Hi-jacking 'a silly book game' from Book Talk - pt 6

How to play:

1. Grab the book you're currently reading.
2. Find a quote which answers the question in the post above yours.
3. Tell us what book you're quoting (include author's name).
4. Find another quote from the same book (a question this time) for the next poster to answer.

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Previously, from starbox:

"The telegraph would apprise him."

Danesbury House by Mrs Henry Wood

"Oh, nurse, what have you done? Here's the baby's medicine...What have you given to him?"

"... ash-cake and pork ..."

The Water Dancer: A Novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"How you carrying it, small stepper?"

"I'll walk you" he said.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

"Are you alone?"

"Most life-forms that bustle about here cannot be seen with the naked eye"

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

"What is a tree exactly?"

" Unlike weeds, I had to be replanted, you see, given food and water".

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossseini

'Do you like it?"

"I often detested my physical circumstances, and have never felt the slightest urge to return"

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

"Do we have an idea of what might cause such a thing?"

In the summer 0f 2000, the drought reached its thiird and worst year.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

"Did you ever bring Mammy up here?'

"You must be cuckoo! It's a good half hour's walk!"

The Frontenac Mystery by Francois Mauriac

"What, if I may ask, are the special features of this car?"

"Can sustain an impact from a one-ton iceberg."

Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth
by Rachel Maddow

"Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet, right?"

"They hatch immediately and begin devouring their host alive."

Buzz The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hansen

"How much honey did the Hadza eat?"

‘It’s hard to know,’

Still Life by Val McDermid

"Do you have any idea whose VW camper this is?’

"A skilled and stylish banjoist"

Billy by Pamela Stephenson

"I used to go to your school. Do they still let you go barefoot and curse?"

'we make our own rules.'

Still Life by Val McDermid

‘So why are you here, if not to steal my biscuits?’

" I'm just trying to cover all the bases."

Long Range by C. J. Box

"Is it possible there was a third bear you never saw?"

'

"There can only be a small number of animals there because there is little sunlight."

The Last Word by New Scientist

"Why do Antarctic penguins' feet not freeze?"

'thick socks under flat-soled ankle boots.'

Still Life by Val McDermid

'Politicians getting up to the usual shenanigans?’

"One can only speculate on the state of their livers."

Does Anything Eat Wasps? by New Scientist

"I've wondered why (a millipede)has so many legs?"

‘... Might just move things along more quickly.

Still Life by Val McDermid

‘Imagining things? What things?’

"I'm going to need a gun."

The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale

'Not a man of deep thoughts, huh?'

'Even if I try to think about what it means, my mind shuts down as if a blanket has been thrown over that part of my brain.'

The Missing One by Lucy Atkins

'why didn’t you want Doug here?'

"He had bad habits. You know, strange tastes."

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

"It looked like they had an intimate rapport, but when could that have developed?"

'on a Californian beach at sunset, all those years ago, when they met and fell in love.'

The Missing One by Lucy Atkins

'Did you want the money? Was that it? What did you do to my boy?’

"I believe that a cross-interrogation with the other witnesses is necessary"

Bottled Goods by Sophie Van Llewyn

"Do your teeth hurt again?"

"It does happen sometimes."

A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher
by Sue Halpern

"Can you tell me where the vending machine is?"

"I didn't have anything to say in return."

The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale

"Might I remind you that you have already used a gun and did quite well?"

"One can take issue with the particulars...within the context of a broader recognition of the overall achievement, don't you agree?"

Adeline by Norah Vincent

"That orange hair...wa she born with it, do you think?"

"Think of Trump's head more like a starting point of every root narrative we have."

Rage by Bob Woodward

"What grade would you give yourself on your handling of the coronavirus?"

'as the days, weeks and months stretch out I become less certain.'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

‘What are you trying to find out? Do you have a hypothesis about me?’

"Only basic facts. (...) You may be doing yourself grievous harm."

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

"How often must you do all this?"

"Before old age comes upon me."

Salem Chapel by Margaret Oliphant

"Have you got the two copies of the "Christian Year"?"

'Jonathan Strange loathed it so much that he tore his copy into pieces and fed it to a tinker’s donkey.'

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

'...and what, after all, is the worst that can happen?'

Just breathe in the water and fill your lungs.

The Keeper by Graham Norton

" Should she do that?"

Not my decision.

page 340, Apeirogon, by Colum McCann

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Oh, lots of people are convinced, but Patti Love's the main source."

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

"What'd Tate say about teaching her to read?"

"The new Turkish orthography must be learned fast."

Ataturk: The Birth of a Nation by Mehmet Guldiz

"Women's rights...are they now on an equal footing with men?"

'My father believed that, in understanding and in knowledge of right and wrong and in many other things, women are men’s equals and I am entirely of his opinion.'

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

'And what do you keep in such a pretty little box, sir?'

"The snakes."

Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo

"Did the convict come back?"

'He called in looking to borrow a few quid.'

The Searcher by Tana French

‘Spooked by what? Or by who?’

"That mason jar full of bootlegged liquor."

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

"What do we need all that for?"

We used to grow corn here, I say, walking down her driveway.

The Egg Collector by Monte Dwyer

'"What wrong with the bedroom we fixed for you down here?"

"Demons..could creep through a crack in the door."

Everyday Life in Babylonia and Assyria by HWF Saggs

"How did an average Babylonian actually spend his day?"

" He found a job in St. Paul."

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

"Where'd you sleep last night, hon, in a haystack?"

"I'd get two large coffees with cream and 6 sugars...while I watched movies and ate animal crackers and took trazodone and Ambien and Nembutal untill I fell asleep again."

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh

"Does it make you happy that Julie Delpy has arm flab?"

"I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised."

Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cat's Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg

"Did you see that?"

"A brain on the ground! A whole brain jiggling like a Jell-O mold."

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh

"Did you take your Risperdal?"

"They buzz. They vanish, unremembered."

How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons): Poetry by Barbara Kingsolver

"So I'm asking, was it criticism that did him in?"

'maybe it was the expectation to achieve in the first place.'

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

'You know, when you were fourteen? What did you picture yourself as?’

"A grackle"

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh

"Any last words?"

"We're so lucky to be doing what we're doing."

Llamas for Love and Money by Rosana Hart

"Well, really, what difference does it make?"

'It makes you do stupid things – things that defy all logic.'

The Humans by Matt Haig

'What was the big difference that made quoting love poetry inappropriate in this context?'

"It's too frightening."

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

"Should we leave?"

'Run away? Are you mental?'

The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig

'Why did you not go back to Mr Wormwoods Science lesson earlier today?'

"We just never got any meaningful response about what was happening."

Don't Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Priciples -- and All of Us by Rana Foroohar

Are we actually making people's lives better?

‘We are miracles or horrors,’ he said quietly, ‘depending on how you wish to see us.’

The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice

‘Where are Those Who Must Be Kept?’

"The lower Brahmaputra Valley"

Dictionary of Languages by Andrew Dalby

"Why are Achehnese and Cham closely related?"

"Every day brings some creepy new revelation."

Don't Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles -- and All of Us by Rana Foroohar

"What could go wrong?"

"Quite useless, of course, No commercial value."

The Great Automatic Grammatizator by Roald Dahl

"What do they do with iron?"

"Look at me, I'm ironing, look how well I'm doing it, I iron much better than you, I'm the best, I do it properly".

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

"If you were a dog, what do you think you would be?"

"My aunt says I'm a get-along type."

The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead

"What kind of people leave for California in the middle of the night?"

"These brats we've been hearing about."

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

"Are you alright? Are there any bits of you missing?"

"Ain't had trouble since that one time."

The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead

"Where are you headed?"

'right down to the middle and straight through to the other side.'

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan

'What had driven him to that place, to that quivering moment?'

"Complete back door access to their data."

Fair Warning by Michael Connelly

"Are you putting this into a story?"

Yes, stories were for formed with words, spoken or written - even pictures, she argued inwardly, presuppose words.

Drylands by Thea Astley

Did they suspect that she was slandering the town?

"No doubt about it."

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter

"People are interested in it?"

Someone's planning a party.

The River Home by Hannah Richell

"Ah, who doesn't love a good wedding?"

“if you go to a wedding, they sometimes add a sliver of gold to the cardamom and lime paste.”

The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje

“What is that, Uncle?”

"I believe it's some kind of ritual purification."

Cleaning the Gold by Lee Child, Karin Slaughter

"So what kind of separate thing could it be?"

"A beautiful long haired cat"

Have you fed the Cat? by Michele Coxon

"!How on earth did you get so fat?"

"Revenge eaten way cold."

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman

"Would a discussion about nutrition be apropos?"

"When we got back, I said to myself "I'll never take another drop!" Well, I never told a bigger lie in my whole life."

The Children of Sanchez by Oscar Lewis

"How could I make my father take any notice of us?"

"Keep your mouth shut and be right about everything."

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman

"Which is a sensitive topic, you know?"

" And all the Old Man said when I showed him my puncture wound was that I probably deserved it."

The Egg Collector by Monte Dwyer

"How far does he drive?"

"They went seven furlongs head-and-head, and you know what happened."

Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racing's Greatest Rivalry by Linda Carroll, David Rosner

"What are you watching?"

"Maybe you should come and watch sometime."

The Egg Collector by Monte Dwyer

"So what did you have in mind for a man you don't want?"

"It's better for him not to come to the house, because the day he does, I don't know which of us will come out alive."

The Children of Sanchez by Oscar Lewis

-Let's go to the "zone" where my sister works.
-And what is your sister? (the "zone" was where all the prostitutes were.)

"I don't trust this one little bit, my sister turning up out of the blue."

The Egg Collector by Monte Dwyer

"Is that the best you can do punk?"

"If that old man's game enough to sit there, I'm game enough to run him down!"

Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racing's Greatest Rivalry by Linda Carroll, David Rosner

"Am I the only one who can see so much that's right with him?"

"The cheekbones are very classical"

Bech: A Book by John Updike

"Do the windows still worry you?"

Why, just look how he recently handled the windows.

The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman

"I give you money, don't I?"

"Like a man who needs a plumber."

The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter

"So A plus B equals C, right?"

"Mother. I beg of you. leave me alone"

Doctor Pascal by Emile Zola

"Why did you avoid reading the contents of my file?"

"My job is to bring focus to the team so they stop swatting at flies and figure out where the rotting meat is."

The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter

"Are you off the record or not?"

"Don't let the shallowness fool you."

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

"You found your way home okay?"

"We reached Fort Kearney late on July third..."

The Diary Of Mattie Spencer by Sandra Dallas

"How would you like to take your dinner in a fancy restaurant?"

"That's a great idea."

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
by Mary L. Trump, Ph. D.

"Wait a second; who does she want to introduce you to?"

"...a shitty Greenlander."

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

"What I'd like to know is: what did he die of?"

"He had a heart attack."

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
by Mary L. Trump, Ph. D.

"Can I buy your hair?"

"... a single clipping..."

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoag

"What would your experts say about this glacier?"

"This isn't going to turn out well for you."

The Son by Philipp Meyer

"So what happened to the people who used to live here?"

There was no electricity or running water.

Romulus My Father by Raimond Gaita

"When would he be free of all these troubles?."

"Within two years of training, minimum."

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

"What kind of group are you in?"

"Ladylike matrons in watered silk aprons"

The Clever woman of the Family by Charlotte Mary Yonge

"Can you tell me about his eyes?"

" He had six of them, whatever they were, all identical."

The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

"If it were legal for me to have a body, what kind would you want me to have?"

"A parrot-cherub..."

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

"Is that project still going on?"

We get hostility from the nursing staff.

The Erratics by Vicki Laveau Harvie

" Does she want magazines, chocolate, a radio, socks?"

"A bag of bread too, and a salt fish and some flesh."

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe

"I an't dead though, am I?"

"No, you did great."

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

"In general, do you think it's a good idea to use one of these services?"

"You can worry about that later. Thank your lucky stars there's three of us still alive."

The sorrow of War by Bao Ninh

"How could anyone destroy a school?"

"() has proven himself to be an unrepentant reprobate and will presumably remain tight-lipped so we may never know his contacts."

