Could You Repeat That? 173
The Influencing Machine (graphic novel), Brooke Gladstone & Josh Neufeld
The irony is that the more people participate in the media, the more they hate the media. The greater the participation, the greater the paranoia that the media are in control.
Pacific Fire, Greg Van Eekhout
"How's your throwing arm?"
"I throw like a girl," Em said. "By which I mean with strength and accuracy."
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?, Alyssa Mastromonaco with Lauren Oyler
I realize I promised you that I didn't want to focus on "my legacy" in this book, but since they didn't engrave the tampon dispenser with "Made possible by Alyssa Mastromonaco," I wanted to leave a record of it somewhere.
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Five, Bill Willingham
ROSE RED: Well, hang in there, old man. Mowgli will come through.
WOLFLING: Of course he will. Mowg was raised by wolves.
WOLFLING: Wolves know how to get things done.
The Ship Beyond Time, Heidi Heilig
"Is it so strange we find ourselves allies? After all, you're a confessed gentleman."
"What's wrong with being a gentleman?"
"In Hawaii? I've stolen much, Mr. Hart, but never an island."
Legends of Japan, Hiroshi Naito
"How many men will come with him?"
"Oh, they are not human beings. I am not a human being either. You will find out what I am tomorrow."
Small Victories, Julia Turshen
The only way to become a cook is to cook, and the road to becoming a good cook is paved not only with repetition but also with the intuition you gain along the way.
Japanese Soul Cooking, Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat
The golden rule of ramen is...shut up and eat.
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
What had Deidameia thought would happen, I wondered, when she had her women dance for me? Had she really thought I would not know him? I would recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.
The Black Tides of Heaven, JY Yang
"Let the black tides of heaven direct our lives," he murmured. He turned to look at his partner. "I choose to swim."
Hawker Fare, James Sybahout
I'd gone to Europe hungry for refinement. In a weird way, the chefs there were hungry for the rough purity of food like my mom's.
Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
"Hi. Everything OK?"
"Fine. All right to talk for a moment?"
"Yes," said Robin, leaning against the garden wall, and watching a moth banging fruitlessly against the bright glass, trying to enter the house.
Earthly Remains, Donna Leon
It's always the odd, unpredictable things that set us off, Brunetti thought. Grief lies inside us like a land mine: heavy footsteps will pass by it safely, while others, even those as light as air, will cause it to explode.
Basque Country, Marti Buckley
Mushrooms are more than just a food item; they are an activity, a topic of conversation, and a social gesture.
Dragon Coast, Greg Van Eekhout
"Water mages can drown?"
"You'd be surprised. It usually starts with a squabble between rival mages, and before you know it, someone's facedown in a swimming pool."
Cassandra surprised him by allowing a little bit of humor in her eyes. "I love it when wizards die ironically."
Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace
Ghosts didn't get into her house unless she let them. She didn't have to let this one. She stood there, in that choosing moment, weighing dangerous in one hand over useful in the other.
Polpo, Russell Norman
The pears are poached, the apples are caramelized and the figs are left to speak for themselves.
Cravings: Hungry for More, Chrissy Teigen
So for this recipe I wrote a whole thing about how much I love New Orleans for its baked oysters and regrettable yardstick drinks and Clams Casino, but then my editor told me that Clams Casino are from Rhode Island, so I had to scrap it.
Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett
[How do you know it's after the twenty-first hour?] asked Clef.
[TEMPORAL SCRIVING PRORATION RECORDS THE NUMBER OF HOURS PASSED.]
[And how long's an hour?]
[IT IS RECORDED AS SIXTY MINUTES.]
[Oh, that's wrong. They changed all that. Listen...]
Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The knowledge of cooking does not come pre-installed in a vagina.
The Sea Queen, Linnea Hartsuyker
"Did Solvi make you like this?" His voice carried a grief that made Svanhild's eyes burn again.
"Perhaps," she said. "I have learned to take what I want when I can, for I may not keep it long. Is that such a terrible lesson to learn?"
A Study in Honor, Claire O'Dell
Grateful is a bitter word, my father once said.
Conversations on Writing, Ursula K LeGuin with David Naimon
I realized that a lot of people who write about writing don't seem to hear it, don't listen to it, their perception is more theoretical and intellectual. But if it's happening in your body, if you are hearing what you write, then you can listen for the right cadence, which will help the sentence run clear.
Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse
Kai is sprawled across my living room couch, oblivious to the horrid death he recently died in my unconscious, and completely unconcerned.
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Six, Bill Willingham
CINDY: Just guide me to the edge of their territory and I'll take it from there, Rose.
ROSE: And I'm willing to take your word on this why exactly?
CINDY: Because I'm smart and lovely and clearly the leading lady of this particular tale.
