“Among bird fanciers, there’s an old saying: ‘If horse racing is the sport of kings, then pigeon racing is the sport of the common man.’”
Out of the Clouds: The Unlikely Horseman and the Unwanted Colt Who Conquered the Sport of Kings, by Linda Carroll and David Rosner
“War, thought the kaiser, was the natural order of the world, and only fools thought otherwise.”
1901, by Robert Conroy
“Dombey sat in the corner of the darkened room in the great armchair by the bedside, and Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully disposed on a low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it, as if his constitution were analogous to that of a muffin, and it was essential to toast him brown while he was very new.”
-- Dombey and Son, by Charles Dickens
“Do you seriously think I would not be intellectually capable of writing down the story of my life if I wanted to?”
Underground in Berlin: A Young Woman’s Extraordinary Tale of Survival in the Heart of Nazi Germany, by Marie Jalowicz Simon
It was just after five thirty in the evening when a four-engine Halifax bomber lumbered off the runway of the RAF aerodrome in Brindisi.
The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis, by Wes Davis
“What’s two plus two?”
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
“What was that?!”
Absolute Wonder Woman: The Last Amazon, by Kelly Thompson
“Among the marvels brought ashore from the ship Vittoria when she reached Spain on 6 September 1522, after having completed the first journey around the world, were five bird skins.”
Quest in Paradise, by David Attenborough.
“I hate this place!”
Gabriel, by Jean Slaughter Doty
“Opera breeds fanatics.”
Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future, by Caitlin Vincent.
“From a distance it almost looked natural.”
Elysium Fire, by Alastair Reynolds
“If you’re a children’s book author (I’m a children’s book author) people will often ask you if you plan on writing a real book.”
Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, by Mac Barnett
Note: I am also a children’s book author, and nobody has ever asked me that.
“The poisonous molecules of benzene arrived in the bone marrow in a crescendo.”
Fever, Robin Cook, 1982
“Caleb lay facing the window, his grandmother’s quilt pulled to his chin.”
Catfish Lullaby, by A.C. Wise
“Where Star Trek: The Next Generation promised us a look at family life on board a Starfleet vessel, it was left to the follow-up series Deep Space Nine to actually deliver.”
Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family, by Stephen H. Segal and Valya Dudycz. Lupescu.
This is as I saw it, as I felt it, and I make no apologies for this , , ,
The Honour and the Shame, by John Kenneally VC
Washington, DC, April 26, 1983
The U.S. National War College occupies a chunk of riverside real estate at Fort Lesley J. McNair.
Tonight We Bombed the U.S. Capitol: The Explosive Story of M19, America’s First Female Terrorist Group, by William Rosenau
“Winslow Remington Houndstooth was not a hero.” American Hippo by Sarah Gailey.
“The sight of this old train car saddens me, though I cannot quite articulate why.”
Leech, by Hiron Ennes
“I have long reflected on the question How can we deepen our understanding of poetry?”
Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry, by Arthur Sze.
Malvina Thompson laughed out loud when she read the invitation that had just arrived from Rear Admiral Thomas Withers.
Gallant Lady: A Biography of the USS Archerfish: The True Story of One of History’s Most Fabled Submarines, by Ken Henry & Don Keith
“I was born on June 24, 1946, ten days after the birth of Donald John Trump, twelve days before the birth of George Walker Bush, and fifty-six days before the birth of William Jefferson Blyth III, whose name was later changed to Bill Clinton.”
First sentence of the Introduction to Coming Up Short - A Memoir of My America by Robert B. Reich.
“This book is nonsense.”
The Reavers, by George MacDonald Fraser
“Among the billions of stars taking shape in our galaxy long ago, the yellow dwarf sun that would come to light our days would not have immediately stood out as anything unique.”
Infinite Life: The Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution, and Life on Earth, by Jules Howard
“Manchura, 1908. Perhaps you know this story: Late one evening, a beautiful woman comes knocking on an unsuspecting scholar’s door.”
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
“‘One, two, three.’ The flash from the light was blinding.”
High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins
“Thank you for calling the customer service line of Vacuubot, purveyors of America’s finest automated vacuum cleaners!”
Love, Death + Robots: The Official Anthology: Volume 2 & 3, edited by Amanda J. Spedding (from the first story, “Automated Customer Service” by John Scalzi)
“The parents want one of the teachers arrested.”
Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, by Rafe Esquith
“Is it a cup of tea you will be having to drink?”
The Wrong Rite, by Charlotte MacLeod (writing as Alisa Craig).
This volume presents a comprehensive study of service by American women with the United States Navy from the early days of the Republic almost to the end of the twentieth century.
Serving Proudly: A History of Women in the U.S. Navy, by Susan H Godson
The highway, the main eastbound thoroughfare out of London, was not for travellers faint of heart.
Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force’s Most Infamous Murder Cases, by Simon Read
“The life of John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. was marked to an exceptional degree by silence, mystery, and evasion.”
Titan by Ron Chernow
This is on my bookshelf waiting patiently for me.
mmm