I am no bird...

A collection of quotes from books I'm reading, have recently read or just really love.

[bibliophiling]

I had that sensation again, that there had grown a lantern or a beacon inside me. I was sure that when she stepped upon the stage it would be like putting a match to the wick, and I would flare up, golden and incandescent but somehow painfully and shamefully bright; and my family and my beau would shrink away from me, appalled. Of course, when she strode before the footlights at last, no such thing occurred […] when I glowed and sparkled it was evidently with a dark and secret flame which no one […] looked for or saw. (23)

Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters

[wordsfullofechoes]

I loved her, and could not but long to have her come; but I loved her, and not a soul must know it - not even she. It would be a torture, I thought, to have to sit beside her at my father’s table with that love within me, mute and restless as a gnawing worm.

Sarah Waters, Tipping the Velvet

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Grade: 9/10

Length: 472 pages

Time to Read (me): 2 days

Rating: Mature Readers

Spoiler Free Short Review:

If you like delicate, old style language that literally rolls off the tongue like velvet (teehee), learning about queer culture in the Victorian era and like a little bit of classy smut in your book, definitely read this. It's a coming of age love story that won't break your heart and is actually interesting. 

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

[to-boldly-read-blog]

I say "sorry" a lot. When I am running late. When I am navigating the streets of New York. When I interrupt someone. I say, "sorry, sorry, sorry" in one long stream. The sentence becomes "Sorrysorrysorry" and it's said really fast, as if even the act of apologizing is something to apologize for. But this doesn't mean I am a pushover. It doesn't mean I am afraid of conflict or don't know how to stand up for myself. I am getting to a place right in the middle where I feel good about exactly how much I apologize. It takes years for a woman to unlearn what you have been taught to be sorry for. It takes years to find your voice and seize your real estate.

Amy Poehler, Yes Please

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Good for her! Not for me. That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her! Not for me.

Amy Poehler, Yes Please

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Is there a word for when you are young and pretending to have lived and loved a thousand lives? Is there a German word for that? Seems like there should be. Let's say it is Schaufenfrieglasploit.

Amy Poehler, Yes Please

[granolaqueer-blog]

I sense a trend in my presents #badassbitches #leadingladies #books #xmas

[to-boldly-read-blog]

I am so very excited to read all of these books. My mom is awesome.

[to-boldly-read-blog]

I love saying "yes" and I love saying "please." Saying "yes" doesn't mean I don't know how to say no, and saying "please" doesn't mean I am waiting for permission. "Yes please" sounds powerful and concise. It's a response and a request.

Amy Poehler, Yes Please

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Books I Want to Read

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir 

Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

Brave New World by Huxley

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Congo by Michael Crichton

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Contact by Carl Sagan

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Women in Clothes edited by Heti, Julavits and Shapton

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Reading List for Winter Break

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Sphere by Michael Crichton

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (in the process of reading)

Yes Please by Amy Poehler (currently reading this too)

Last updated: 12/25/2014

[to-boldly-read-blog]

Maturity...is knowing what your limitations are...Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle