“I was single once, and young.”
Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library, by Don Borchert
“August came in, that summer of 1141, tawny as a lion and somnolent and purring as a hearthside cat.”
An Excellent Mystery, by Ellis Peters
“A woman sat in a hotel bar, watching the door. Her appearance was neat and tidy: white blouse, fair hair tucked behind her ears.”
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
“All my life, for as long as I can remember, I grew up thinking that there existed only two types of black people: those who passed the ‘brown paper bag and ruler test’ and those who didn’t.”
Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, by Lawrence Otis Graham
“I don’t want any damned dukedom, Mr. Anderson,” Hamish MacHugh said softly.”
The Trouble with Dukes by Grace Burrowes
“Manitoba, the ‘land of 100,000 lakes,’ is today the easternmost of Canada’s three prairie provinces.”
Sawchuk - The Troubles and Triumphs of the World’s Greatest Goalie
“Vivian Dalton’s worn old ankle boots crunched over the packed snow in front of Freedlanders, the bright lights of the department store spilling right out onto the sidewalk and mixing with the glow of the streetlamps.”
The Operator, by Gretchen Berg.
“On a January night in 1938, Dessa Tippetts hurried to her seat in the cavernous gymnasium on the campus of the University of Wyoming in Laramie.”
Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation, by David Davis.
“We’re almost halfway through September.”
Sowed to Death by Peg Cochran
"I know, I know—it seemed crazy that the alien had come to Toronto. "
Calculating God by Robert Sawyer
“There were two movie theaters on Main Street when I was growing up in Swifton, Arkansas.”
-Hello Everybody, I’m George Kell by George Kell with Dan Ewald
“I’m descended from a long line of Quaves, running all the way back to Juan de Cuevas, born in Algamitas, Spain, in 1762, who settled in what is now known as Harrison County, Mississippi.”
The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines, by Cassandra Leah Quave.
“It was five o’clock on a winter’s morning in Syria. Alongside the platform at Aleppo stood the train
grandly designated in railway guides as the Taurus Express. It consisted of a kitchen and dining-car, a
sleeping-car and two local coaches.”
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Want me to tell you how it comes out?
Somebody gets murdered and Poirot figures it out. 
So the movie followed the book?
Took some liberties. They always do.
“Just under the surface of the waves where the ocean met the land, a hand without a body reached out for someone to grab it.”
Spare and Found Parts, by Sara Maria Griffin
Oh, man… 
“The tourists crashed through the sheriff’s blockade so they wouldn’t miss the rumrunner special at a popular tiki bar.”
Mermaid Confidential - Tim Dorsey
“To imagine the spirit of poetry is much like imagining the shape and size of knowing.”
Poet Warrior: A Memoir, by Joy Harjo