Hmm... a list of book quotes collected by Leanne Dyck

photo by ldyck

December can be a challenging month for many, including me. So I thought I'd help us start the month on a positive note with this list of quotes--collected since 2012 from the books I've reviewed for this blog. I invite you to select a quote to act as an affirmation. Click on each book's title and the link will take you to my review.

'"Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find."' State of Wonder, Ann Patchett

'"It's what you learn after you think you know it all that counts."' Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

 '[A] man finds what he looks for, and he who believes in a ghost will surely find a ghost.' Independent People, Halldor Laxness

'"Parents owe their children everything, always and unconditionally."' The Saturday Night Ghost Club, Craig Davidson

'Many hearts beating together make us stronger.' Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese

'[N]ormal is just a setting on the dryer.' Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

'It's never the differences between people that surprise us. It's the things that, against all odds, we have in common.'  
Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

'Do all the good you can/By all the means you can/In all the ways you can/In all the places you can/At all the times you can/To all the people you can/As long as you ever can -John Wesley's Rule' Wonder, RJ Palacio 

'The old us is a new us every day, and we have to accept that we will have a beginning and a middle and an end.' 
Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

'We are saved by saving others.' Sweep, Jonathan Auxier 

 '"You can't have courage without fear."' Sweep, Jonathan Auxier 

'The goal to be reached and the determination to reach it are brother and sister, and slumber in the same heart.' Independent People, Halldor Laxness

'No matter what happens, the past has a permanence. The past is safe.' An Ocean of Minutes, Thea Lim

 Next Sunday evening...

December 8:  Christmas Secrets (short story)

I wasn't always this fine example of a human being. Next Sunday I'll reveal what a truly horrible child I was. Please don't judge me too harshly.

Sharing my author's journey...

Yesterday, November 30, I entertained a room full of people with my writing during a Storyteller Evening.

Writing About Books (list of quotes) collected by Leanne Dyck

I started reviewing books for this blog in 2012. Recently, I re-read my notes. To celebrate this blog's ninth anniversary, I compiled this list of quotes.

So all together now, let's sing the praises of reading--types the dyslexic. 

photo by ldyck

Writing about Books

'[B]ooks are the nation's most precious possession.' 
Independent People, Halldor Laxness

'[W]hen you handle books all day long every new one is a friend and a temptation.'
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova

'A book lives in every person who reads it.' 
Sweep, Jonathan Auxier

'[S]he would not be without guidance, she would not be without love, without faith; she had a good book with her.' 
Cider House Rules, John Irving

'[H]e had made Nan read it a second time. That is the sign that you really love a book.'
Sweep, Jonathan Auxier

'He had found her reading a book, which was a peculiar occupation for a woman who was not a nun.' 
The Pillar of the Earth, Ken Follett

'[P]ublishing a book is like scattering ashes from an urn.'
Sweep, Jonathan Auxier

'She chirps the last bit as if that were all to say about a book:  It's good or it's bad. I like it or I didn't. No discussion of the writing, the themes, the nuances, the structure. Just good or bad. Like a hot dog.' 
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

More...

This morning I took my dog for a walk and inspiration struck. I hope you enjoy the result.

A Poem for November

November did try,

she filled her skies with blue

and let the sun shine

Still people shared poems

about how dull she is

But July told November,

"People need moody days too."

Next Sunday evening...

Book review:  Akin by Emma Donoghue

Maybe I could summarize this novel like this...

"What did you do during the war, Mom?"
"What did you do to end poverty, Son?"

Please click the link to read my review next week.

Writing about Writers (list of quotes) collected by Leanne Dyck

On October 10th this blog will be nine years old. Do you believe it? Nine. To celebrate, I re-read the quotes I gathered since 2012--when I started reviewing books for this blog. I'll offer these quotes in thematic collections over the next three months--including October, including today. Please click on the links provided under each quote to read my book reviews.

"An Autumn Road" photo by ldyck

Writing about Writers

To be a successful writer:  ' "You must have talent. A thick skin. And most important luck... To make luck you must be clever, or blessed." ' The Delusionist, Grant Buday

'I wonder if I'll ever write anything worth anything.' 

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

'What's the point of writing something that no one will ever read? I forget who said that a work of art does not exist without an audience--that it's not enough for it to be made.' 

Motherhood, Sheila Heti

'[N]early everything seems a letdown after a writer has finished writing something.' 

The World According to Garp, John Irving

'This is how we go on:  one day at a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one breath at a time... If you write books, you go one page at a time.' Bag of Bones, Stephen King

'As a child I wrote small books which I began with the words The End. I needed to know the end was guaranteed.' 

Bluebeard's Egg, Margaret Atwood

'The writing had burned off all thoughts of the real world, at least temporarily. I think that, in the end, that's what it's for. Good or bad, it passes the time.' Bag of Bones, Stephen King

My teacher 'said that when you are writing a book you have to include some descriptions of things... She also said that I should describe people in the story by mentioning one or two details about them so that people could make a picture of them in their head.' 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon

'When you make your daily bread in the land of make-believe, the line between what is and what seems to be is much finer.' 

Bag of Bones, Stephen King

'Writers are a strange breed. Magpies, scavengers. So fearful of the world they would prefer to describe it than live in it, yet brave to the point of idiocy when in pursuit of inspiration. The real ones will slip their heads into the noose and pull the lever themselves if they think a hanging would make a good tale.' 

The Only Child, Andrew Pyper

'[B]ut in dreams, perhaps everyone is a novelist.' 

Bag of Bones, Stephen King

'Flowers in the Fall' photo by ldyck

Next Sunday evening on this blog... 

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