On the Beach has one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever read (you probably know the one). A very sad, powerful, sobering novel.
I’m guessing the book came out before 2017.
Ha ha, yeah, I intended to make that sort of comment in my post but forgot.
2004, in fact.
mmm
“This is the story of how I went to the Nearside and found old Lester and maybe grew up a little.”
The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction, by John Varley (Note that the above sentence is from the first story, “Picnic On Nearside”.)
“Kirk knew his journey would be ending soon.”
Federation by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
“How can I help libraries? That’s a question I never really thought about until recently.”
This is What a Librarian Looks Like by Kyle Cassidy
“That period of time before the selling of my company was probably the most confusing of my life.”
To Be Loved - The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown , by Berry Gordy
“Hernán Cortés strode to the bow of his flagship Santa María de la Concepcíon, a one-hundred-ton vessel and the largest of his armada, and scanned the horizon for land. He had much to ponder.”
— Conquistador: Hernán Cortés, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs, by Buddy Levy
Commander Victor Henry rode a taxicab home from the Navy Building on Constitution Avenue, in a gusty gray March rainstorm that matched his mood.
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. This is a re-read; I read both volumes back around 1980.
“Most of human history is irreparably lost to us.”
— The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber & David Wengrow
It has an epigraph just above the lead sentence of
‘This mood makes itself felt everywhere, politically, socially, and philosophically. We are living in what the Greeks called the καιρóς (Kairos) – the right time – for a “metamorphosis of the gods,” i.e. of the fundamental principles and symbols.’
C. G. Jung, The Undiscovered Self (1958)
I read both of them in about 1982, right before the television miniseries. I enjoyed both the books and the TV series.
“The family gathered in the visitor lot.”
– Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly.
“Moving a guy as big as Keever wasn’t easy.”
Make Me by Lee Child
“Is it over? It certainly feels like it’s over.”
Knock Knock, Open Wide, by Neil Sharpson
“It’s only a rumor,” Abuji said as I cleared the table.
When My Name Was Keoko, by Linda Sue Park
“On July 24th, 1917, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Sidney Emerson Ellis of the 4 Naval Squadron took off on a routine training flight in Britain’s newest and most powerful fighter aircraft, the Sopwith Camel.”
The Science of Spin: How Rotational Forces Affect Everything from Your Body to Jet Engines to the Weather, by Roland Ennos
“Anna had fallen into a routine - or as much of a routine as a 17-year-old can reasonably fall into, when she’s transient and living in hiding with an infant.”
The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel
“One never knows when the blow may fall.”
The Third Man, written in 1949 by Graham Greene. This short novel was actually written as preparation for Greene’s screenplay for the later film.
“The village of Moonfleet lies half a mile from the sea on the right or west bank of the Fleet stream.”
Moonfleet, by J. Meade Falkner
Back-to-back Sedaris:
“The cat had a party to attend, and went to the baboon to get herself groomed.”
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk , by David Sedaris
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“When my family first moved to North Carolina, we lived in a rented house three blocks from the school where I would begin the third grade.”
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim , by David Sedaris
“All truth is paradox.”
Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, by Anne Lamott.
“On the day we’re the last people to see indie kid Flynn alive, we’re all sprawled together in the Field, talking about love and stomachs.”
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness