Books to the Ceiling

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

2010-07-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

“She was genuinely worried. First Kalle Fucking Blomkvist, then the name Zala, and now Nils Fucking Slimebag Bjurman together with an alpha male on steroids with contacts in some gang of ex-con bikers. Within a few days, several ripples of disquiet had materialized in the orderly life Salander was trying to create for herself.” – Chapter 10, pg. 141

“The three parallel investigations into the murders in Enskede churned on. Officer Bubble’s investigation enjoyed the advantages of authority. On the surface, the solution seemed to lie within reach; they had a suspect and a murder weapon that was linked to the suspect. They had an ironclad connection to one victim and a possible connection via Blomkvist to the other two victims. For Bublanski it was now basically a matter of finding Salander and putting her in a cell in Kronoberg prison.” – Chapter 18, pg. 258

“When all the media assertions were put together, the police appeared to be hunting for a psychotic lesbian who had joined a cult of Satanists that propagandized for S&M sex and hated society in general and men in particular.” – Chapter 21, pg. 313

“I’ve never been sympathetic towards people who take the law into their own hands. But I’ve never heard of anyone who had such a good reason to do so. At the risk of sounding like a cynic, what happens tonight will happen, no matter what you or I think. It’s been written in the stars since she was born. And all that remains is for us to decide how we’re going to behave towards Lisbeth if she makes it back.” – Chapter 32, pg. 490

So those were some of my favorite quotes from The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Again, I didn’t come across too many quotes worthy of copying down. Larsson seemed more concerned with storytelling than with describing mundane events in an interesting, amusing way that has never been done before. Which is probably best because “she had cut him out of her life as surgically and decisively as she deleted files from her computer” is one ridiculous metaphor. Let’s just blame the translator, shall we? Oh, and keeping with the status quo set by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it took 200 pages for this book to finally pull me in. In fact, for the first hundred pages or so, I was completely at a loss as to where the story was headed.

Is this going to be about some super hurricane/tornado named Matilda? Bjurman? Zala? Perhaps a 503 page spread advertising IKEA furniture? For a moment there, I mistakenly thought it I had picked up my old algebra textbook. At least this time the police were involved. It made things a little bit more realistic. And I definitely did a double take (those are always fun), when reaching for my water glass as I read the most important line of the book. Now I know why so many people were anxiously waiting for the third novel in the Millennium trilogy to be released… this book just ended. Without any sort of wrap up or tying of loose ends. On to the next!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2010-07-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

“After putting down the telephone the eighty-two-year-old birthday boy sat for a long time looking at the pretty but meaningless flower whose name he did not yet know. Then he looked up at the wall above his desk. There hung forty-three pressed flowers in their frames. Four rows of ten, and one at the bottom with four. In the top row one was missing from the ninth slot. Desert Snow would be number forty-four.”
– Prologue, pg. 6

“Armansky’s star researcher was a pale, anorexic young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows. She had a wasp tattoo about an inch long on her neck, a tattooed loop around the biceps of her left arm and another around her left ankle. On those occasions when she had been wearing a tank top, Armansky also saw that she had a dragon tattoo on her left shoulder blade. She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair raven black. She looks as though she had just emerged from a week-long orgy with a gang of hard rockers.”
– Chapter 2, pg. 32

“She frowned. Blomkvist’s strange behavior in the courtroom had presented an interesting challenge, and Salander did not like aborting an assignment once she had started. People always have secrets. It’s just a matter of finding out what they are.” – Chapter 7, pg. 102

“As far as he could tell, she had been looking towards the corner of the building that housed Sundström’s Haberdashery. It was a perfectly normal corner of a building, where a cross street vanished behind it. What did you see there, Harriet?” – Chapter 16, pg. 237

So those were some of my favorite quotes from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I have heard that Larsson’s Millennium trilogy is supposed to be the Lord of the Rings of mystery novels. Maybe I have forgotten how bad this genre is, but I wasn’t that impressed. First off, it annoyed the heck out of me that it took 200 pages for the two main characters to meet. Not that Salamander (you can’t describe a character as lizard-like and then name her Salander) got much page time, despite the book’s misleading title. Although, I’m glad the publisher changed it from Men Who Hated Women, because that’s just plain stupid. Also, the author is clearly male – the casual sex thing Blomkvist had going with Berger would never fly in the real world. All women are jealous. At

least he got that right at the very end with Salamander …even though the age difference made me cringe (another inaccurate male fantasy). My last and biggest gripe: How freaking cliché can you get? They both independently discover who the killer is at the same time, stupidly refuse to involve the police, and then one of them confronts him ALONE leaving the other to save the day? Yeah, we’ve never seen that happen before. EVER. Of course, I’ll still be reading the next book just because Larsson never explained what ‘All The Evil’ meant and I want to find out what Robert Lindberg has to say for himself on his M-30 next Midsummer’s Eve.

Emma by Jane Austen

2010-05-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

“The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself: these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her.” – Chapter 1, pg. 2

“I lay it down as a general rule, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him.” – Chapter 7, pg. 51

“Better to be without sense than misapply it as you do.” – Chapter 8, pg. 64

“I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing; but I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall. And, without love, I am sure I should be a fool to change such a situation as mine.”
– Chapter 10, pg. 87

“The first error, and worst, lay at her door. It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together. It was adventuring too far, assuming too much, making light of what ought to be serious – a trick of what ought to be simple. She was quite concerned and ashamed, and resolved to do such things no more.” – Chapter 15, pg. 140

“It is only by seeing women in their own homes, among their own set, just as they always are, that you can form any just judgment. Short of that, it is all guess and luck – and will generally be ill-luck. How many a man has committed himself on a short acquaintance, and rued it all the rest of his life!” – Chapter 43, pg. 385

“I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.” – Chapter 49, pg. 445

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Emma by Jane Austen.

After reading Pride & Prejudice, I was planning on tackling the rest of Jane Austen’s novels in the order they were published. But back in October, BBC (which I *think* stands for Bloody British Channel) released yet another Austen remake, so I watched it and fell in love with Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse. And I’m glad I did, because I’ve heard Emma generally isn’t the

most likeable of Austen’s heroines and that Romola’s portrayal toned down the “stuck-up bitch” aspects of her character. Also, if I didn’t know that Mr. Knightley was going to end up as Emma’s love interest, I’m 99% sure that I would have felt like that pairing came out of nowhere… which were my exact thoughts when Cher realized she loved her stepbrother at the end of Clueless (uh, yeah, for those of you that didn’t know, apparently Clueless is a remake of Emma). And knowing Frank Churchill’s secret ahead of time made the reading experience that much better because I could pick up on the subtle hints Austen dropped (er, no, he’s not gay).

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

2010-01-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

“Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death? That would be nothing, nothing at all. Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for?”– Chapter 3, pg. 30

“The Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve were brought out of their own strange world into Narnia only at times when Narnia was stirred and upset, but you mustn’t think it was always like that. In between their visits there were hundreds and thousands of years when peaceful King followed peaceful King ‘till you could hardly remember their names or count their numbers, and there was really hardly anything to put into the history books.” – Chapter 8, pg. 99

“Remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy.” – Chapter 8, pg. 103

“The spreading blackness was not a cloud at all: it was simply emptiness. The black part of the sky was the part in which there were no stars left. All the stars were falling: Aslan had called them home.” – Chapter 14, pg. 173

“I hoped that it might go on forever. I knew our world couldn’t, but I did think Narnia might. I saw it begin. I did not think I would live to see it die.”
– Chapter 14, pg. 182

“For us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” – Chapter 16, pg. 211

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis.

Finally done with Narnia! I was getting tired of reading children’s books. It makes no sense for Aslan to call on a bunch of kids to save his country. Why not John McClane or Jack Bauer? And what enjoyment do they get out of

visiting Narnia anyway? The world is three hundred years behind on technology. If some centaur told me to skin and gut my own dinner I’d be like, 'No thanks, take me to KFC, please.' I did, however, enjoy how the last few chapters tied everything together. James McAvoy (er, I mean Mr. Tumnus) even made an appearance! By this point in the series, despite my embarrassingly limited knowledge of Christian fairy tales, I figured Lewis was going to pull some apocalyptic stunt. But I wasn't expecting his vision of heaven to be so confusing: Narnias within Narnias, Englands within Englands? Let’s just get to the explanation of how they all died. Oh, train derailment. I guess technology isn’t so great after all…

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

2010-01-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

“We’ve brought the anger of Aslan on us. That’s what comes of not attending to the signs. We’re under a curse, I expect. If it was allowed, it would be the best thing we could do, to take these knives and drive them into our own hearts.”
– Chapter 9, pg. 129

“That is old Father Time, who was once a King in Overland. And now he has sunk down into the Deep Realm and lies dreaming of all the things that are done in the upper world. Many sink down, and few return to the sunlit lands. They say he will wake at the end of the world.” – Chapter 10, pg. 146

“Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia.” – Chapter 12, pg. 182

“Then he opened his mouth and blew. But this time they had no sense of flying through the air: instead, it seemed that they remained still, and the wild breath of Aslan blew away the ship and the dead King and the castle and the snow and the winter sky." – Chapter 16, pg. 237

“The opening into the hillside was left open, and often in hot summer days the Narnians go in there with ships and lanterns and down to the water and sail to and fro, singing, on the cool, dark underground sea, telling each other stories of the cities that lie fathoms deep below. If ever you have the luck to go to Narnia yourself, do not forget to have a look at those caves.”
– Chapter 16, pg. 243

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis.

Wow, that Jill Pole girl really sucks at obeying simple instructions. I like how they still saved Prince Rilian (which, for some strange

reason, I kept reading in my head as Prince Ritalin) without following Aslan’s word. Allegory fail. I’m still not 100% sure what is meant by marsh-wiggle or Puddleglum, but I loved the description of the underworld. I’d like to see what Andrew Adamson and a little CGI could do with the Land of Bism. My only question: Where did this Queen of the Underland come from? How did she get into Narnia? C.S. Lewis never said anything about Digory and Polly bringing two witches into Narnia during The Magician’s Nephew. Ah, those tricky witches and their totalitarianism dictatorships...

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

2010-01-03T10:17:00.001-08:00

“What awaited them on this island was going to concern Eustace more than anyone else, but it cannot be told in his words because after September 11 he forgot about keeping his diary for a long time.” – Chapter 5, pg. 75

“Sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.”
– Chapter 6, pg. 91

“But here part of the magic of the book came into play. You couldn’t turn back. The right-hand pages, the ones ahead, could be turned; the left-hand pages could not. And she could never remember what she had read; and ever since that day what Lucy means by a good story is a story which reminds her of the forgotten story in the Magician’s book.” – Chapter 10, pg. 157

“And every night they saw that there rose in the east new constellations which no one had ever seen in Narnia and perhaps, as Lucy thought with a mixture of joy and fear, no living eye had seen at all.” – Chapter 13, pg. 190

“Very soon after they had left Ramandu’s country they began to feel that they had already sailed beyond the world. All was different. For one thing they all found that they needed less sleep. One did not want to go to bed nor eat much, nor even to talk except in low voices. Another thing was the light. There was too much of it. The sun when it came up each morning looked twice, if not three times, its usual size.” – Chapter 15, pg. 218

“Do you mean to say that you three come from a round world and you’ve never told me? It’s really too bad of you. Because we have fairy-tales in which there are round worlds and I always loved them. I never believed there were any real ones. But I’ve always wished there were and I’ve always longed to live in one. I wonder why you can get into our world and we never get into yours? If I only had the chance! It must be exciting to live on a thing like a ball.” – Chapter 15, pg. 231

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.

I almost liked this one as much as The Magician’s Nephew. It was a nice break from the format of the three previous books in the series (which all culminate

in some epic battle between your choice of witch, tyrant or neighboring nation). Instead, the characters sailed from undiscovered island to undiscovered island, allowing Lewis to put that crazy imagination of his to good use. And apparently Stardust wasn’t the first book about a star-person falling out of the sky (I’m on to you, Neil Gaiman). My only qualm with this story was when Aslan appeared as a lamb instead of a lion (I’m guessing that was some religious reference and not Twilight-related) and told the kids he has a different name in their/our world. I’m sure he meant God, but the first thing that came to my mind was 'Endangered species?'

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

2009-12-29T09:35:00.000-08:00

“If I hadn’t believed in Aslan before, I would now. Back there among the Humans the people who laughed at Aslan would have laughed at stories about Talking Beasts and Dwarfs. Sometimes I did wonder if there really was such a person as Aslan: but then sometimes I wondered if there were really people like you. Yet there you are.” – Chapter 5, pg. 70

“Lucy had the feeling (as you sometimes have when you are trying to remember a name or a date and almost get it, but it vanishes before you really do) that she had just missed something: as if she had spoken to the trees a split second too soon or a split second too late, or used all the right words except one, or put in one word that was just wrong.”
– Chapter 9, pg. 118

“They even thought they had struck an old path; but if you know anything about woods, you will know that one is always finding imaginary paths. They disappear after about five minutes and then you think you have found another (and hope it is not another but more of the same one) and it also disappears, and after you have been well lured out of your right direction you realize that none of them were paths at all.” – Chapter 9, pg. 120

“I’m hunger. I’m thirst. Where I bite, I hold till I die, and even after death they must cut out my mouthful from my enemy’s body and bury it with me. I can fast a hundred years and not die. I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show me your enemies.”
– Chapter 12, pg. 166

“You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.” – Chapter 15, pg. 218

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.

I haven’t watched the movie yet, but now I am curious to see what Hollywood does with the storyline. Prince Caspian’s rise to “leader of the rebellion”

seemed much too rushed. And Lewis certainly has a way of ditching the big battle to describe some boring side story (this time Aslan skipped around Narnia fixing water wells). I already dislike apples (to be specific: whole apples; sliced apples are fine), so all the apple eating they did in this book put me off a bit. Although, I liked when Aslan explained that the Telmarines are actually the descendants of shipwrecked pirates from our own world. I definitely rolled my eyes when right after this explanation, Aslan tells Peter and Susan they aren’t allowed back into Narnia because they are getting too old. Yes, older than a bunch of middle-aged pirates.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

2009-12-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

“She immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you’re taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay writing. The difference is that people want to hear stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.”
– Chapter 2, pg. 35

“Bree was not in the least trying to leave Shasta out of things, though Shasta sometimes nearly thought he was. People who know a lot of the same things can hardly help talking about them, and if you’re there you can hardly help feeling that you’re out of it.” – Chapter 3, pg. 44

“Having been brought up by a hard, closefisted man like Arsheesh, he had a fixed habit of never telling grown-ups anything if he could help it: he thought they would always spoil or stop whatever you were trying to do.”
– Chapter 5, pg. 74

“One of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself.” – Chapter 9, pg. 137

“Shasta’s heart fainted at these words for he felt he had no strength left. And he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand. He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.” – Chapter 10, pg. 146

“I have now lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met any such thing as Luck. There is something about all this that I do not understand: but if ever we need to know it, you may be sure that we shall.”
– Chapter 10, pg. 148

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis.

When half a book is about some never-ending journey through a forest (or worse, desert), I find it rather boring. Riding, walking, eating and sleeping. Riding, walking, eating and sleeping. Just freaking get there already! And this

book was a tad bit more predictable than the last. Twins separated at birth? One is a prince and one is pauper? Now, that's original! At least the Christian subtext was kept to a minimum. Although, I take it C.S. Lewis has beef with the Middle East? He explains that the people of Calormen don’t like overgrown cats, so instead of killing others in the name of Aslan, they pray (and make human sacrifices) to a different being named Tash. They are basically described as an evil, dark-skinned race (with bad tasting food and turbans) who are far inferior to the decent, white-skinned inhabitants of the North. I guess we know why Aladdin never came to Narnia’s rescue…

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

2009-12-27T00:43:00.000-08:00

“She took a step further in – then two or three steps – always expecting to feel the woodwork against the tips of her fingers. But she could not feel it.”
– Chapter 1, pg. 7

“Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning – either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again.” – Chapter 7, pg. 68

“Though the Witch knew the deep magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation.”
– Chapter 15, pg. 163

“One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down – and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild you know. Not like a tame lion.” – Chapter 17, pg. 182

“Yes, of course you’ll get back to Narnia again someday. Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all. It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it. And don’t talk too much about it even amongst yourselves. And don’t mention it to anyone else unless you find they’ve had adventures of the same sort themselves. What’s that? How will you know? Oh, you’ll know all right. Odd things they say – even their looks – will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open.” – Chapter 17, pg. 189

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

I really dislike reading a book after I have already seen the movie. And while I’m on the subject, was not the 1979 animated version the scariest kid’s

movie ever?? I doubt parents nowadays would approve. The scene where they murdered Aslan was freaky as hell. At any rate, reading The Magician’s Nephew before this book was rather helpful. When Aslan says the White Witch knew of deep magic present at the dawn of time, it actually makes sense because she was there when Narnia was first created. Only one part – where Mr. Beaver explained the Witch’s bloodlines – had me on Google for 15 minutes searching for terms like ‘Lilith’ and ‘Jinn’. I’m still a little confused, but apparently Eve was not Adam’s first wife (man whore!) and the White Witch is related to Jafar. I’m guessing Aladdin didn’t own a wardrobe.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

2009-12-26T08:44:00.000-08:00

“This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child. It is a very important story because it shows how all the comings and goings between our own world and the land of Narnia first began.” – Chapter 1, pg. 3

“You must understand that rules of that sort, however excellent they may be for little boys – and even people in general – can’t possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages. Men like me, who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures. Ours, my boy, is a high and lonely destiny.” – Chapter 2, pg. 21

“Make your choice, adventurous stranger. Strike the bell and bide the danger. Or wonder, till it drives you mad. What would have followed if you had?”
– Chapter 4, pg. 54

“The lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song. It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he had called up the stars and the sun; a gentle, rippling music. And as he walked and sang, the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave.” – Chapter 9, pg. 112

“For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.” – Chapter 10, pg. 136

“When you were last here, that hollow was a pool, and when you jumped into it you came to the world where a dying sun shone over the ruins of Charn. There is no pool now. That world has ended, as if it had never been. Let the race of Adam and Eve take warning.” – Chapter 15, pg. 193

“There was a great storm all over the south of England which blew the tree down. He couldn’t bear to have it simply chopped up for firewood, so he had part of the timber made into a wardrobe, which he put in his big house in the country.”– Chapter 15, pg. 201

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the origins of the lamppost and the wardrobe (funny, it never seemed odd to me that Narnia should have a lamppost), and the back-story of the White Witch was pretty interesting

(I guess it also never seemed odd to me that Narnia should have a witch). I definitely agree the books should be read in the order they were published. Well, at least read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before this book. Otherwise the fun of learning about the origins of everything is lost. No doubt, Lewis is one gifted fantasy writer – the yellow and green rings, the Woods between the Worlds, Charn… it was all fine and dandy until the book turned into the freaking Bible. Son of Adam? A forbidden apple tree in the middle of a garden? I had been warned these books had Christian undertones, but I didn’t expect outright plagiarism! Try to annoy me more.

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

2009-12-25T17:58:00.000-08:00

“In Lawrence Taylor’s first season in the NFL, no official records were kept of quarterback sacks. In 1982, after Taylor had transformed the quarterback sack into the turning point of a football game, a new official NFL statistic was born.”
– Chapter 1, pg. 14

“Michael Oher had a measured IQ of 80, which put him in mankind’s 9th percentile. An aptitude test he had taken in the eighth grade had measured his “ability to learn” and ranked him in the 6th percentile. The numbers looked like misprints: in a rich white private school, under the column marked ‘percentile,’ you never saw single digit numbers. Of course, logically, you knew such people must exist; for someone to be in the 99th percentile, someone else had to be in the 1st. But you didn’t expect to meet them at Briarcrest Christian School.” – Chapter 3, pg. 45

“Without uttering a peep, the kid had become the talk of the school. Everyone was frightened of him, until they realized that he was far more terrified of them.” – Chapter 3, pg. 57

“One of his more talented teammates, Joseph Crone, thought Michael Oher’s main contribution came before the game, when the opposing team stumbled out of their locker room or their bus, and took the measure of the Briarcrest Christian School. ‘They’d see all of us,’ said Crone, ‘and then they’d see Mike and say, oh crap.’” – Chapter 4, pg. 69

“Bill Walsh made the quarterback a lot more valuable, and so the man who protected the quarterback was going to be a whole lot more valuable, too. Whoever he was, he was going to have to be special.” – Chapter 5, pg. 113

“Leigh Anne snapped the family Christmas card picture and sent it out to several hundred friends and distant relatives, without it ever occurring to her that most of the recipients would have no idea about the strange new addition to the family. A few weeks later, the phone rang late one night. It was a North Carolina cousin. ‘All right,’ he blurted into the phone. ‘Who the hell is this black kid in y’all’s Christmas card?’” – Chapter 7, pg. 147

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Blind Side by Michael Lewis.

Two years ago, while watching the Super Bowl (don’t bother asking me who was playing or which team won), my guy friend told me about this book. He insisted that I would love it even though I didn’t know the first thing about

football (expect that it's not soccer). I humored him and continued to root for the team with the prettiest colors, cutest mascot or sexiest quarterback, not truly believing I could endure 300 pages of sports lingo. I ended up buying the book a few weeks later and stashing it under my bed until I heard Sandra Bullock was to star in the movie adaptation. Turns out my friend was right: I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I went through ten boxes of Kleenex, and I actually learned a little bit about the invention of “the passing game” and how some guy named Lawrence Taylor is responsible for the increased interest in the left tackle position. I feel so well-rounded.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

2009-11-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

“Intelligent life on a planet comes of
age when it first works out the reason for its own existence. If superior creatures from space ever visit earth, the first question they will ask, in order to assess the level of our civilization, is: 'Have they discovered evolution yet?'”
– Chapter 1, pg. 1

“Be warned that if you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help from biological nature. Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to.” – Chapter 1, pg. 3

“Before the coming of life on earth, some rudimentary evolution of molecules could have occurred by ordinary processes of physics and chemistry. There is no need to think of design or purpose or directedness. If a group of atoms in the presence of energy falls into a stable pattern it will tend to stay that way. The earliest form of natural selection was simply a selection of stable forms and a rejection of unstable ones. There is no mystery about this. It had to happen by definition.” – Chapter 2, pg. 13

“Evolution is blind to the future.” – Chapter 9, pg. 162

“Replicators are no longer peppered freely throughout the sea; they are packaged in huge colonies - individual bodies. But the individual body, so familiar to us on our planet, did not have to exist. The only kind of entity that has to exist in order for life to arise, anywhere in the universe, is the immortal replicator.” – Chapter 13, pg. 266

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.

If it wasn’t copyright infringement, I would quote the entire second chapter of this book! Dawkins' argument for how life could have begun (without the help of divine intervention) is incredible! As an atheist, I do not base my morals or personal principles on anyone’s explanation of the origins of life. Jesus could have been wrong, just as Dawkins’ theory could be disproved in the years to come. Neither of these revelations will change how I act towards others or

feel about my own life. But the explanation provided in this book is exhilarating because it follows that humans are nothing – nothing but survival machines (to use Dawkins’ terminology) molded by natural selection and used by our egotistical genes for their own selfish propagation. How depressing! But oh, how liberating! To have no purpose in life (other than to house and spread our genes) is a scary thought, to be sure, but frees each of us from the shackles of some predetermined reason for existing. If you wish to make light of it all, you can thank Richard Dawkins for successfully reasoning that you are required to do no more in life than keep yourself alive and have sex!

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

2009-11-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

“She wore tight corsets to give her a teeny waist – I helped her lace them up – but they had the effect of causing her to faint. Mom called it the vapors and said that it was a sign of her high breeding and delicate nature. I thought it was a sign that the corset made it hard to breathe.” – Chapter 1, pg. 18

“I always figured horses are smarter than they let on. Kind of like the Indians who pretend they can’t speak English because no good ever came from talking with the Anglos.” – Chapter 1, pg. 22

“Mom hinted a couple of times that it was good I was going to college, since with one failed marriage behind me, I’d have trouble landing a good husband and would need something to fall back on. ‘A package that’s been opened once doesn’t have the same appeal,’ she said.” – Chapter 4, pg. 89

“When people kill themselves, they think they’re ending the pain, but all they’re doing is passing it on to those they leave behind.” – Chapter 5, pg. 113

“For the most part, pioneers and ranchers didn’t have the time or money for gift giving and tree trimming, and they tended to treat Christmas like Prohibition, another eastern aberration that wasn’t of much concern to them. A couple of years back, when some missionaries were trying to dazzle the Navajos into converting, they had a gift-bearing Santa Claus jump out of a plane, but his parachute didn’t open, and he landed with a thud in front of the Indians, convincing them – and most of the rest of us – that the less we had to do with jolly old Saint Nick, the better off we’d be.” – Chapter 6, pg. 176

“Anyone who thinks he’s too small to make a difference has never been bit by a mosquito.” – Chapter 8, pg.246

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls.

I’m pleasantly surprised this book didn’t make me want to kill someone. Unlike The Glass Castle, I actually liked the main characters. (I think their hatred for Rex Walls might have had something to do with it). Perhaps, this time around, I was mentally prepared for the author’s exaggerations.

However, what's up with the contradictory statement on the cover? A true-life novel? That makes sense. Walls even admits in the acknowledgments that she never talked to her grandmother. Instead, her mom was "so very unfailingly generous with her stories, memories and observations.” Or, in other words, Rose Mary made up a bunch of crap that wasn’t true and Jeannette used it to write another “interesting woman” story where she could throw in the book’s title about a half a dozen times. I do love her sense of humor though. Plus, it was a very quick read. Just steer clear if you are of Mormon faith – there is a good chance you might be offended.

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

2009-09-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

“Just because I haven’t put a lot of thought into this book doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. What I have dictated is nothing less than a Constitution for the Colbert Nation. And, like our Founding Fathers, I hold my Truths to be self-evident, which is why I did absolutely no research.”
– Introduction, pg. ix

“We are at war. And I’m not talking about the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, or the war on drugs. I’m talking about a war with higher stakes than all of those other wars combined and then divided by three.” – Chapter 1, pg. 5

“There’s more to being a father than taking kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s and supplying the occasional Y-chromosome. A father has to be a provider, a teacher, a role model, but most importantly, a distant authority figure who can never be pleased. Otherwise, how will children ever understand the concept of God?” – Chapter 1, pg. 7

“If a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world, it could cause people at the opposite end of the globe to watch a Discovery Channel special on butterflies.” – Chapter 4, pg. 47

“A recent survey published in the American Sociological Review revealed that atheists are the least trusted group in America – less trusted, even, than homosexuals. It makes sense – at least we trust the homosexuals with our hair.” – Chapter 4, pg.61

“Every society has its own class structure with a unique number of classes. India has one of the most rigid and complex class structures. Based upon their behavior in past lives, all Indians are born into different stratas of society called 'castes.' These castes forever determine what level of tech support questions they are allowed to answer.” – Chapter 11, pg. 162

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert.

I advise against reading this in a public place – I honestly laughed out loud at least a dozen times! I freaking love this man’s show. Although, someone from Charter needs to address the fact that my DVR records repeats of the Colbert Report even after I program it to only record new episodes. Perhaps my cable

company has a deal with Comedy Central? At any rate, it’s funny how you can practically hear Stephen saying the words in your head as you read them. There were some parts of his book that were rather dull, but I think I’ll attribute this to having read the entire thing in one sitting. You can only take so much comedy in a twenty-four hour period. Perhaps this is the reason his show is only thirty minutes long? Still, Colbert brings the satirical genius. As said by an anonymous reviewer on Amazon: "If I had a womb and the other necessary parts, I would offer to bear Stephen Colbert's children because America needs more people like him." Amen.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2009-09-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

“Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence? Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. He vanishes unwillingly, without warning. I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?”
– Chapter 1, pg. 1

"Think for a minute, darling: in fairy tales it's always the children who have the fine adventures. The mothers have to stay at home and wait for the children to fly in the window."
– Chapter 8, pg. 126

"Don't you think that it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?" – Chapter 13, pg. 231

"I never understood why Clark Kent was so hell bent on keeping Lois Lane in the dark." – Chapter 36, pg. 446

“Sleep erases all differences: then and now; dead and living. I am past hunger, past vanity, past caring. This morning I caught sight of my face in the bathroom mirror. I am paper skinned, gaunt, yellow, ring-eyed, hair matted. I look dead. I want nothing.” – Chapter 44, pg. 501

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Is there an editor in the house? This book did not need to be 518 pages. I actually started and stopped this book months ago because I didn't like the idea of a 40-year-old man visiting his future wife as a six year old. Naked. Did

you get that? Naked. Publisher: This has best seller written all over it! Me: ...Really? Only my love for Rachel McAdams forced me to give Niffenegger a second chance. At least she would occasionally whip out some crazy/disturbing situation right in the middle of a boring chapter. You know, some so-sick-it-sticks plot twist (say that five times fast). Watch, in 2025 I'll be sitting on some train to Vienna minding my own business when out of nowhere I'll remember how Henry's future self gave himself a blow job or how Clare had a miscarriage because their baby time traveled out of her uterus and ended up a bloody mess in the bed next to her. Joy.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

2009-06-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

“Gamma rays, leukemia, parenthood. It is the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you.”
– Chapter 10, pg, 105

“Summertime, I think, is a collective unconscious. We all remember the notes that made up the song of the ice cream man; we all know what it feels like to brand our thighs on a playground slide that’s heated up like a knife in a fire; we all have lain on our backs with our eyes closed and our hearts beating across the surface of our lids, hoping that this day will stretch just a little longer than the last one, when in fact it’s all going in the other direction.” – Chapter 29, pg. 279

“Change isn’t always for the worst; the shell that forms around a piece of sand looks to some people like an irritation, and to others, like a pearl.”
– Chapter 37, pg. 350

“I realize then that we never have children, we receive them. And sometimes it’s not for quite as long as we would have expected or hoped. But it is still far better than never having had those children at all.” – Chapter 46, pg. 395

“None of us is obligated to go into a fire and save someone else from a burning building. But all that changes if you’re a parent and the person in that burning building is your child. If that’s the case, not only would everyone understand if you ran in to get your child – they’d expect it of you. In my life, that building was on fire, one of my children was in it – and the only opportunity to save her was to send in my other child, because she was the only one who knew the way.” – Chapter 51, pg. 406

“As much as you want to hold on to the bitter sore memory that someone has left this world, you are still in it. And the very act of living is a tide: at first it seems to make no difference at all, and then one day you look down and see how much pain has eroded.” – Chapter 56, pg. 422

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

The first time I heard about this book was back in 2006 during a group discussion for my Issues in Biotechnology capstone course. My classmate made it sound like an interesting PGD read (which stands for preimplantation genetic diagnosis and not some variation of the MPAA’s film rating system),

so I made a mental note to pick it up someday. Fast forward three years (has it really been that long?), and I find out my favorite 6-year-old, Olivia Hancock, is starring in the movie opposite Cameron Diaz. My best friend is Olivia’s babysitter from time to time. I took her to the zoo once, bought her a stuffed giraffe. Woo-hoo, I’m basically famous (note the sarcasm). So my goal was to read the book before seeing the movie. It’s your typical Picoult. Lots of viewpoint switcheroos, similes (a few that didn’t make any sense), an endless supply of in-your-face metaphors, and your obligatory surprise ending. On the grocery list this week: Kleenex.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

2009-06-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

“Everyone knew that he was courting me, everyone knew that I would consent when I was ordered to do so. The only person who did not know this was the king. He thought that the pace of the courtship was determined by his desire.” – Chapter 2, pg. 35

“Oh what a tragedy queen! You can smile when your heart is breaking because you are a woman, and a courtier, and a Howard. That’s three reasons for being the most deceitful creature on God’s green earth.”
– Chapter 4, pg. 98

“If there had been money on it I think I would be getting out my purse. You Boleyns only lose when there is nothing to gain by winning.” – Chapter 5, pg. 125

“We are making a new order. A new world. There is talk of the end of the authority of the Pope, the map of France and Spain is being redrawn. Everything is changing, and here we are, at the very front of the change. But you cannot refuse me. The world’s not changed that much yet. Men still rule.” – Chapter 11, pg. 191

“He was the father of my children and yet he would have no interest in them until they were old enough for him to use as counters in the game of inheritance. He had been my lover for years and yet it had been my task to make sure that he never knew me. As he lay on me, I felt as lonely as if I were the ship which bore my name, out all alone at sea.” – Chapter 13, pg. 211

“‘I have to be queen,’ was all she said. ‘And you have to help me. You know that’s how it is, Mary. Only a fool rails against the way the dice fall.’ ‘They’re weighted dice when I play with you,’ I said.” – Chapter 21, pg. 313

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.

I must be a plot junkie. Even if a book is written badly, I just have to know what happens next. Had I paid any attention in history class, I doubt I would have been turning pages like paper is going out of style (damn you, Kindle).

But since I had no clue what would happen to Anne Boleyn (much less Mary), I found myself nervously fretting over whether this pregnancy would finally result in a boy for the throne. Don’t get me wrong: the character development is terrible. Zero sympathy for either of the Boleyn girls (and pretty much everyone else in the story). My biggest problem with the book was the repetitiveness of it all: spring, summer, fall, winter. I understand seasons repeat, but that doesn’t mean Gregory’s writing must do the same (and by same, I mean 661 pages of same). The most interesting stuff was the witchcraft and incest. Too bad that didn’t make an appearance until page… what? 660?

My Friend Leonard by James Frey

2009-01-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

“Sometimes I talk to the paintings, to the figures in the paintings. I ask a farmer how’s the weather, I ask a singer what’s the song, I ask a baby what’s your name, I ask a young woman why are you crying? I stand in front of Vincent’s self-portrait. Vincent who knew pain and failure, who knew self-doubt and insanity, who cut off his ear, who shot himself. I know Vincent well. I have nothing to say to him.”
– Chapter 17, pg. 95

“I meet a man at a bar while I’m waiting for my friends. He says he’s forty-five, he looks like he’s twenty-five. I ask him if he has a secret he says never get angry and be as immature as you can for as long as you can get away with it. A man sitting next to him laughs and says that's bullshit, the great secret is eat food and drink beer till you drop.” – Chapter 19, pg. 105

“There is peace in pain so overwhelming that it shuts down all feeling. It is the only peace I know.” – Chapter 20, pg. 106

“It takes a brave man to walk away, to care so much that he doesn’t care about anything else, to be willing to obey what he feels inside, to be willing to suffer the consequences of living for himself.” – Chapter 25, pg. 129

“The bars are filled with beautiful young people. It’s as if the three best-looking people from every town in the country have come to Los Angeles. Everyone wants to be famous, everyone is well-connected. Everyone is just a step or two away they’re waiting for that break it’s almost there they can taste it fucking taste it.” – Chapter 50, pg. 220

“Leonard asks me if there’s anything I need to know before he dies, I think about it for a minute, turn to him, say what’s the meaning of life, Leonard? He laughs, says that’s an easy one, my son, it’s whatever you want it to be.”
– Chapter 91, pg. 336

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from My Friend Leonard by James Frey.

