some quotes.

I don't remember what I used to blog about, or I do but I can't think of anything new today even though I want to post something (I miss blogging), so here are other people's words from some novels.

Nothing goes away, Esteban says, after a long time passes. Not the things you remember, and not the things you still want.
-Small Damages, by Beth Kephart

I have already been torn to pieces
by you,
and pasted myself together again.
-Reunited, by Hillary Graham (Summer's journal)

What more could you ask of a person, Peter thought, than to risk all that they were for all they believed they could be?
-You Are Here, by Jennifer E. Smith

This particular story -- the Civil War, the best and worst of a whole country -- gave him a firm sense of hope that anything and everything could be repaired. Even the worst struggles could end in reunion.
-You Are Here, by Jennifer E. Smith

I do the right thing. I don't give up. I do it all with a smile on my face. I've always believed that I'm a good person.
What if I'm not.
-Reached, by Ally Condie (Xander)

We hold the choices of our fathers and mother in our hands and when we cling on or let them slip between our fingers, those choices become our own.
-Reached, by Ally Condie (Cassia)

Everyone can be fixed; it has to be that way, it's the only thing that makes sense.
-Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver

some of the best lines.

I'm feeling a bit lazy at the moment and don't quite know what to blog about, so I've grabbed my quote-book (in this case it's actually quote-book #2, because #1 got filled up) and here are some of my recent-ish favorite quotes.

"Nothing goes away," Esteban says after a long time passes. "Not the things you remember, and not the things you still want." 
~Small Damages, by Beth Kephart (p. 152 -- ARC)

The longer I was around her, the more I could see the colors of her mind and the recesses of her heart. There was a beast in there. But there was also a girl who was afraid of being a beast, and who wondered if other people had beasts in their hearts, too.
~Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson (p. 21)

I hadn't been in the woods in years, and as I started to follow the trail, I realized how familiar it all was, the beads of dew on the moss, the smell of the pine trees, the snap of twigs and leaves underneath my flip-flops. It was... the realization that just because you'd left something behind didn't mean that it had gone anywhere.
~Second Chance Summer, by Morgan Matson (p. 62)

Summer sighed. "You want to have air-quotes fun. I just want to have regular fun."
~Reunited, by Hilary Weisman Graham (p. 173)

Do you have any recent favorite quotes from novels? (I think my favorite of the above is the quote from Tiger Lily.)

Tuesday Ten: Quotes

This week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is top ten favorite quotes. I thought this would be a perfect topic for me thanks to my notebook full of lines and passages from the books I read (my quote-book), but as it turns out it's impossible to choose my ten favorites. I have funny quotes, quotes that remind me of myself or something in my own life, quotes that are just flat-out gorgeously written, etc. And narrowing them down is too hard. Additionally, I know there are quotes I love that somehow haven't made it into the book. BUT ANYWAY. I've decided to choose my top ten quotes from books I've read (and managed to add to the book) this year.

In truth, it always hurt. It always hurt not to breathe like a normal person.

--The Fault In Our Stars, pg. 45

"I believe in true love, you know? I don't believe that everybody gets to keep their eyes or not get sick or whatever, but everybody should have true love, and it should last at least as long as your life does."

--The Fault In Our Stars, pg. 75 (Isaac)

"I don't think defeatism is honest," Dad answered. "I refuse to accept that." 

--The Fault In Our Stars, pg. 222

 This warm rush comes over me, like we're all in this giant snow globe together, a perfect moment captured under the glass, all histories and futures forgotten.

--Bittersweet, pg. 151-152

"Friends or not, I don't want to spend the rest of my life hating you."

--Bittersweet, pg. 243 (Kara)

In recent years her joy at seeing them was always mixed with anxiety that there would be some telltale change... a this or a that, that would separate one of them from the rest, or from their bond or from the past.

--Sisterhood Everlasting, pg. 46

That's how it feels to me. Everyone is doing it; everyone knows how. To live and be who they are and find a place, find a moment. I'm still waiting.

--How To Save A Life, pg. 157 (Mandy)

"You don't know. All kinds of people make all kinds of decisions that aren't by the book, and they have their reasons."

--How To Save A Life, pg. 161 (Dylan)

"I'm still going to love you, always. And in the rock-paper-scissors of life, love is rock. Fear, anger, everything else... no contest." Love is rock.

 --How To Save A Life, pg. 328 (Dylan)

And this last quote that's too long to be formatted like the rest but that I absolutely love.

"Oh my God," I say, pushing Thomas out of the way. "It's the tuba guy."
"The what?"
"This guy that Justine likes. He's in the same youth orchestra as her, but she's never spoken to him. He looks at her at the bus stop every morning, but there's no way that he'll ever know her name because she's so tongue-tied around him."
"Those relationships go nowhere," Thomas says. "Six years down the track you're still referring to her as the 'chick with the ponytail at the bus stop.' Tell her to stay away from it. It'll only end in heartbreak."

--Saving Francesca, pg. 173

FIVE: Favorite Lines of 2010

The official FIVE for today is covers, but I was a little unsure of how to tackle that one so instead I'm going with something I absolutely love from books: great lines. Here are five favorite quotes from books I've read (or reread!) this year, in no particular order.

Envy, by Anna Godberson

She thought of Henry and Diana on the stoop, gazing at each other with the confusion and sadness of two puppies who have just stumbled into their first puddle and not yet come to understand what has happened to them.

Girls in Pants, by Ann Brashares

They were growing up. It was inevitable. But please, God, she couldn't do it if it was a trade-in. She couldn't strike the bargain if growing up meant drowning out the friendship that stood at the very center of her life, the thing that gave her strength and balance.

serafina67, by Susie Day

If I was a movie then that is what would happen. But things don't get cured and mended and tidied up like that. I am not cured and mended and tidied up either.

The Treasure Map of Boys, by E. Lockhart

I know they're not getting divorced or anything, but when your parents argue it makes the whole universe seem like it's tipping, like everything could change if they got mad enough at each other, like the world isn't a safe place.

And of course, that's true, isn't it? The world is not a safe place.

Envy, by Anna Godberson

[Diana] went to her window and looked at all the twinkling windows and above them all the faint stars. How many false impressions lived out there? she wondered. How many hearts broken through carelessness and failures of nerve?

Sometimes People Just Aren't Nice

(advance warning: apoloys* for the personal post. sometimes it can't be helped.)

[The little girls] pick separate spaces of grass and focus on the dolls they've brought with them while their moms talk. I hope they stay away from each other, because odds are good one of them has the making of a total bitch and the other will become that bitch's total bitch.

Because that's how it works. Mostly.

Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers (pg. 168)

So back when I was working on this blood, sweat, and tears article, I made a list. You may have noticed by now that I adore lists. And though I can't tell you what I originally called this one (because, you guys, I named names), we'll now call it

THE LIST OF: YOUR FRIEND IS THE SUXXOR

(also, thanks to Becca for helping me with this, and also for being one of the good guys. If friends were secret agents, she'd totally work for CONTROL.) (I'm sorry, sometimes I can't help but make Get Smart references.)

1. Other people (people you trust) comment negatively on how your friend treats you.
2. Your friend makes you feel bad (ugly, unsure, etc.) about yourself.
3. You're afraid to tell your friend certain things because of how she will react.
4. Everything is about her. Every conversation revolves around her and her problems or accomplishments.
5. You change yourself to be friends with her.
6. You fight. A lot.
7. You feel like you have to be there for this person. When you cancel plans or avoid their calls, you feel guilty because you feel a responsibility to her, as if her well being depends on you.
8. Your friend lies to you.
9. Whenever you talk about her to other people, you find yourself complaining.
10. She frequently ditches you or cancels plans, making you feel like a backup friend.
11. You feel depressed, sad, angry, or discouraged after hanging out with or talking to her. Even if you can't quite figure out why, trust me that this is a bad sign.
12. She drains you emotionally.
13. You don't actually like your friend.
14. She tries to control you. (What you do, who you hang out with, etc.)
15. She's there for you when times are bad, but it seems to be more of a schadenfreude thing. (Or, conversely, she's there when things are good but disappears when you need her most.)

I'm posting this for a few reasons, most of which have to do with MY OWN ISSUES OH WOES and don't really fit on this blog, but also because I feel like this is something a lot of women -- young or old -- go through. (I don't mean to stereotype, but I honestly don't think it happens so much with guys.) I'm a big proponent of books that show honest friendships, both the good and the bad. I think a lot of times we underestimate the work it takes to maintain a friendship and it's easy not to realize that a bad friendship can be incredibly similar to an abusive relationship.

Can you relate to any of this? What do you think of deeper, personal-type posts on here occasionally?


*apoloys means apologies. It's a word I made up.

Part Two: Girls in Pants (The Third Summer of the Sisterhood)

Back when Ten Cent Notes was a Wordpress blog, I started a series of posts on The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants series. It's taking me absolutely forever to reread these books and write the posts, but I am doing it. As this is a discussion type of post, it should go without saying that there are SPOILERS for the first three books in the series.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Part One

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Part Two

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Part Three

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Part One

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Part Two

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Part Three

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood - Part One

Book: Girls in Pants (The Third Summer of the Sisterhood)

Pages: 123-233

Topics: Favorite?, Good Carmen, Lena and Paul, Tibby Hides, Sick Bee, Quotes

Favorite?:

Like I said before, in my mind I always remembered this book as being my favorite in the series. In rereading it though, I'm not quite sure that holds up. The book is good, no doubt, but all books in this series are good. What I'm remembering more than anything, I think, is how much I loved the rediscovery of Bee and Eric's relationship. Aside from that, I'm not entirely connected to the stories in this book. Carmen's always been the character I'm least connected too, and it's even less in this book. Though I love Lena, her story didn't quite capture me in this book like it does in the others, and I adore Tibby, but her story here takes a long time to really get going for me. So, is this book my favorite? Probably not.

Good Carmen:

I find it so great that Carmen has this idea of herself as being a horrible person and thinks that all the times Win (the guy she likes who works at the hospital) sees her doing good deeds are just aberrations. Like, those times don't matter. It's a little hilarious to me because of all the girls, Carmen is the one who always has the most struggle with good and bad. She has a temper, she acts out, she says things and does things that hurt others and that she doesn't mean, but she's always trying, trying, trying to be good and yet she never sees this. She refuses to give herself a break.

Lena and Paul:

It's no secret that I wasn't a fan of the Lena/Kostos relationship; I never liked them together, never thought he was good for her, and was disappointed at the way their story ended up in the last book. (For more of my thoughts on Lena and Kostos, you can visit this post.) Anyhow, I always sort of wanted Lena and Paul to end up together. I realize that much sadness might just be a recipe for disaster, but throughout the books it did seem like Paul understood Lena better than anyone else, at least anyone who wasn't Bapi. There was a certain amount of hope for them in the second book, but it pretty much gets destroyed here, or at least pushed aside in a way that makes me feel like the books missed out on what could have been a really great storyline.

Tibby Hides:

I adore Tibby. She reminds me of myself. And though her story does take quite a while to get going in this book and the reader is never quite sure why she feels the way she does, or does the things she does, it starts to come together here. I have no words to explain Tibby except to say that a lot of her struggles are my own struggles and on a very basic level I connect with her. There's a scene in this book with her climbing out onto the apple tree outside of her window, and it's like a culmination of everything she's been struggling with and feeling since her younger sister, Katherine, fell out of that same window. And I can't explain it, but it just reminds me that there are so many different layers to these characters and the story as a whole - a million different ways for readers to connect to the books.

Sick Bee:

Eric taking care of Bee when she gets sick is one of those rare events in these books without which I feel like the book couldn't have gone the way it did. Bee's story has always been my favorite of all four girls, and the fact that her relationship with Eric comes back to the forefront in this book is - I think - one of the best things about her story. Unlike the other girls, Bee's story has always been a combination of the present with the past, and whereas in other books the past is her mother's past, here she's finally dealing with her own issues, the things in her past that have everything to do with her, and I really think that over all, Bee's transformation and change throughout the books is the best of any of the girls.

Quotes:

The truth was, she had never felt so overwhelmingly drawn to anyone. In the two years since they'd seen each other, she had questioned this particular magnetism Eric had for her. Was it real? Or was she so caught up in a mania of her own making that summer in Baja that she had imagined it?

Seeing him again this summer answered her question. It was real. She responded to him the same way, even though she was different. (page 131)

Listening to her friends' voices felt like hearing a familiar symphony, with one instrument coming in and layering atop another. The way the cadences linked and harmonized made her feel safe. (page 135)

How sad it was, Carmen thought, that you acted awful when you were desperately sad and hurt and wanted to be loved. How tragic then, the way everyone avoided you and tiptoed around you when you really needed them. (page 216)

Questions:

1. Which character do you feel most connected to? For me it's always been a split between Tibby and Lena.

2. Do you have a favorite book throughout the series? I used to think this was my favorite but now I don't know.

3. Favorite quote?

Weekly Geeks: Nature & Connection

This week's Weekly Geek is about connection.

Firstly, have you come across a phrase recently that has made an impact on you? And secondly, who do you read with?

In answer to the first question, I'm always coming across phrases, lines, quotes that leap out at me and touch a part of my heart. I keep a running list of them in the book I call my quote-book and recently I've started posting a few of them on Goodreads also. One of the latest ones I've found came in re-reading FAHRENHEIT 451 for my lit class.

This was all he wanted now. Some signs that the immense world would accept him and give him the time he needed to think all the things that must be thought.

This line comes at a point in the book where Guy Montag (spoiler alert! for anyone unfortunate enough to have not read this book yet) is on the run and essentially out in the wilderness, in the middle of nature. And he's never really been around nature before.

It reminded me, almost instantly, of the woods I grew up across a dirt road from and of the fact that the sky is so big and when I was younger, before I lived so close to a city, it seemed even bigger. There was more nature. More outside. I'm not a very athletic person (to say the least) and I do tend to prefer the indoors to the out, but honestly this has a lot to do with the type of outdoors I have around here. Everything is managed and civilized and I don't like that type of outside. I like the type that looks as if you're the first person on earth to reach that particular spot, the type that always reminds you of how big it is an how small you are and give you all the space and all the time you need to think the things that must be thought. And it's not that I never find that feeling anymore, but the further away you get from a place in nature where you feel completely at peace, the less often you feel that kind of wide open spaces peace. At least, I do.

As for the second part of the question, who do you read with?, the answer is... nobody. I have blogger friends, but for the most part reading is a solitary activity for me. Books anchor me; they're a part of me, and although I love talking about them, blogging about them, recommending them, and sharing them with others, the actual reading experience is mine and mine alone.

So, what about you guys? If you've answered the Weekly Geek question on your own blog, leave me a link so I can visit you!

The Right Words: I've been there, too.

My quote-book is something of a journal. I write down the lines that I especially love and in reading through the book it's easy to see what was on my mind at certain points in my life. Though some of the quotes are humorous and some are beautiful, the majority of them form a picture of who I am and who I was at certain points in my life.

With this in mind I'm starting a new feature on this blog: The Right Words. I'll take a quote that I love and share it with you guys, along with some backstory or the reasons behind choosing it. This feature is a bit more personal, but will also show some really great books.

The first quote is from SEA, by Heidi R. Kling, and it's one of the most recent additions to my quote-book.

Spider had that easy way about him that people who have never had anything bad happen to them seem to possess.

It's horrible to say this, but sometimes, with some things, there's no way to understand what it feels like unless you've been there. I don't know what you've gone through and you don't know what I've gone through. Empathy and imagination goes a long way in rectifying this, but there are still certain events in life that can only be understood by people who have been through the same (or very similar) things. I know for a fact that there are some people in my life who I could never discuss certain things with because I'll get that blank stare and try as they might, they don't get it. By the same token, I have friends (one in particular) who I can say one little thing to and they know what I mean immediately. Because they've been there too.

~~I'd love for you to participate in this feature with me. If you do a The Right Words post, please leave a comment linking me to it so I can check out your blog!