I PREPPED for today’s Top Ten Tuesday.
The following quotes have stitched themselves into my memory.
I carry them with me wherever I go.
(Minor spoilers throughout)
(I kind of spoil Piranesi, so…be warned)
I do not understand “damned.” You are. And because you are, you can walk where you will, into peace, oblivion, or pits of fire, but you will always choose.
The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden
The Bear and Nightingale really said, “Hey, would you like to unpack your religious trauma today?”
Vasilisa wants to know if she’s damned for rejecting both motherhood and the convent.
Instead of answering the question, the white mare affirms Vasilisa’s ability to make choices for herself.
This quote healed a forgotten part of me.
I worry that you expect the worst sometimes, because of what happened. Imagine the best for yourself now and then, won’t you, hon?
Someday, Someday, Maybe, Lauren Graham
I first read this book at a very low point.
It was hard to imagine then that I would ever feel good again.
I survived that period of my life.
I’m trying now to imagine good things for my future.
I’m still not eating pizza.
The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater
I love that Raven Cycle fans have given this quote the inspirational treatment.
The quote is semi-significant in context, but honestly it’s funnier without.
Noah’s still not eating pizza.
Even if it means oblivion, friends, I’ll welcome it, because it won’t be nothing. We’ll be alive again in a thousand blades of grass, and a million leaves; we’ll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we’ll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was.
The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman
I read this quote recently and teared up.
I don’t believe in much, but I do believe in people.
He is slow, and the sea sings to us both, but he returns to me.
The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
One of my favorite book quotes, period, and perhaps my favorite final line.
Makes me misty every time.
A plague on Dwarves and your stiff necks.
The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
At age twelve, I considered this line the height of comedy.
I would quote it to my friends all the time.
It made me very popular.
Is there anything I can do to make myself less repellent to you?
Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell
This line comes after 250 pages of painful miscommunication.
I listened to the audiobook. When I heard Jainan say this, I plastered myself to my bed in terror.
THE EMOTIONAL STAKES WERE THROUGH THE ROOF.
The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
I finally figured out why Piranesi hit me so hard.
The lead character realizes at one point that the only person he trusts doesn’t care about him at all and in fact betrayed him a long time ago.
The poor guy finds comfort in the parts of his new world that remind him of the old one.
He’s a different person now, but he’ll be okay.
I hope you enjoyed the show. It’s over now.
Neon Gods, Katee Robert
Neon Gods is supposed to be a sexy book.
When Hades said this, I immediately thought of Porky Pig.
KIND OF TAKES YOU OUT OF IT, DOESN’T IT?
I loved this book, but this line almost ended me.
No. Lunar Special Operative.
Scarlet, Marissa Meyer
I. Read. This. Line. In. Public.
It broke me.
This book has my FAVORITE example of Was It All a Lie? in fiction.
Read the Lunar Chronicles today!
Those are some of my favorite character quotes.
Might some of them inspire future tattoos? ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE.
Narrative Paradise 