a paragraph. Maybe just a sentence. "Here lies the daughter of the owner of Star Asian Food, who delivered bad takeout to its customers."
The Headmaster's List, Melissa de la Cruz
She automatically asked for two tickets, and Hailey looked at Spencer, then at Jackson, doing some mental calculations and assumptions in her head, but Spencer was trying to keep the wasps swarming in her throat from coming out and stinging everyone with all the words she wanted to say.
The Weaver and the Witch Queen, Genevieve Gornichec
"He certainly loves a bit of drama, doesn't he?" Gunnhild drawled.
Arinbjorn, who had positioned himself against the fence on Thorolf's other side, leaned forward and looked around him at Gunnhild. "I watched you literally stab yourself the other day just to prove a point."
Dead and Gone, Charlaine Harris
Arlene and I were standing between two armed camps. I felt the sun on my arms. I felt a cold breeze pick up my hair and toss a lock playfully across my face. Over Arlene's shoulder, I saw the face of Whit's friend, and I finally remembered his name was Donny Boling. He'd had a recent haircut.
50 Pies, 50 States, Stacey Mei Yan Fong
The first slice will never be the prettiest: Like Cat Stevens and my girl Sheryl Crow said, "The first cut is the deepest." But cover that bad boy in whipped cream, ice cream, gravy, or sauce, and you'll be grand.
Bake Yourself Happy, Steph Blackwell
In a world that falsely sells perfection as a standard we should aspire to, I hope that the messiness and somewhat primal nature of baking can help you to realize that average, OK, good, and even 'oops', are all we need to aim for. With baking you can make tons of mistakes, but it usually tastes great and you can be sure that next time it will most likely be better.
Kiss Her Once for Me, Alison Cochrun
When Andrew's shirt creeps up in the back while he reaches up, Dylan distinctly notices. They're both ridiculously obvious, and this love trapezoid is definitely going to ruin our lives.
The Leftover Woman, Jean Kwok
It seemed to me these women were like skydivers without parachutes, leaping into the air, hurtling toward the ground, eyes wide open even as they faced destruction. Fallen implied an accident. Whatever this was, it was no accident.
The True Love Experiment, Christina Lauren
"We should probably not do it again."
Fizzy nods. "I agree completely. In fact, I got home and didn't think about it again, not even once. Definitely not twice in a row."
I glare down at her. "Can we at least endeavor to go about this with sincerity."
Maybe in a few months, I think, after the spotlight has turned away and the world has moved on to the next shiny thing, we can make a go of it. But that isn't how love works. No matter what poetry tells us, love isn't always patient; it is urgent and hungry, eating up all of the blank space in my head.
Georgie, All Along, Kate Clayborn
I've never seen a robe like that in my life; it reminds me of water, the way it moves. It's growing on me, the look of it on her, which is not the kind of thing I should be thinking about, especially in regard to a woman who, however toothlessly, has recently threatened to blind me.
You, Again, Kate Goldbeck
No. No no no no no.
It's impossible. Airport runs followed by dramatic speeches have a one hundred percent success rate in fiction.
This Spells Love, Kate Robb
"Oh hi, sweetheart, just wanted to check in. Mr. Zogaib called to say you're not quite open yet, and I wanted to make sure you didn't go back to your other dimension or anything."
The Mark of Athena, Rick Riordan
When he and Annabeth started dating, his mother had drummed it into his head: It's good manners to walk your date to the door. If that was true, it had to be good manners to walk her to the start of her epic solo death quest.
Crowned: Magical Folk and Fairy Tales from the Diaspora, Kahran and Regis Bethencourt
Trapped, Kevin Hearne
I have often wondered if this might not be the answer to all of Granuile's philosophical questions: We are here to create and witness beauty. Gaia creates it every day, and as part of Gaia, it is our task as well.
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Yasha Nydoorin, Cecil Castellucci, Ashley Johnson, and Matthew Mercer
I thought I was fulfilling my destiny...but many a good and evil deed have been done under the presumption of destiny.
The Decoy Girlfriend, Lillie Vale
"How am I supposed to find a boyfriend when my standards are supportive, bookish, cinnamon-roll fictional men written by women?" Freya demands--quite reasonably, she might add.
"You might start by turning a little to your left," suggests Steph.
The Modern Bestiary: A Curated Collection of Wondrous Wildlife, Joanna Bagniewska
Sometimes if both slugs are stuck (or perhaps vengeful?), apophallation is reciprocal.
Thirsty Mermaids, Kat Leyh
Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America, Matika Wilbur
There is a collective fire burning inside of the hearts of Indigenous people, and that fire wants truth.
I asked Miss Helen if I could take her picture the next day.
She laughed loudly. "Why would you want to take my picture?"
"Because, Miss Helen, everybody in Paiute Country told me about you, that you are the last carrier of the Lovelock Paiute language, and it would be my honor to take your picture."
Tears streamed down her face. "It's true," she said. "I am the only one left here that I can talk to."
I couldn't help but cry myself.
A Very Asian Guide to Filipino Food, Amira Humes
Kamayan is more than just food: it's a time to connect with those sitting around you. People tell jokes and stories during kamayan and everyone feels like family by the end, even if they aren't related.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8: Predators and Prey (Volume 5), Jane Espenson, Steven S DeKnight, Drew Z Greenberg, et al, x2
HARMONY: Everyone's curious about us vamps these days. I think I fingered a zeitgeist.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8: Retreat (Volume 6), Jane Espenson and Georges Jeanty, x2
BUFFY: I'm starting to think there's a reason no one's written a suspense novel where the conflict is wolves vs. tanks.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8: Twilight (Volume 7, Brad Meltzer and Georges Jeanty, x2
WILLOW: Oh. You're getting faster.
BUFFY: Y'think?
DAWN: Monkey's paw!
The Librarianist, Patrick deWitt
"I keep meaning to get to books but life distracts me."
"See, for me it's just the opposite," Bob said. He thought it a good quip but its quality was not remarked on.
Stuck with You, Ali Hazelwood
There are cars in the distance, and people laughing, and emails piling up in my inbox, eighteen floors above us. But my eyes hold Erik's for a long, stretched-out moment, and when he smiles at me, I notice that his eyes are just as blue as the sky.
Cold People, Tom Rob Smith
"I lost my sons. I lost my husband. I'm the last of my family. I want to know what they died for. I'm owed that, at least."
Yotam replied, as gently as he could: "We've all lost someone. Most of us have lost everyone. And none of us are owed anything."
Natural Beauty, Ling Ling Huang
Beauty only reaches so far. What would a Mahler symphony be without its dissonances? Not only the excruciating ones that resemble keening, but the gentle ones, too, that bruise the listener like the memory of a beloved's fingertips. At the end of the day, it was when composers tried to grasp something at the edge of beauty, or just past it, that made the most meaningful and challenging music to work on.
What You Are Looking For is in the Library, Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
"You can decide things, but there's no guarantee everything will go as planned." Kiriyama's voice breaks off and he pauses. "In a world where you don't know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now."
How to Focus, Thich Nhat Hanh
Intellectually we know we should live in the present moment. Yet we're always being pushed by our habit energy of rushing around. We've lost our capacity to be in the present moment. This is why practicing mindfulness and concentration is so important; talking and reading about it is not enough.
Much Ado About Nada, Uzma Jalaluddin
She resisted the urge to ask why he carried around so many liability waivers, and if it was because of his face.
Front Desk, Kelly Yang
I used to think being successful meant having enough to eat, but now that I was getting free lunch at school, I wondered if I should set my standards higher.
How to Love, Thich Nhat Hanh
If we were to remove all the non-flower elements from the flower, there would be no flower left. A flower cannot be by herself alone. A flower can only inter-be with all of us. It's much closer to the truth. Humans are like this too. We can't exist by ourselves alone. We can only inter-be.
American Mermaid, Julie Langbein
I write back:
Okay, I understand that a party is more visually interesting than a single woman on a pier. But eighteen? Who gives a fuck about eighteen-year-olds?
Murphy and Randy go silent for three hours in a way that suggests that many people give many fucks about eighteen-year-olds.
99 Percent Mine, Sally Thorne
This is getting too hard. He pulls me close with fang-and-claw intensity, then expects me to sit here like a sister. I'm a kitchen-trashing psycho, but at least I know it, and I'm consistent.
Open Throat, Henry Hoke
she sees the dead man and she sees that I made him that way and her fists clench and she shudders like an earthquake
we meet for the first time
hello little slaughter
this is what a goddess looks like
Check & Mate, Ali Hazelwood
"So," Darcy interjects, "when are you guys going to have sex?"
Nolan's "Hard to tell" overlaps with my "Never!" and completely swallows it.
I face-palm.
Hunted, Kevin Hearne
The terror she inspired gave peace its serenity; the pain she caused gave health its lustre; her failure to love made me grateful for my ability to do so, and I realized, far too late, that though I never did or could have loved her as she might have wished, I should have loved her more.
The Guest, Emma Cline
People like Helen loved to display the artifacts of creativity as if that implicated her in the process.
Throwback, Maureen Goo
It's not like I relished being some kind of bully. But sometimes--especially being Asian, being a girl--it felt good when you saw that flash of fear when people have realized they've underestimated you.
The Auburn Conference, Tom Piazza
What had I expected of the writers? They came, collected their honoraria, moved on. What was left? The books. Why ask for more?
Calling for a Blanket Dance, Oscar Hokeah
The crossing triangles inside a four-pointed star represented a gateway between suns, like a portal between worlds. But it was more than that. It had more to do with traveling, like my mother's maiden name, Hokeah. And if I didn't teach this to my grandsons, then I might be the last one to know.
Cold Curses, Chloe Neill
"When I thought about the apocalypse," she added after a moment, "I hadn't really considered the bureaucratic challenges."
Among the Ruins, Ausma Zehanat Khan
For Khattak, unlike Touka, whose job required it, the world was more than a system of barriers--it was something to lay claim to, a place of common ground. He had an openness to the world, a welcoming in, rather than a fortification of fear against the unfamiliar.
The Soulmate Equation, Christina Lauren
Did it make her a terrible person that she was surprised this date wasn't awful? The conversation flowed, the silences were easy. She hadn't spilled anything down her shirt, and he'd called her competent. It was the best date she'd had in seven years.
And that's all for now! Hopefully I'll remember to post the next edition of this sometime before next summer.
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