“I suppose you could call The Pilgrim the hillbilly version of Tommy or the country version of a Roger Waters concept album.”
–Billy Bob Thorton’s forward to “The Pilgrim: A Wall-To-Wall Odyssey”.
“When Baltimore merchant George Peabody sailed for London in 1835, the world was in the throes of a debt crisis.”
– The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance, by Ron Chernow
“In the box was a belt.”
The Man Who Folded Himself, by David Gerrold
“The sudden rearmament that followed Napoleon’s escape from Elba had done little to thin the ranks of unemployed sea-officers by the early spring of 1815.”
The Hundred Days by Patrick O’Brian
“Norman Logan paid for his apple pie and coffee, then carried his tray toward the front of the cafeteria.”
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Month of Mystery, edited by Robert Arthur.
(The above is the first sentence from “The Dusty Drawer” by Harry Muheim, the first story in this anthology.)
"There was a stillness in the September-morning air that was like the stillness in the heart of a gliding submarine, engines extinguished to elude the enemy’s listening devices.
- Shut Your Eyes Tight, by John Verdon.
Might be a contender for a Bulwer-Lytton award.
My orders were concise, with hygienic overtones: “Report to the O.S.S. Wash.”
You’re Stepping on My Cloak & Dagger - Roger Hall
“I ran as fast as I could.”
The Upside, by Abdel Sellou
I’m not reading all of these right now but I just ordered all five to replace the copies I had that were damaged. Long story.
“Colonel Jesse Woods turned off the computer in his office, removed the floppy disk, and carefully slid it into it’s protective sleeve.” 1634: The Baltic War
“I’m telling you Mike, we can do this!” Fing of Fire
“Stop whining Harry.” Grantville Gazette II
" “I’ve got a headache”, Anne Jefferson announced>" Grantville Gazette IV
Anne Jefferson studied herself in the mirror, theen turned sideways and spent a few more seconds with the examination Grantville Gazette VI
“Outside , the night blew perfectly foul and all of the Hills had stayed at home.”
The Hills at Home by Nancy Clark
“As he prances on to the stage in Hamilton: An American Musical, singing three show-stopping numbers, King George III somehow manages to be comic yet cruel, camp yet sinister.”
-The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III
-Andrew Roberts
“June 12, 1954 - The drive from Salina to Morgen was three hours, and for much of it, Emmett hadn’t said a word.”
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
“Jacob Finch Bonner, the once-promising author of the “New & Noteworthy” (The New York Times Book Review) novel The Invention of Wonder, let himself into the office he’d been assigned on the second floor of Richard Peng Hall, set his beat-up leather satchel on the barren desk, and looked around in something akin to despair.”
The Pilot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Just started listening to this book last night. A promising start.
“I do not,” said Monsieur Théophile Daumier, “understand the English.”
Excerpt From
Thrones, Dominations
Dorothy L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh
This material may be protected by copyright.
“There are two polling places in Haines.”
Of Bears and Ballots: An Alaskan Adventure in Small-Town Politics, by Heather Lende
“I have a ball of starlight inside me.”
Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders
“The history of these sceptred isles earlier than about 1800 BC is lost in the mists of time.”
Blackadder - The Whole Damn Dynasty by Curtis, Atkinson, Elton & Lloyd
“Lita tosses another pinon log onto the fire.”
The Last Cuentista, by Donna Barbra Higuera.
“I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Hunstville.”
No Country For Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
“Mom?”
Murder Most Fowl, by Donna Andrews