- peter and the starcatchers, dave barry & ridley pearson
- "to his relief, he found molly immediately; she was standing on the aft deck, looking back at the approaching storm. he called her name, and she turned. peter's heart fluttered when he saw in her eyes how glad she was to see him." (p. 176)
- the goldfinch, donna tartt
- "everything came alive in her company; she cast a charmed theatrical light about her so that to see anything through her eyes was to see it in brighter colors than ordinary." (p. 8)
- "this girl had bright red hair; her movements were swift, her face sharp and mischievous and strange, and her eyes were an odd color, a golden honeybee brown. and though she was too thin, all elbows, and in a way almost plain, yet there was something about her too that made my stomach go watery." (p. 30-31)
- "we looked at each other, for a long strange moment that i've never forgotten, actually, like two animals meeting at , during which some clear, personable spark seemed to fly up through his eyes and i saw the creature he really was – and he, i believe, saw me." (p. 42)
- ender's game, orson scott card
- "he whispered, 'ender, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i know how it feels, i'm sorry, i'm your brother, i love you.'" (p. 45)
- "'valentine loves me.' 'with all her heart. completely, unstintingly, she's devoted to you, and you adore her. i told you it wouldn't be easy.'" (p. 54)
- "he would not cry. until that night, when the lights went dim, and in the distance he could hear several boys whimpering for their mothers or fathers or dogs. then he could not help himself. his lips formed valentine's name. he could hear her voice laughing in the distance, just down the hall. he could see mother passing his door, looking in to be sure he was all right. he could hear father laughing in the video. it was all so clear, and it would never be that way again." (p. 76)
- "dap came to the door that night and moved quietly among the bed, touching a hand here, a forehead there. where he went there was more crying, not less. the touch of kindness in this frightening place was enough to push some over the edge into tears." (p. 77)
- "'i wanted to learn what it was like to have a friend.' alai nodded soberly. 'always my friend, always the best of my friends,' he said." (p. 102)
- "alai suddenly kissed ender on the cheek and whispered in his ear, 'salaam.'" (p. 102)
- "maybe the word had some private and powerful meaning for alai alone. whatever it meant to alai, ender knew that it was sacred; that he had uncovered himself for ender, as once ender's mother had done, when he was very young, before they put the monitor in his neck, and she had put her hands on his head when she thought he was asleep, and prayed over him. ender had never spoken of that to anyone, not even to mother, but had kept it as a memory of holiness, of how his mother loved him when she thought that no one, not even he, could see or hear. that was what alai had given him; a gift so sacred that even ender could not be allowed to understand what it meant. after such a thing nothing could be esaid. alai reached his bed and turned around to see ender. their eyes held for only a moment, locked in understanding." (p. 103)
- "'i can't pretend i like the way they're screwing around with us, but i do like one thing – that i've got an army that can handle it.' after that, if he had asked them to follow him to the moon without space suits, they would have done it." (p. 223)
- "ender didn't wave when she walked down the hill toward him, didn't smile when she stepped onto the floating boat slip. but she knew that he was glad to see her, knew it because of the way his eyes never left her face." (p. 274)
- "'see what i'm becoming, val?' he said softly. 'even you are afraid of me.' and he touched her cheek so gently that she wanted to cry. like the touch of his soft baby hand when he was still an infant. she remembered that, the touch of his soft and innocent hand on her cheek." (p. 279)
- "earth was the constant noise of crickets and winds and birds. and the voice of one girl, who spoke to him out of his far-off childhood. the same voice that had once protected him from terror. the same voice that he would do anything to keep alive, even return to school, even leave earth behind again for another four or forty or four thousand years." (p. 286-287)
- the color purple, alice walker
- "my little girl she look up and sort of frown. she fretting over something. she got my eyes just like they is today. like everything i seen, she seen, and she pondering it. i think she mine. my heart say she mine." (p. 13)
- "lord, i wants to go so bad. not to dance. not to drink. not to play card. not even to hear shug avery sing. i just be thankful to lay eyes on her." (p. 25)
- "i think my heart gon fly out my mouth when i see one of her foots come poking out...she look so stylish it like the trees all round the house draw themself up tall for a better look...come on in, i want to cry. to shout. come on in. with god help, celie going to make you well." (p. 45)
- "i need to see her eyes. i feel like once i see her eyes my feets can let go the spot where they stuck." (p. 47)
- "they have made three babies together but he squeamish bout giving her a bath. maybe he figure he start thinking bout things he shouldn't. but what bout me? first time i got the full sight of shug avery long black body with it black plum nipples, look like her mouth, i thought i had turned into a man." (p. 49)
- "i wash her body, it feel like i'm praying. my hands tremble and my breath short." (p. 49)
- "shug avery sit up in bed a little today. i wash and comb out her hair. she got the nottiest, shortest, kinkiest hair i ever saw, and i loves every strand of it. the hair that come out in my comb i kept." (p. 53)
- "my head droop so it near bout in my glass. then i hear my name. shug saying celie. miss celie. and i look up where she at. she say my name again. she say this song i'm bout to sing is call miss celie's song. cause she scratched it out of my head when i was sick. first she hum it a little, like she do at home. then she sing the words. it all about some no count man doing her wrong, again. but i don't listen to that part. i look at her and i hum along a little with the tune. first time somebody made something and name it after me." (p. 73)
- "i don't fight sofia battle, he say. my job to love her and take her where she want to go." (p. 82)
- "if you was my wife, she say, i'd cover you up with kisses stead of licks, and work hard for you too." (p. 109)
- "nobody ever love me, i say. she say, i love you, miss celie. and then she haul off and kiss me on the mouth. um, she say, like she surprise. i kiss her back, say, um, too. us kiss and kiss till us can't hardly kiss no more. then us touch each other." (p. 112-113)
- "me and shug sound asleep. her back to me, my arms round her waist. what it like? little like sleeping with mama, only i can't hardly remember ever sleeping with her. little like sleeping with nettie, only sleeping with nettie never feel this good. it warm and cushiony, and i feel shug's big tits sorta flop over my arms like suds. it feel like heaven is what it feel like. wake up sugar, i say. they back. and shug roll over, hug me, and git out of the bed." (p. 114)
- "shug tell everybody i got a fever and she put me to bed. it probably catching, she say to mr. maybe you better sleep somewhere else. but she stay with me all night long." (p. 120)
- "but i miss you so much. please write to me, soon as you have a chance. every day i think about you. every minute... but god, i miss you, celie. i think about the time you laid yourself down for me. i love you with all my heart." (p. 127)
- "celie, it seemed as good a time as any to put my arms around him. which i did. and words long buried in my heart crept to my lips. i stroked his dear head and face and i called him darling and dear... you may have guessed that i loved him all along; but i did not know it. oh, i loved him as a brother and respected him as a friend, but celie, i love him bodily, as a man! i love his walk, his size, his shape, his smell, the kinkiness of his hair. i love the very texture of his palms. the pink of his inner lip. i love his big nose. i love his brows. i love his feet. and i love his dear eyes in which the vulnerability and beauty of his soul can be plainly read." (p. 238)
- "our days are fuller than ever, our sojourn in england already a dream. but all things look brighter because i have a loving soul to share them with." (p. 243)
- "i can't get over having a house. soon as daisy leave me with the keys i run from one room to another like i'm crazy. look at this, i say to shug. look at that! she look, she grin. she hug me whenever she git the chance and i stand still. you doin' all right, miss celie, she say. god knows where you live." (p. 246)
- "i love you, i say. whatever happen, whatever you do, i love you." (p. 251)
- "i don't believe you dead. how can you be dead if i still feel you? maybe, like god, you changed into something different that i'll have to speak to in a different way, but you not dead to me nettie. and never will be. sometime when i get tired of talking to myself i talk to you. i even try to reach our children." (p. 260)