I regret reading this. Damn sequels. I was happy thinking Frey had managed to overcome his addictions all by himself. But no, he had Leonard (the leader of an organized crime operation), who spoiled him with steak dinners, Picasso paintings, courtside basketball seats… you name it. Then tops it all off by leaving Frey a massive amount of money (does he really expect us to believe

he turned it down?). I think having a sugar daddy like Leonard would get anyone through the post-rehab blues. Too bad Frey himself admits there’s not much truth to his memoirs. I’m starting to feel like running through my local Borders with a big, fat Sharpie (the cool, clickety-click retractable kind) and crossing out the word “memoir” anywhere I see it. When did society decide ‘based on a true story’ wasn’t good enough? Oh well. I’m just surprised his repeated omission of punctuation (same as the first book) didn’t bother me too much. Maybe I read so fast my mind puts the periods and commas in for me? I’d make a terrible editor.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

2009-01-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

“I am an alcoholic and a drug addict
and a criminal. I am worse than I have ever been in my life. I am in a clinic somewhere in Minnesota. I want to drink and I want to smoke crack even though I know drinking and smoking crack are killing me. I am alone. If I leave the clinic my family and my remaining friends will write me off. I hate myself so much that I can’t look myself in the eye. I hate myself so much that suicide seems like a reasonable option. I have destroyed every meaningful relationship I’ve ever had. I am vomiting for the seventh time today. The seventh fucking time. I can't do this anymore. I cannot continue to live this way. I cannot continue to live this way.” – Chapter 7, pg. 70

“I have been to AA meetings and I find their philosophy to be one of replacement. Replacement of one addiction with another addiction. Replacement of a chemical for a God and a meeting. There is no higher power or any God who is responsible for what I do and for what I have done and for who I am. There is no higher power or any God who will cure me. There is no meeting where any amount of whining, complaining and blaming is going to make me feel any better.” – Chapter 7, pg. 70

“Though they function as human beings, they function because of their meetings and their dogma and their God. Take away their meetings and their dogma and they have nothing. Take them away and they are back where they started. They have an addiction. Addictions need fuel. I am not convinced meetings and a dogma and a God can fuel mine. If joining AA is the only way to cure me, then I’m completely fucked.” – Chapter 7, pg. 72

“Addicts, as a group, generally score far above average on intelligence tests. I guess maybe we’re smart enough to have figured out how shitty things are and we decide addiction is the only way to deal with it.” – Chapter 10, pg. 149

“I don’t believe that addiction is a disease. Cancer is a disease. It takes over the body and destroys it. Addiction is not a disease. Not even close. Diseases are destructive medical conditions that human beings do not control. It cannot be dealt with using a group or a set of steps. It cannot be dealt with by talking about it. Addiction is a decision. It is a difficult one to make, but it is still a decision.” – Chapter 15, pg. 291

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.

Frey did not disappoint. I was expecting him to pull a 180 on me and accept the AA bullshit. Instead, he stayed atheist and did better than all those lame Twelve Steppers combined. I really like his outlook on addiction and how he

says it’s not a disease, but a choice. The idea that AA is replacing one addiction with another is great. He's totally right. As for the whole Smoking Gun/Oprah controversy: I could care less if Lily slit her wrists instead of hanging herself (I'm just glad she's dead), or if the amount of time Frey spent in jail wasn’t actually three months, or if he didn’t really hit a police office with his car. You mean to tell me everything in a memoir must be 100% true? Because I’ve got a feeling that oxford shirt he borrowed from Warren was blue, not white (Gasp!). If anything, we should be concerned about Jeanette Wall’s memoir. Now there’s an author who has obviously lied to us.

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor

2009-01-17T23:36:00.000-08:00

“Everything in my visual world blended together, and with every pixel radiating energy, we all flowed en masse, together as one. It was impossible for me to distinguish the physical boundaries between objects because everything radiated with similar energy. It’s probably comparable to when people take off their glasses or put eye drops into their eyes – the edges become softer.” – Chapter 7, pg. 69

“In this shifted perception, it was impossible for me to perceive either physical or emotional loss because I was not capable of experiencing separation or individuality. Despite my neurological trauma, an unforgettable sense of peace pervaded my entire being and I felt calm.” – Chapter 7, pg. 70

“Recovery is often derailed by hopelessness.” – Chapter 11, pg. 95

“Peace is only a thought away, and all we have to do to access it is silence the voice of our dominating left mind.” – Chapter 13, pg. 111

“Feeling deep inner peace and sharing kindness is always a choice. Forgiving others and forgiving myself is always a choice. Seeing this moment as a perfect moment is always a choice. I’ve often wondered, if it’s a choice, then why would anyone choose anything other than happiness?”
– Chapter 19, pg. 172

“Knowing that I am a part of the cosmic flow makes me feel innately safe and experience my life as heaven on earth. How can I feel vulnerable when I cannot be separated from the greater whole? My left mind thinks of me as a fragile individual capable of losing life. My right mind realizes that the essence of my being has eternal life. Although I may lose these cells and my ability to perceive this three-dimensional world, my energy will merely absorb back into the tranquil sea of euphoria. Knowing this leaves me grateful for the time I have here as well as enthusiastically committed to the well-being of the cells that constitute my life.” – Chapter 19, pg. 160

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor.

Basically, this smart-as-hell Harvard brain scientist has a stroke (irony at its best). A malformed blood vessel ruptures and screws up the part of her brain responsible for discerning the physical boundaries of where our bodies end

and the rest of the world begins (this part is called the orientation-association cortex or OAC). She tries to describe what this feels like, giving the expression ‘at one with the universe’ a whole new meaning. I really like this idea: We are nothing more than our cells, which are nothing more than molecules, which are nothing more than atoms, which all spin with similar energy in this place we call the universe. Our cells actually have to trick us into believing there are boundaries that separate “us” from everything else. In fact, a whole part of our brain is dedicated to this trickery. Who knew! Now my lack of coordination makes sense. I blame my OAC.

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

2009-01-12T21:34:00.000-08:00

“In the space between yes and no, there’s a lifetime. It’s the difference between the path you walk and one you leave behind; it’s the gap between who you thought you could be and who you really are; it’s the legroom for the lies you’ll tell yourself in the future.”
– Chapter 3, pg. 20

“I knew exactly how she felt. When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the one person who doesn’t.”
– Chapter 6, pg. 41

“I don’t think religions are based on lies, but I don’t think they’re based on truths either. I think they come about because of what people need at the time that they need them.” – Chapter 14, pg. 94

“The Greeks and Romans, with all their gods, thought they were making sacrifices and praying at temples in order to receive favor from their deities; but with the passage of time, people consider this to be false. How do you know that 500 years from now, some alien master race won’t be picking over the artifacts of your Torah and their crucifix and wondering how you could be so naive?” – Chapter 14, pg. 94

“Death penalty cases are emotional minefields – you get to know the inmate, and you excuse some heinous crime with a lousy childhood or alcoholism or an emotional upheaval or drugs, until you see the victim’s family and a whole different level of suffering. And suddenly you start to feel a little ashamed of being in the defendant’s camp.” – Chapter 25, pg. 153

“This is what it always comes down to, I realized. There are the ones who believe, and the ones who don’t, and caught in the space between them are guns.” – Chapter 52, pg. 268

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult.

How ironic. I had no clue this book was going to be about religion. There I was, warily reading along, just waiting for the part where I could snort with disgust and throw the thing aside. But instead, Picoult decides to whip out something I dislike even more than religion: Cellular memory. UGH, will

fiction writers never let this ridiculous concept die the painful death it so rightfully deserves?? ONE paper was published in a NON-peer-reviewed, NON-scientific journal (not to mention it was some whack job, short- lived “alternative therapy” journal), which suggested memories can be stored in all cells of the body (and not just the brain). This would allow organ donation recipients to “inherit” personality traits from their organ donors. Puh-lease! I’ll bet my right kidney we NEVER see the day a respectable, prominent medical or scientific journal publishes this crap. In my mind, cellular memory ranks right up there with the existence of God.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2009-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

“Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.”
– Chapter 1, pg. 7

“I have customers who bring their wives to my shop. The women come uncovered; they talk to me directly, look me in the eye without shame. They wear makeup and skirts that show their knees. Sometimes they even put their feet in front of me and their husbands stand there and watch. They allow it. They think nothing of a stranger touching their wives’ bare feet! They think they’re being modern men, intellectuals, on account of their education, I suppose.” – Chapter 10, pg. 63

"On the streets, Mariam saw people stopping in their tracks. At traffic lights, faces emerged from the windows of cars, turned upward toward the falling softness. What was it about a season’s first snow fall that was so entrancing? Was it the chance to see something as yet unsoiled, untrodden? To catch the fleeting grace of a new season, a lovely beginning, before it was trampled and corrupted?” – Chapter 13, pg. 79

“She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how women like us suffer. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us.” – Chapter 13, pg. 82

“The only enemy an Afghan cannot defeat is himself.” – Chapter 18, pg. 122

“Somewhere in the city someone had just died, a pall of black smoke was hovering over some building that had collapsed in a puffing mass of dust. There would be bodies to step around in the morning. Some would be collected. Others not. Then Kabul’s dogs, who had developed a taste for human meat, would feast.” – Chapter 26, pg. 169

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

I didn’t cry. And I didn’t like it as much as The Kite Runner. I got the impression Hosseini assumed you had read his other book, so he went right ahead

and packed this one full of all the Afghanistan war details he breezed over the first time. The Mujahideen? Hazara? Tajik? Half the book I had no clue which of these groups were fighting the other. Hell, I’m not even sure if those words refer to a religion, ethnicity, or the first name of some commander guy. Anyway, it sure is good to live in America. Never will I have to worry a doctor might perform my C-section without anesthesia. Plus, such violent misogyny is disgusting. If I were Mariam I would have bashed my husband's head in earlier. And then do the same to anyone who tried to hang me for it. Hmm, why do I sound like a serial killer in all my posts?

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

2009-01-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

“Ali had a congenital paralysis of his lower facial muscles, a condition that rendered him unable to smile and left him perpetually grim-faced. It was an odd thing to see the stone-faced Ali happy, or sad, because only his slanted brown eyes glinted with a smile or welled with sorrow. People say that eyes are windows to the soul. Never was that more true than with Ali.”
– Chapter 2, pg. 7

“With me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world to his liking. The problem, of course, was that he saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.”
– Chapter 3, pg. 14

“Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.” – Chapter 3, pg. 19

“War doesn’t negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.” – Chapter 10, pg. 100

“America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins. If for nothing else, for that, I embraced America.” – Chapter 11, pg. 119

“That last thought had brought no sting with it. I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” – Chapter 25, pg. 313

“Sohrab’s silence wasn’t the self-imposed silence of those with convictions, of protesters who seek to speak their cause by not speaking at all. It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place, curled up all the edges and tucked them under.” – Chapter 25, pg. 315

“It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird’s flight. But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.” – Chapter 25, pg. 324

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

I cried. I think that’s a valid reason for me to like the book. That and Hosseini did an amazing job bringing everything full circle. So full circle that for a while there, I was getting annoyed with how perfectly things were working out for the main character (think Stephanie Meyer’s The Host). But by the end of the

story, when the tears were running down my cheeks, I didn’t care so much. What I really want to know is who came up with the idea of kite fighting? Because it makes perfect sense to allow young children to glue glass shards to string and let them run blindly through intersections. Why do we not have more games that promote hand injury and sudden death in America? In fact, the only part of this book that bored me was when Amir escaped Afghanistan to come live in the States. As a Southern California native, I know how exciting flea markets can be. Next on my list is A Thousand Splendid Suns. We’ll see if Hosseini can get me to tear up one more time.

Stem Cell Wars: Inside Stories from the Frontlines

2008-12-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

“If ‘round one’ for modern medicine was the eradication of infectious diseases, then we are close to claiming victory, at least in the industrialized world (with the major exception of AIDS). Now that most of us live long enough to develop a chronic, degenerative disease, ‘round two’ will no doubt consist of the effort to conquer disease at the cellular level. And up until the last few years, we were nowhere close to being able to do that.” – Chapter 1, pg. 12

“It simply isn’t possible to identify beauty queens or NFL athletes in the Petri dish.” – Chapter 2, pg. 35

“Oddly enough, in today’s strange political climate, no one is objecting to the fact that 84% of fertility clinics dispose of unused embryos, but the fight to keep them from being used to find cures for disease is ferocious.” – Chapter 2, pg. 37

“No matter how you slice it, a firm majority of Americans want to see all types of stem cell research go forward with more backing from their government. How is it possible that year after year, the clear will of the majority is ignored, while a small majority is able to dictate policy to the rest of the nation?” – Chapter 4, pg. 68

“They’ve reversed paralysis in rats, but I’m afraid we’re going to be walking on Mars before people like Susan walk here on earth. How can these politicians allow needless suffering because they care more about cells in a dish than they do about people like her?” – Chapter 6, pg. 104

“Every cell of our bodies contains a complete set of chromosomes, and if inserted into an egg cell and implanted into a womb, could grow into an entire person. Yet we don’t hold mass funerals every time we wash our hands or comb our hair, shedding thousands of these cells. Nor do we regard the act of taking a shower as a holocaust in which millions of mini-people are washed down the drain.” – Chapter 7, pg. 135

“In a world where a large number of children are abused, orphaned, or abandoned by their parents, should we be pouring so much of our energy into a fight to ‘save’ theoretical humans that have no realistic possibility of ever existing?”
– Chapter 7, pg. 137

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Stem Cell Wars.
What makes me angry is that pro-life activists want us to believe

that stem cell harvesting and abortions are one and the same. But they aren't. Embryos used for research are created in the lab and have never (nor will ever) see the inside of a womb. Even more annoying is when people say ‘life begins at conception’, because this implies we are only our genes. What about identical twins? Chimeras? Herold mentions that scientists are discovering a much higher percentage of us had a fraternal twin in our mother’s womb than previously believed. He/she dissolved and we absorbed some of their cells. Awesome, right?

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

2008-12-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

“I wondered if the fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related, like Dad said all humans were related, if the fire that had burned me that day while I cooked hot dogs was somehow connected to the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel. I didn’t have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into flames. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.” – Chapter 2, pg. 34

“We laughed about all the kids who believed in the Santa myth and got nothing for Christmas but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. Years from now, when all the junk they got was broken and long forgotten, we would still have our stars.” – Chapter 2, pg. 41

“The baby went without a name for weeks. Mom said she wanted to study it first, the way she would the subject of a painting. We had a lot of arguments over what the name should be. I wanted to call her Rosita, after the prettiest girl in my class, but Mom said that name was too Mexican. I told her we weren’t supposed to be prejudiced. She responded that it wasn’t being prejudice, but that it was a matter of accuracy in labeling.” – Chapter 2, pg. 46

“The few teachers the town did have were not exactly the pick of the litter, as Dad liked to say, and despite the shortage, one would get fired from time to time. A couple of weeks earlier, Miss Page had gotten the ax when the principal caught her toting a loaded rifle down the school hall. Miss Page said all she wanted to do was motivate her students to do their homework.”
– Chapter 2, pg. 73

“I just stood there looking from one distorted face to another, listening to this babble of enraged squabbling as the members of the Walls family gave vent to all their years of hurt and anger, each unloading his or her own accumulated grievances and blaming the others for allowing the most fragile one of us to break into pieces.” – Chapter 4, pg. 276

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

I spent the entire 288 pages fuming mad. I absolutely hate Rose Mary and Rex Walls. They had me wishing I lived in the type of country where I could get away with first degree murder (since this is a memoir and they are real people I actually want to shoot). I don’t know if you can get in trouble for saying something like that on the internet, but I guess it really doesn’t matter since Rex died of a heart attack and Rose Mary is currently homeless on some

street in New York (although, I doubt that is still the case now that her daughter's book has sold more than 2.5 million copies). I get why people love it so much – one unbelievable story after another. But if you ask me, the stories were too unbelievable. Maybe I just can't stand reading about dysfunctional families. I strongly believe people who contribute nothing to society (and then leech off of that society) should be shot. And alcoholic fathers who can't feed their own children (leaving them to eat a sugared stick of butter) should be waterboarded first and then shot. At the very least, reading about Jeannette’s parents sure made me appreciate my own.

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

2008-09-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

“The sick monkeys were put in boxes and shipped out to a small island in Lake Victoria, where they were being released. With so many sick monkeys running around, the island could have become a focus for monkey viruses. It could have been a hot island, an isle of plagues. Epidemiologists have since discovered that the northwestern shore of Lake Victoria was one of the initial epicenters of AIDS. Did HIV crash into the human race as a result of the monkey trade? Did AIDS come from an island in Lake Victoria? A hot island? Who knows. When you begin probing into the origins of AIDS and Marburg, the light fails and things go dark, but you sense hidden connections.” – Chapter 3, pg. 29

“Ebola does things to people that you do not want to think about. The organism is too frightening to handle, even for those who are comfortable and adept in biohazard suits. Many do not care to do research on Ebola because they do not want Ebola to do research on them.” – Chapter 5, pg. 45

“The classic Ebola face made the test monkeys look as if they had seen something beyond comprehension. It was not a vision of heaven.”
– Chapter 6, pg. 55

“The workers at Reston had had symptom-less Ebola virus. Why didn’t it kill them? A tiny difference in the virus’s genetic code had apparently changed its effects tremendously in humans. And if it should mutate in some other direction… Imagine a virus with the infectiousness of influenza and the mortality rate of the black plague. The Level 4 strain could turn into a cough and take out the human race.” – Chapter 28, pg. 254

“In a sense, the earth is mounting an immune response against the human species. It is beginning to react to the human parasite, the flooding infection of people, the dead spots of concrete all over the planet. Nature has interesting ways of balancing itself. Perhaps AIDS is the first step in a natural process of clearance.” – Chapter 31, pg. 287

“Ebola seemed to vanish off the face of the earth – but viruses never go away, they only hide.” – Chapter 31, pg. 291

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The Hot Zone by Richard Preston.

Holy crap. This book is insane! The first chapter is ridiculously unsettling. I may never look at the person sitting next to me on a flight the same way. Remind me not to visit Reston, Virginia (and screw Africa). The way Preston describes the effects of Ebola and Marburg makes your stomach turn (think black vomit and liquefied organs). My virology teacher advised me not to read this book before bed, or risk nightmares about virus-infected bats. I think one Amazon reviewer put it best – WARNING: DO NOT EAT SPAGHETTI WITH RED SAUCE AFTER READING THIS BOOK. YOU WILL REGRET IT. But just like you can’t stop watching a horror movie once it has started, you can’t stop reading this book. And in the typical fashion of Freddie and Jason, these viruses have set themselves up for a sequel. Preston definitely leaves you

with the feeling that we are one plane ride away from a Stephen King-esque type of situation. Call it sensationalist spin, but an author capable of getting the general public to read a book that contains the phrase 'transmission electron microscope' gets my seal of approval. I'm more interested in his speculation on the origins of HIV. It would be horrific if the deaths of 25 million people resulted from the actions of one man (a rich monkey trader). Although, this seems unlikely because I recall the virus originating much earlier than the 1960's. Perhaps his theory is outdated. I keep forgetting this book was written back in 1994!

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm

2008-06-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

“He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance. He sipped his martini, not liking it particularly, and knew that childhood had ended, and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness."
– Chapter 1, pg. 7

“Men had gone out there. Singly and in small groups they had gone into strange lands, across wide seas, had climbed mountains where no human foot had ever trod. What impulse had driven them from their own kind to perish alone, or among strangers? All those ruined houses designed for one, two, three people, lived in by so few, deliberately isolating themselves from others of their own kind. We used isolation for punishment. And yet those other men of the distant past had sought isolation, and he couldn’t think why.” – Chapter 12, pg. 92

“If someone had a bad heart, would you treat his ear because it was easier?” – Chapter 14, pg. 107

“One part of its body was missing, had been missing for a long time. And the missing part, like an amputated limb, caused phantom pain.” – Chapter 15, pg, 116

“There’s something about the eyes they just don’t have. Theirs only see outward, I think, and yours, and those of the other men in the pictures, they can look both ways.” – Chapter 17, pg. 128

“The mysteries had been answered, and he knew what the books meant when the authors spoke of finding happiness, as if it were a thing that perseverance would lead one to.” – Chapter 26, pg. 220

“He had led his people into a timeless period, where the recurring seasons and the cycles of the heavens and of life, birth, and death marked their days. Now the joys of men and women, and their agonies, were private affairs that would come and go without trace. In the timeless period life became the goal, not the re-creation of the past or the elaborate structuring of the future. The fan of possibilities had almost closed, but was opening once more, and each new child widened its spread. More than that couldn’t be asked.” – Chapter 29 pg. 250

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.
Even though the author has the science behind cloning all wrong,

Wilhelm's book is one of those you will never forget. It was creepy. Chilling to say the least. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fast read. And just because my inner scientist can't be silenced, I guess I'll point out the book's errors. A community of clones would not look identical - environmental factors have a greater influence over gene expression than many people realize. Plus, the clone of a doctor wouldn't necessarily be predisposed to pursue the same profession. There. Now go read this knowing the truth.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

2008-06-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

“What if man is not really a scoundrel, man in general, I mean, the whole race of mankind–then all the rest is prejudice, simply artificial terrors and there are no barriers and it’s all as it should be.” – Chapter 2, pg. 30

“Where is it I’ve read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he’d only room to stand, and the ocean, everlasting darkness, everlasting solitude, everlasting tempest around him, if he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once! Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be! How true it is! Good God, how true! Man is a vile creature! And vile is he who calls him vile for that.” – Chapter 13, pg. 148

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.”
– Chapter 19, pg. 240

“We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast, vast! But why must it be vast? Instead of all that, what if it’s one little room, like a bathhouse in the country, black and grimy and spiders in every corner, and that’s all eternity is? I sometimes fancy it like that.”
– Chapter 21, pg. 261

“Nothing in the world is harder than speaking the truth and nothing is easier than flattery. If there's the hundredth part of a false note in speaking the truth, it leads to a discord and that leads to trouble. But if all, to the last note, is false flattery, it is just as agreeable and is heard not without satisfaction. It may be coarse satisfaction, but it is still a satisfaction.” – Chapter 34, pg. 421

“What had he to live for? What had he to look forward to? Why should he strive? To live in order to exist? Why, he had been ready a thousand times before to give up existence for the sake of an idea, for a hope, even for a fancy. Mere existence had always been too little for him; he had always wanted more. Perhaps it was just because of the strength of his desires that he had thought himself a man to whom more was permissible than to others.”
– Chapter 43, pg. 478

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I was doubtful that I would be able to relate to the characters and situations since it was written such a long time ago. But I guess human nature is recognizably the same as it was in the past (and prostitutes never go out of style). Only Dostoevsky's vocabulary has aged. Although I must admit the first few

chapters had me impatiently wondering whether the entire book would be about Raskolnikov stressing over the double murder he commits (I'm still not sure if he did it for the money or for ideological reasons), but eventually a bunch of other interesting characters and subplots started popping up until I couldn't put the thing down! I enjoyed the mind games the detective played on Raskolnikov, and I cheered when his best friend and his sister finally got together. In short, I definitely think everyone should read this book at some point in their lives. It is by far a new favorite of mine.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

2008-05-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five... In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge." – Chapter 1, pg. 5

“Newborns reminded her of tiny Buddhas, faces full of divinity. It didn’t last long, though. When Lacy saw those same infants a week later at their regular checkups, they had turned into ordinary – albeit tiny – people. That holiness, somehow, disappeared, and Lacy was always left wondering where in this world it might go.” – Chapter 1, pg. 15

“He pictured his life as a graph. Normal was a line that stretched on and on, teasing its way closer to an axis but never really reaching it. He knew that there was a difference between something that makes you happy and something that doesn’t make you unhappy. The trick was convincing yourself these were one and the same.” – Chapter 6, pg. 130

“So much of the language of love was like that: you devoured someone with your eyes, you drank in the sight of them, you swallowed them whole. Love was sustenance, broken down and beating through your bloodstream.”
– Chapter 7, pg. 173

“Children didn’t make their own mistakes. They plunged into the pits they’d been led to by their parents.” – Chapter 9, pg. 286

“Something still exists as long as there’s someone around to remember it. Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million?” – Chapter 14, pg. 450

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.

This was my first Jodi Picoult read. Someone suggested it for our subdivision’s book club. Then after everyone hated on it, they decided Picoult has been churning out too many books at too fast a rate (Dean Knootz, anyone?). Maybe I’m too much the romantic, but this book would have been

gold for me if the surprise ending had turned out just a little bit differently. (Note: Spoilers ahead... as always). Josie randomly shooting her boyfriend was ridiculous! Sure, I get that he was an asshole to her and she felt trapped and fake and blah blah blah. But was that really incentive enough to send a bullet through his stomach point blank? No. I'm sorry Picoult, but that was beyond believable. The way I would have ended it? Two guns would have slid out of Peter's bag. Matt would have immediately grabbed one, aimed it at Peter and begun to taunt him. Josie would then have a REAL motive to kill Matt: To stop him from killing Peter. Sooo much better.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

2008-04-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

“I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.”
– Chapter 3, pg. 28

“Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.” – Chapter 7, pg. 54

“He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same... If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” – Chapter 9, pg. 81

“The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him, they crush those beneath them.” – Chapter 11, pg. 111

“You said I killed you – haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe – I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!” – Chapter 16, pg. 165

“Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends: they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies.” – Chapter 17, pg. 173

“He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle, and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would only be half alive; and he said mine would be drunk; I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not breathe in mine.” – Chapter 24, pg. 243

“I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and hare-bells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.” – Chapter 34, pg. 331

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

For some reason I was expecting a nice romance. But Edward Cullen is right – Wuthering Heights isn’t a love story, it’s a hate story. I don’t see how anyone could call whatever exists between Heathcliff and Catherine love. For me, there was zero chemistry. Heathcliff seemed more concerned with exacting revenge on those who had wronged him (mainly Hindley, Linton, and their descendants), while Catherine acted like a bipolar maniac. About the only

person I could stand was Mr. Lockwood, probably because he didn’t talk about himself much. Perhaps I didn't “get” the romance in this story because I find it hard to believe someone as cruel as Heathcliff could truly love another human being. Still, this book is one amazing hate story. I really believe everyone should read this book. It has one of those epic, twisted, so-messed-up-you-can’t-look-away plots. Bronte definitely succeeds in creeping the hell out of you. Gothic literature at its best. I hardly ever read the same book twice – so many books, so little time – but I will be reading this one again. It's a classic for a reason.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2008-04-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”
– Chapter 1, pg. 1

“Pride is a very common failing I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or the other, real or imaginary.” – Chapter 5, pg. 18

“Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.”
– Chapter 10, pg. 47

“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and everyday confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.” – Chapter 24, pg. 138

“I never saw a more promising inclination; he was growing quite inattentive to other people, and wholly engrossed by her. Every time they met, it was more decided and remarkable. At his own ball he offended two or three young ladies, by not asking them to dance; and I spoke to him twice myself, without receiving an answer. Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general incivility the very essence of love?” – Chapter 25, pg. 144

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It was too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” – Chapter 60, pg. 388

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

I wonder if I could have followed this story if I hadn’t seen the movie first. Not sure. But I was pretty amazed something Jane Austen wrote back in freaking 1813 could still make my heart flutter (yes, my heart is capable of fluttering). The overly proper, backwards writing was easier to understand than I’d expected. However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have to re-read

a couple sentences over a few times to figure out what the heck Austen was trying to say. Not that I want some modern-day translated version (although, I wouldn't mind another Clueless). If you haven't seen the 2005 film, abandon your laptop and rush to the nearest Blockbuster because it has to be my favorite movie of all time. Despite this, I couldn’t picture Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennett while I was reading the book. Even bad hair extensions and an 18th century wardrobe can't make up for the fact that I've seen her rocking the emo boy haircut in Domino. On the other hand, the dreamy Matthew Macfadyen will always be my Mr. Darcy. Sigh.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

2008-03-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

“It made no sense, she knew, arranging flowers before the water was in–but there it was; she couldn’t resist moving them around, and not everything people did could be in a correct, logical order, especially when they were alone.”
– Chapter 2, pg. 22

“Was everyone else really as alive as she was? For example, did her sister really matter to herself, was she as valuable to herself as Briony was? Was being Cecilia just as vivid an affair as being Briony? If the answer was yes, then the world, the social world, was unbearably complicated, with two billion voices, and everyone’s thoughts striving in equal importance and everyone’s claim on life as intense, and everyone thinking they were unique, when no one was. One could drown in irrelevance.” – Chapter 3, pg. 34

“By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it. Reading a sentence and understanding it were the same thing; as with the crooking of a finger, nothing lay between them. There was no gap during which the symbols were unraveled. You saw the word castle and it was there.” – Chapter 3, pg. 35

“Drowned in the lake, ravished by gypsies, struck by a passing motorcar, she thought ritually, a sound principle being that nothing was ever as one imagined it, and this was an efficient means of excluding the worst.”
– Chapter 9, pg. 95

“A modern novelist could no more write characters and plots than a modern composer could a Mozart symphony. It was thought, perception, sensations that interested her, the conscious mind as a river through time, and how to represent its onward roll, as well as all the tributaries that would swell it, and the obstacles that would divert it. If only she could reproduce the clear light of a summer's morning, the sensations of a child standing at a window, the curve and dip of a swallow's flight over a pool of water. The novel of the future would be unlike anything in the past.” – Chapter 14, pg. 265

“How easily this unthinking family love was forgotten.” – Chapter 14, pg. 330

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Man, Ian McEwan is a great writer! This book could have had zero plot and I still would have loved every sentence. He has a gift for describing the complex thought processes of his characters in a way that is almost poetic. The scene where Briony sits in the nursery (before witnessing the exchange between Robbie and her older sister) is pure genius. Pure literary genius. And on top of that, the plot is incredible. How often do you find a book with a

storyline that hasn't been done before? Not that often. Seeing the movie before reading the book (usually a no-no, but who could resist Keira Knightly and James McAvoy?) only made it that much better because I could follow the story when it jumped around. Plus, I had plenty of time for my anger to dissipate (I'm obviously referring to the "Just kidding! That didn't actually happen!" ending that left most people fuming mad). The funniest thing is that I actually thought Atonement was an old book – old as in written 50 years ago. I’ve heard his other books are hit-or-miss, so I guess I’ll just have to see if I still love his writing when the plot isn’t so epic.

The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes by Dean Hamer

2008-01-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

“I believe our genetic predisposition for faith is no accident. It provides us with a sense of purpose beyond ourselves and keeps us from being incapacitated by our dread of mortality.” – Chapter 8, pg. 143

“Historically, each time religious controversy has touched science, it has been burned. In the sixteenth century, the church taught that the sun circled the earth; astronomy proved it to be the other way around. In the seventeenth century, infectious diseases were seen as punishments by god; microbiology taught us their true origin. In the nineteenth century, spontaneous generation was accepted dogma; it took Pastuer to show that life comes only from life. A literal reading of the Bible teaches that the universe, the earth, and all its flora and fauna, were formed in six days just a few thousand years ago, that man was created in the image of God. Scientific evidence, on the other hand, shows that the universe was created billions of years ago, that life gradually arose by the process of evolution, and that humans have evolved from other species.”
– Chapter 11, pg. 209

“Science can tell us whether there are God genes, but not whether there is a God.” – Chapter 11, pg. 211

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from The God Gene.
I don’t have many because this book was disappointing. When an

author admits his own title is misleading, you know something is sketch. He probably figured the book would have flopped if it had been called Spirituality Monoamines. The atheist in me just can’t wait for scientists to study the VMAT gene’s protein further and decide Hamer’s studies are irreproducible. Didn’t the same thing happen when some harebrained scientist reported a genetic link to male homosexuality on the X chromosome? Wait, now who was that harebrained scientist? Oh, that’s right. Dean Hamer.

After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning by Ian Wilmut

2007-09-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

“My vision faces stiff opposition. Many people will fight any proposal to create embryos. Many will object to any use of embryos in research. But I feel it is best to say what I think, rather than what people would like to hear.”
– Chapter 1, pg. 33

“Genes are not as powerful as people think. Genetic identity is not the same as personal identity, and selves, unlike cells, cannot be cloned.”
– Chapter 1, pg. 41

“Medical advances have continued to lower the age at which premature babies can be helped to survive, so that in one part of a hospital doctors can struggle to save a twenty-two-week-old fetus and in another they can terminate it.”
– Chapter 6, pg. 201

“Since we know that a morally important person may eventually emerge (a substantial proportion of early embryos–some estimates put it as high as 50 percent–are naturally lost before term), I think it is appropriate to accord a gradually increasing moral status to the embryo or fetus, tempered by the recognition that if there is a ‘threshold of personhood’ there will always be argument about where it lies.” – Chapter 6, pg. 202

“A blastocyst can split into two (as happens naturally to produce twins) and recombine again. Did ‘life’ in such a case begin as an individual, become two individuals, and then turn into a singleton again?” – Chapter 6, pg. 208

“We are all potentially dead, but that does not mean we should be treated as if we are dead.” – Chapter 6, pg. 208

“Even when the technologies of nuclear transfer, genetic manipulation, and stem cells have matured, I am sure that some people will still prefer to put up with the random insults of nature than be subject to human intervention, even if it is based on careful consideration of medical issues rather than a whim.” – Chapter 9, pg. 275

“I want to be able to change my destiny rather than be condemned to a particular fate. I want people to have new options when it comes to that most fundamental urge to bring healthy children into this world. For me, the widespread use of genetic and reproductive technologies is not a step backwards into darkness, but a step forward into the light.”
– Chapter 9, pg. 275

So those were some of my favorite book quotes from After Dolly.

I think a lot of people don’t understand the process of cloning. And how ridiculous is it that those same people can vote on nuclear transfer issues? It’s

simple: you take an egg cell (like a sheep ovary), remove the haploid DNA from it, insert adult diploid DNA (i.e. from the mammary glands of a sheep), shock the egg cell into dividing, transfer to a surrogate mother and voila! Instant Dolly. I agree with Wilmut though, cloning a sheep for the sake of cloning is one thing – cloning a human would be pointless (not to mention cruel). There are too many goddamn people in this world! We need to figure out ways to get rid of them, not make more.