The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird
by Joshua Hammer

"Doesn't he realize how discredited he is?"

"I could honestly murder him sometimes."

The Art of Keeping Secrets by Rachel Johns

'What did you get up to this evening?"

"Rock and roll, played at a very high volume."

Chances Are... by Richard Russo

"What's that poem you're always quoting?"

"Such a "Magnificat" as filled Mr Wentworth's mind with exultation"

The Perpetual Curate by Mrs Oliphant

"You are two against one- why dont you take it into your own hands and rebel?"

"I'd rather take care of it myself."

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

"Is there anything that gives you a deeper sense of satisfaction?"

"My IQ"

Expensive People by Joyce Carol Oates

"Which would you rather do? 1) Hit your mother 2) Hit your father 3) Burn down your house 4)Ea a worm

"It's all speculation right now."

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly

"What about you and the real world?"

It wasn't all beaches and dream, of course, those first few months in Chicago.

Chicago by Brian Doyle

" Did I tell you whose storage stall this is?"

"I, for one, am heartily sick of your yak-yakety-yak."

What's for Dinner? by James Schuyler

-Youre a warm person. You'll find interests.
-I'm tempted to say, like what?

I'm not sure I quite know what all that involves.

Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

"Have you had time to look at the documents I gave you?"

"It was a very good cipher, and it might have been found useful, but I did not get an opportunity to use it."

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott

"Are those letters said to be found in my house?"

Not exploding parcels or anything like that, just letters.

A Touch of Mortality by Ann Granger

" Do you have any idea who might have sent it?"

"Ornithologists."

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl
by Jonathan C. Slaght

"Where were you last year?"

'Utopia' is a pun based on two Greek words: eutopia, meaning 'good place', and outopia, meaning 'no place'.

Lost Voices by Christopher Koch

"Was there any belief that was prohibited?"

"...as they say in the muckier newspapers, never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Not Dead Yet: The Memoir by Phil Collins

"Did you perhaps have a sense of a gathering emotional storm?"

"I was certainly in love with her, and a sort of intoxication began which was not going to release me."

Lost Voices by Christopher Koch

"Can you agree to that?"

"So this all comes together to create behavior which you may find a little ... uncomfortable."

The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld

"Why was it such a secret?"

"We must do nothing to add to Lady Ashenden's embarrassment."

The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell

"What did they give you?"

" She's finally asleep, I think, but she's got enough stuff in her to knock out a Clydesdale."

Lost In The Forest by Sue Miller

" Anyone want to come along?"

"Text me when you're fifteen minutes out."

Spoils of the Dead: A Liam Campbell Novel by Dana Stabenow

"We're sure they will respond all the way out here?"

"I'll hire horses for you, if you like"

Shanks Mare by Ikku jippensha

"By the way, what did you do with the turtle?"

"That new counelor has 'em in her office."

The Dog I Loved by Susan Wilson

"You ready for some rehabilitation?"

"I suppose there's a cake in that box."

Dance With Me by Luanne Rice

"Where have you been my love?"

"The mighty Irrawaddy"

The Lacquer Lady by F Tennyson Jesse

"Is there bad news from Afghanistan?"

"Thought there was a media blackout."

Serpentine: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman

"Do people often get careless?"

In the days and weeks after the betrayal Alice struggled with her anger and disappointment.

A Life Of Her Own by Fiona McCallum

"What should I do?"

"Look out for double crossing and traps."

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

"Did he know what he was signing?"

'' Yes because of this morning."

A Life of her own by Fiona McCallum

"Do you think you'd be okay with that?"

"I think so."

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

"Well, why don't we go back to the dances?"

"Well that's a good question."

Home by Marilynne Robinson

"What right did he have to take over the house this way?"

"None worth mentioning."

The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness by John Connolly

"Some chaps just bring trouble down on themselves, don't they?"

They were vain of their freedom and their manhood, of their cleverness and their long legs, but gentlemanly all the same, and vain of that too.

Home by Marilyn Robinson

"Is he alright?"

"He misses his mother."

The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs by The New Yorker

"But why do I have to take the back elevator?"

