“I’m sure my husband would prefer you not to cycle so much, Dr. Wilkinson.”
From a Surgeon’s Diary by Clifford Ashdown
“The mailman walked towards my office door, half an hour earlier than usual.”
Storm Front by Jim Butcher, the first of the ‘Dresden Files’ novels.
“If the peoples of Earth were not prepared for the coming of the Martians, it was their own fault.”
Martians, Go Home! by Fredric Brown.
I’m reading several books right now; a couple of eBooks from the library, and one paperback. As it happens, the paperback is **Storm Front **by Jim Butcher, so post #704 has that one covered. I’m starting a 3rd (or 4th?) read through of the whole series in order (including the comics and short stories) in anticipation of the new book coming out sometime around Christmas (fingers crossed).
Overdrive: “The Consort was coming to dinner.” Cast in Oblivion by Michelle Sagara
Cloud Library: “The genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other.” Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. It’s a pretty interesting read, and I might even check out the children’s version of the book to see how he made it a story for both adults and kids.
“I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife’s grave. Then I joined the army.”
*Old Man’s War *by John Scalzi (2005)
" ‘This is CNN breaking news …’ "
– The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America, by CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta
Every man had his own special moment when he first knew that something was wrong.
The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo – Walter Lord
“They give me free drinks if I keep my tray table down.”
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book: The Winners, the Losers, and Everybody In Between, edited by Robert Mankoff.
“There are moments of great luxury in the life of a secret agent.”
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming (1954)
“Every presidency begins in a fog of uncertainty.”
Camelot’s Court: Inside the Kennedy White House by Robert Dallek (2013)
“Although Wan-To wasn’t at all human, he (or one might prefer to refer to him as “it,”, but “he” was not an inappropriate pronoun) would have put that statement in a very different way.”
The World at the End of Time by Frederik Pohl.
“The tantalizing odor of pumpkin spice scented the air as Danielle Sloan watched her neighbor Ivy Drake stuff leftover Halloween cookies into her mouth.”
Tart of Darkness by Denise Swanson
“I rode a streetcar to the edge of the city limits, then I started to walk, swinging the old thumb whenever I saw a car coming.”
After Dark, My Sweet by Jim Thompson (1955)
“Even in Los Angeles, where there is no shortage of remarkable hairdos, Harry Peak attracted attention.”
The Library Book, by Susan Orlean
“It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that had not happened yet.”
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (2010)
“The problem with monsters,” Monica (5’10") liked to say, “is that monsters win.”
XL by Scott Brown
“There have been countless books written on the attack on Pearl Harbor over the last 75 years.”
Raising the Fleet: The Pearl Harbor Salvage Operation, 1941-1944 by Ernest Arroyo and Stan Cohen
“Nobody knew where she came from.”
Applied Minds: How Engineers Think, by Guru Madhavan.
“umber whunnnn
yerrrnnn umber whunnnn
fayunnnn
These sounds: even in the haze.”
– Misery, by Stephen King
Oh, Sam, I love that book! I hope you will too.