- "i'm real sorry she left you, celie. i remember how it felt when she left me. then the old devil put his arms around me and just stood there on the porch with me real quiet. way after while i bent my stiff neck onto his shoulder. here us is, i thought, two old fools left over from love, keeping each other company under the stars." (p. 271)
- "just because i came back with you, don't think i am saying yes to marriage, says tashi. oh yes you are, says adam, heatedly, but through a yawn. you promised your mother. i promised your mother. nobody in america will like me, says tashi. i will like you, says adam." (p. 278)
- "well, you got me behind you, anyway, say harpo. and i loves every judgment you ever made. he move up and kiss her where he nose was stitch. sofia toss her head. everybody learn something in life, she say. and they laugh." (p. 282)
- "us sew, i say. make idle conversatioin. how idle? she ast. what do you know, i think. shug jealous. i have a good mind to make up a story just to make her feel bad. but i don't. us talk bout you, i say. how much us love you. she smile, come put her head on my breast. let out a long breath." (p. 284)
- "when nettie's foot come down on the porch i almost die. i stand swaying, tween albert and shug. nettie stand swaying tween samuel and i reckon it must be adam. then us both start to moan and cry. us totter toward one nother like us use to when us was babies. then us feel so weak when us touch, us knock each other down. but what us care? us sit and lay there on the porch inside each other's arms. after while, she say celie. i say nettie." (p. 286)
- kindred, octavia e. butler
- "'do i look like someone you can come home to from where you may be going?' 'i need you here to come home to. i've already learned that.' he gave me a long thoughtful look. 'just keep coming home,' he said finally. 'i need you here too.'" (p. 51)
- "i took his hand and held it, glad of its familiarity. and yet i wished he were back at home. in this place, he was probably better protection for me than free papers would have been, but i didn't want him here. i didn't want this place to touch him except through me." (p. 58-59)
- the frangipani hotel, violet kurdsmith
- "'i would do anything for either of you, anything that you asked. and i would do it no matter the sacrifice required. for you are my only family.'" (p. 216)
- river woman, river demon, jennifer givhan
- "if karma speaks, her words are only a migrage – a manifestation of my longing to hear her voice again. desire compels me to fabricate what i can't remember." (loc. 5185)
- "our bodies press together, at first maybe in annoyance or mock anger, and then in something stickier, something that pooled inside me when we grabbed hands to run through the alleyways toward the donut shop or fell to my bed laughing." (loc. 5163)
- "karma's bangs scraggled into her beige eyes, and i reached out to brush a stray piece behind her ear, almost forgetting how scared we were. she was the strangest, most lovely girl i'd ever known – the kind of strange and lovely where you have to keep looking, hard, but once you see it, it never leaves you." (loc. 5927)
- the bad beginning, lemony snicket
- "violet knelt at klaus's side, giving him a hug to try to make him feel better. sunny crawled over to his glasses, picked them up, and brought them to him." (p. 47)
- gone girl, gillian flynn
- "'do they still make pimento loaf?' she said by way of greeting, not looking up, just knowing it was me, and i felt the relief i usually felt when i saw her: things might not be great, but things would be okay." (p. 20)
- carmilla, j. sheridan le fanu
- "there could be no harm certainly in my seeing her, if we both wished it; and, with this permission i sent, forthwith, to know whether she would allow me to visit her for a few minutes in her room. the servant returned immediately to say that she desired nothing more." (p. 16)
- "'how wonderful!' she exclaimed. 'twelve years ago, i saw your face in a dream, and it has haunted me ever since.' 'wonderful indeed!' i repeated, overcoming with an effort the horror that had for a time suspended my utterances. 'twelve years ago, in vision or reality, i certainly saw you. i could not forget your face. it has remained before my eyes ever since.'" (p. 17)
- "i felt reassured, and continued more in the vein which hospitality indicated, to bid her welcome, and to tell her how much pleasure her accidental arrival had given us all, and especially what a happiness it was to me. i took her hand as i spoke. i was a little shy, as lonely people are, but the situation made me eloquent, and even bold. she pressed my hand, she laid hers upon it, and her eyes glowed, as, looking hastily into mine, she smiled again, and blushed." (p. 17-18)
- "'as i got from under the bed, i heard someone crying; and looking up, while i was still upon my knees, i saw you – most assuredly you – as i see you now; a beautiful young lady, with golden hair and large blue eyes, and lips – your lips – you as you are here. your looks won me; i climbed on the bed and put my arms around you, and i think we both fell asleep... your face i have never forgotten since. i could not be misled by mere resemblance. you are the lady whom i saw then.'" (p. 18)
- "'i don't know why we should be most afraid of the other,' she said, again smiling. 'if you were less pretty i think i should be very much afraid of you... at all events it does seem as if we were destined, from our earliest childhood, to be friends. i wonder whether you feel as strangely drawn towards me as i do to you; i have never had a friend – shall i find one now?' (p. 18-19)
- "she held me close in her pretty arms for a moment and whispered in my ear, 'good night, darling, it is very hard to part with you, but good night; tomorrow, but not early, i shall see you again.'" (p. 19)
- "she used to place her pretty arms about my neck, draw me near to her, and laying her cheek to mine, murmur with her lips near my ear, 'dearest, you little heart is wounded; think me not cruel because i obey the irresistible law of my strength and weakness; if you dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. in the rapture of my enormous humiliation i live in your warm life, and you shall die – die, sweetly die – into mine. i cannot help it; as i draw near to you, you, in your turn, will draw near to others, and learn the rapture of that cruelty, which yet is love; so, for a while, seek to know no more of me and mine, but trust me with all your loving spirit.' and when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely into her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses gently glow upon my cheek." (p. 22-23)
- "sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration... and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips traveled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'you are mine, you shall be mine, you and i are one for ever.'" (p. 23)
- "'it has made me nervous. sit down here, beside me; sit close; hold my hand; press it hard-hard-harder.'" (p. 26)
- "'are you glad i came?' 'delighted, dear carmilla,' i answered. 'and you asked for the picture you think like me, to hang in your room,' she murmured with a sigh, as she drew her arm closer about my waist, and let her pretty head sink upon my shoulder." (p. 33)
- "'i am sure, carmilla, you have been in love; that there is, at this moment, an affair of the heart going on.' 'i have been in love with no one, and never shall,' she whispered, 'unless it should be with you.' how beautiful she looked in the moonlight!" (p. 33)
- "her soft cheek was glowing against mine. 'darling, darling,' she murmured, 'i live in you; and you would die for me, i love you so.'" (p. 33)
- "'you saw my dear ward – my child, i may call her. no creature could have been more beautiful, and only three months ago none more blooming.' 'yes, poor thing! when i saw her last she certainly was quite lovely,' said my father. 'i was grieved and shocked more than i can tell you, my dear friend; i knew what a blow it was to you.' he took the general's hand, and they exchanged a kind pressure. tears gathered in the old soldier's eyes. he did not seek to conceal them." (p. 57)
- bitter orange, claire fuller
- "'we missed you. i missed you,' he said, and i was aware of my lungs and my liver and my heart." (p. 174)
- last days, adam nevill
- "an observation he wished to share with dan, without whom he felt exposed and vulnerable in the strange city. dan had called him five times during the flight. just seeing his name in the missed calls list had flooded kyle with relief and a welcome glow of warmth and familiarity; one night away from his best friend and he desperately wanted to repair any damage caused during their fractious flight back from seattle." (p. 376)
- the fisherman, john langan
- "once we'd gone our separate ways, everything seemed a bit less bright than it had while we were sitting together." (p. 5)
jan 1 2023 ∞
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