"...so I've got you where I can keep my eye on you."

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

"What made me think I wanted life to be interesting?"

But there was truth in the inanity.

A Certain Justice by P. D. James

"How often did you see him leaving by the by the front door?"

"Every day, in the afternoon."

The Scandal of the Century: And Other Writings by Gabriel García Márquez

"Who could care about this?"

"Part of me wanted that, part of me wanted to stay".

A Certain Justice by P. D. James

"Where was his motive?"

"They're looking at the lack of water."

The Scandal of the Century: And Other Writings by Gabriel García Márquez

"Is there anything in the cupboard?"

Without waiting for a response she went over to the drinks cupboard and took out the first bottle of claret to hand, outstaring Mrs Buckley's disapproving gaze.

A Certain Justice by P. D. James

" Does it belong to you?"

"I brought canisters for everybody."

Dark Sky: A Joe Pickett Novel by C. J. Box

"Did you come out to find me?"

There were, however, certain disturbing events.

The Cleaner Of Chartres by Sally Vickers

" Can you credit it, the candle-makers are on strike?"

"I learned that men will disappear at the drop of a hat."

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance

"Why would someone want to do that?"

" They did it because they believe in "good and evil".

The Cleaner of Chartres by Sally Vickers

" Everything go all right last night with you two?"

‘I threw him upon the ground; I grasped him still tighter; and while I fixed him without motion on the floor, Marguerite wresting the dagger from his hand, plunged it repeatedly in his heart till He expired.’

The Monk by Matthew Lewis

‘The Baroness Lindenberg?’ cried another of the Strangers eagerly; ‘Where is She? Is She not with you?’

"We've been feeding her cheese and pancakes all morning!"

Hero Dogs: How a Pack of Rescues, Rejects, and Strays Became America's Greatest Disaster-Search Partners
by Wilma Melville with Paul Lobo

"Would they come back to haunt her?"

All they could do now was hope.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

" What do you mean by that?"

"You know more than you think."

Spin by Patricia Cornwell

"Do you wish to reconnect with her?"

“So I demonstrated my unflagging devotion to her memory by immediately developing a heavy crush on this stripper who had Thumper tattooed right beneath her G-string, barely an inch from her shaved pussy or as she liked to call it—‘The Happiest Place On Earth.’”

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

“How could anyone be lost in a house for days anyway?”

"Time is never reliable in dreams."

Year's Best SF 7 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer

"Would there be anything to stop me from going out to the street?"

The thermometer outside the kitchen window showed -6 C.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

"Do You Mind if I come with you?"

"Anytime."

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

"You talk much to Audrey?"

Today he would have to make time to call her..

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

" Have you thought about moving? "

"To survive, we must move, and so must both our victims and our enemies."

The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens--and Ourselves
by Arik Kershenbaum

"Where are the good foraging sites?"

“As I discovered, the refrigerator wasn’t empty but there wasn’t any food in it either.”

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

“Will I really see you in ten days?”

"Definitely."

Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another by Matt Taibbi

"What is the purpose of the anonymity?"

"Men take very little encouragement...No woman is safe. Not even a woman like me."

The Rapture by Claire McGlasson

"Tap, tap. What's that?"

The click of a door latch. That was all.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

"What happened?"

“Just a slight decrease in illumination and a little breathing difficulty.”

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

“Had I been thinking of a woman?”

"The blonde young woman stood; her dimples flashed as she smiled."

Twisted Vines by Carole Price

"Where were you when he started shooting?"

" ... a remote forest on the border ... "

Apeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann

"Do you see how it finishes?"

" It was a bit too "happy ever after for me".

The Keeper Of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

"Is that why he stopped writing?"

"All sorts of rumors swirling around back then."

Riddle Island: An Alex McKnight Short Story by Steve Hamilton

"What did your old friend tell you?"

"From what Anthony told me about her, I reckon you're more alike than you realize."

The Keeper Of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

"Why don't we ask her?"

"She notices things no one else does and stores them away."

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

"But when exactly did you want to be there?"

"Wednesday will be fine".

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin

"Is there a job vacant?"

“But for many, the prospect of an automated future raises only one immediate question: what will happen if a robot takes my job?”

Work : a deep history, from the stone age to the age of robots by James Suzman

“Why, in an era of unprecedented abundance, do we remain so preoccupied with scarcity?”

"The older I get, the more I understand that life is generally the pursuit of desires.

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

"Why do we see the boundaries people create for themselves as challenges?"

“… because there are simply not enough resources to satisfy everybody’s wants…”

Work : a deep history, from the stone age to the age of robots by James Suzman

“\W\hat will happen if a robot takes my job?”

"You"ll find another job."

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett"

"Why don't you just call Mr. Song?""

"That's what they all say."

Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach

"This isn't working is it?"

“Something is right or something is wrong, and if it’s wrong you’re expected to notice it and, by way of yet more scrawling, repair it.”

Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer

“And that’s often the problem, isn’t it?”

" But not like it could have been. So I want to change that now."

Home by Marilynne Robinson

"What does it matter?"

“Many, many people get this wrong, so if you can get it right you’ll earn a slew of brownie points.”

Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer

“I mean, truly, do you like the way this looks?”

"There's something missing!"

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

"Why did you get some without my permission?"

+

“In these societies the obligation to share was open-ended and the amount of stuff that you gave away was determined by how much stuff you had relative to others.”

Work : a deep history, from the stone age to the age of robots by James Suzman

“And was life really as tough for them as everyone imagined?”

"Nothing that you see or hear or read will be likely to exaggerate the physical discomfort or material losses due to these storms."

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan

"I ask you again: how long are we gonna stay here?"

“‘I don’t know. It depends upon you,’ he said, and was immediately horror-stricken at his own words.”

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“But you’re not making a mistake?”

"The good news is, we're trying to fix what we ruined."

Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero by Christopher McDougall

"How about we give that a try?"

"Yes. I definitely want to work it."

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

"The victim's wife has been notified?"

"I'll leave you to it."

Migrations: A Novel by Charlotte McConaghy

"Can't I do the labs?"

"No, not until we were on our way back."

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

"Can you give me some timings?"

“This was around 8,000 years ago, when some agricultural societies started to generate big enough food surpluses to sustain large urban populations.”

Work : a deep history, from the stone age to the age of robots by James Suzman

“\W\hy was life in these societies so much more laborious than it was for foragers?”

"The young state ... prioritized heavy industry over all other areas of development. This resulted in a shortage of food and consumer goods."

The Zookeepers' War: An Incredible True Story from the Cold War by J. W. Mohnhaupt

"And where are you headed?"

"I am going to France, where I should have gone in the first place."

Friday's Girl by Charlotte Bingham

"To France for the reason of?"

"Part of me had always harbored the hope I would get back there again, to stand in the humid summer dusk and watch the spectacle once more."

A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds by Scott Weidensaul

"... where were you that you stayed so dry?"

“A black awning stretched out above them, filled to bursting with water, and drops of rain trickled down the big metal posts that held it up.”

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock

“Surely you’d like that too?”

"It's been something I've been wanting for a long time."

Ill Wind by Nevada Barr

"You had late shift?"

"...night-herding again."

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

"Who's in charge of spankings, then?"

"Uncle Laak, the Registrar of Files."

Vagabonds by Jingfang Hao

"Is my grandfather a dictator?"

"I have a hunch he was merely threatening to hang a nobleman."

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

"Destiny has led you to our chicken coop, has it?"

“One thing’s certain, this night has decided my fate.”

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Married already?”

"So far, none have come away with a wedding ring."

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg

"Do you REALLY expect me to sleep with a skeleton under my bed?"

"I know it's useless, but I want to apologize on behalf of my teacher."

Vagabonds by Jingfang Hao

"Was this a great crime?"

"The next time you decide to massacre one of your schoolmates, look at who's at home, will you?"

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

"Why didn't I ship out to Tasmnania?"

"Our life in the past, and also the causes of the war."

Vagabonds by Jingfang Hao

"Can you walk now?"

“‘He’s broken his leg too, so they say,’ the general was saying.”

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Is he killed or not?”

"...he came limping out from behind the mudstone, shirt torn, hat gone, chin a little bloody, scarpes on every patch of skin that we could see."

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

"Venison stroganoff, how does that sound to everybody?"

"'Nah, I got something else I want to do'" (21)

Like A Woman by Debra Busman

"'Do I know you?'" (166)

" You must be Juliet."

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves

"Do you think I could bring it in?"

"'Ready to get down to it, I should think, eh?'" (39)

Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander by Ann Herendeen

"What was he to do now?"

"THe teacher ran off with that preacher."

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

"You two are in distress, I take it?"

"We will all starve."

The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greeley

"What have you been doing?'

"'Of course we have to change this regime and get rid of this man . . . But above all, we have to change ourselves'" (105, ellipses in original)

The Last Man Takes LSD: Foucault and the End of Revolution by Mitchell Dean & Daniel Zamora

"Who still wants to rule? Who obey?" (9)

"My grandmother"

Book Love by Debbie Tung

"How about you?"

"I think I'm going to throw up."

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

"Say you buy Eunice's place. You're going to farm it how?"

"The complicity of local governments rarely comes free, and then there's the cost of waging advertising campaigns against the defenders of nature and human dignity, dismissing them as advocates of backwardness who only want to scare off foreign investment and sabotage economic development. " (220)

Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking Glass World by Eduardo Galeano

"Picturesque, maybe even pleasant, but deep down what are they?" (57)

“Ah! oysters.”

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Have you got a sledge?”

"When she left Esther's house, Acilde had avoided official taxis and the metro, where cameras could follow her, and taken a ride in a public car" (44)

Tentacle by Rita Indiana

"Everybody loves them because of their goddamned revolution but how long is that good for?" (41)

“When viewed against the backdrop of millions of years of human history, the transition from foraging to food production was as revolutionary as anything before or since.”

Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots by James Suzman

“Why do we now afford work so much more importance than our hunting and gathering ancestors did?”

"'on the one side, the entire will of the people, on the other the machine guns'" (130)

The Last Man Takes LSD: Foucault and the End of Revolution by Mitchell Dean and Daniel Zamora

"'This is a problem: how to solve it?'" (142)

Her methods were varied. 'Strength through gentleness' was a motto that she often repeated to herself.

"Islands of Mercy" by Rose Tremain

"So now it is the humble nurse that must find a cure for the doctor?'"

""'Her, I don't know her'" (56).

The Forbidden Woman by Malika Mokeddem

"Why isn't she at school?" (55)

“The schools are no good to me, but positively harmful, as I told you.”

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Do you admit, prisoner in the dock, the fact of the removal of the bacon?”

"There was nothing that one guy could do about it" (240)

"Radicalized" in Radicalized by Cory Doctorow

"What if they followed him?" (248)

"The Masque of the Red Death" in same book

"There'll probably be some reintroduction issues."

Why Peacocks?: An Unlikely Search for Meaning in the World's Most Magnificent Bird by Sean Flynn

"Is this prolonging something awful?"

"Bodies should decompose, and be recycled" (35)

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

"How did he die?" (36)

"Once you dig in and set, buddy, you stop moving."

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

"What'd you hear?

The relentless cry of the gibbon was heard again.

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain

"Did I not see it in both your faces?"

"Did you learn what you wanted?" (142)

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

"Why are you in the library before breakfast?" (137)

"Of course I have been rather reckless."

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

"And how are we this morning?"

"Mahit had no idea what to say to that" (199).

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

"After so deliberately getting rid of what allies she had, who would trust her?" (199).

"She took the fall for all of you."

Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service by Carol Leonnig

"Where are all the other guys?"

“The wife did not leave her own room, the husband had not been at home for three days. The children ran wild all over the house; the English governess quarreled with the housekeeper, and wrote to a friend asking her to look out for a new situation for her; the man-cook had walked off the day before just at dinner time; the kitchen-maid, and the coachman had given warning.”

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Are there any papers from the office?”

"There are all sorts of other subjects we could profitably spend our time on right now" (313)

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

"Are you concerned you might make a similar mistake, Ambassador?" (312-3)