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, Theodora Goss
Mudge went to check on his boiler, and they sat in silence: the detective, the murderer, the Giantess, the Poisonous Girl, and the man who might die that night.
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold
Studying him, Desplains rubbed his jaw and grimaced. "So, have you become a security risk, Vorpatril?"
"I don't know, sir," said Ivan, as honestly as possible. "Nobody tells me anything."
The Consuming Fire, John Scalzi
"Your pledge moves us, Countess," Grayland said. "It is a reflection of the quality of your soul, and we are glad to know it." And then, after that absolutely fucking masterpiece of saying, Oh, I see you, bitch, and making it sound like a compliment, the emperox turned her attention to Kiva.
A Baker's Life, Paul Hollywood
I defy anyone to make one loaf and never make another.
Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats, Lonely Planet Food
This culinary adventure is not for the small of stomach nor, for that matter, the indecisive.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Infinity Quest (graphic novel), Gerry Dugan
ANT-MAN: This is amazing! I can hear that dog speaking with a Russian accent in my head.
COSMO: Da, and Cosmo can hear least popular Avenger.
ANT-MAN: Wait, wha--
Bitch Planet: Triple Feature, Volume One (graphic novel), Kelly Sue DeConnick
NANNA: Is this the one? Is he the one? For real and for true?
KIMMY: Oh, Nanna, he is, I swear it, David is my perfect Prince Charming. And he treats me like his princess and gets me anything I ask for. And making him happy makes me so. Happy. Nanna. Like a real woman. For real and for true.
NANNA: ...What a goddamned disappointment you turned out to be.
Ottolenghi Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
Unless otherwise stated: All eggs are large, all milk is whole, all weights in parentheses are net, all salt is table salt, black pepper is freshly cracked, parsley is flat-leaf, and all herbs are fresh.
Everyday Dorie, Dorie Greenspan
These days I have only one rule: There must be dessert! Please follow it.
All About Cake, Christina Tosi
I mean no harm by my feelings on cupcakes.
Shaya, Alon Shaya
If I were to cook this book cover to cover, I think the results would taste like my life flashing before my eyes.
Null States, Malka Older
"The problem with feeds, beyond all the obvious problems, I mean, is that they give us the illusion of a perfect truth, incontrovertible evidence, a flat, singular version of history. They are too easy to rely on, to believe in." She lightens her words with a smile and a half-shrug. "I practice sustaining my disbelief in objective, documentable truth."
Artificial Condition, Martha Wells
"Sometimes people do things to you that you can't do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on."
Where the Dead Sit Talking, Brandon Hobson
We were silent for a while.
Finally, he spoke up:
"I keep thinking about death," he said.
L.A. Son, Roy Choi
That's L.A. for you: eating local, even after midnight in a K-town nightclub in 1992.
Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells
Right, so the only smart way out of this was to kill all of them. I was going to have to take the dumb way out of this.
The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin
Klara won't be a woman who is sawed in half or tied in chains--nor will she be rescued or liberated. She'll save herself. She'll be the saw.
The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai
"But it's hard to paint when someone's yelling in your ear."
Fiona said, "Why did you put up with it?"
"Guilt, I suppose. He'd been through so much. And I was madly in love, and you're never reasonable when you're in love."
Florida, Lauren Groff
I didn't say, I had never said: Lord, how I longed for a version of you I could hold, entire, in my arms.
Exit Strategy, Martha Wells
So the plan wasn't a clusterfuck, it was just circling the clusterfuck target zone, getting ready to come in for a landing.
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
"You have suffered--yes--but what you are doing now will only prolong that suffering."
She shook her head.
"You're wrong. There are times when I almost enjoy myself."
"And that, Mademoiselle, is the worst of all."
A Lucky Man, Jamel Brinkley
Feints and trickery are generalized into a capoeira player's worldview such that they are revealed to be an unavoidable part of the texture of life itself.
The Witch Elm, Tana French
Rain swept softly against the window, the fire fluttered. I felt like there was something else they should be telling me, some crucial secret that would illuminate this whole story so that all its rotten shadows blazed to life with a great transforming meaning, but I couldn't for the life of me think what that might be.
Kill the Queen, Jennifer Estep
I was going to perform the dance perfectly, every single step, and not just because my life depended on it. No, I was going to perform the dance for me. Because I had put the time, energy, and effort into learning it, just as I had all those other useless skills, and because I never did anything less than my best.
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Lois McMaster Bujold
"Bring home one dismembered body part, once, mind you, once, and people get twitchy about checking your luggage ever after."
The Strange Bird, Jeff VanderMeer
Human beings had such strange ideas about gratitude. When it should be given. When it should be withheld. Should she be grateful for being imprisoned? What should she feel now? She sang out the question that was its own answer.
Warlight, Michael Ondaatje
"Who do you think is going to come for you someday?" I would have asked her, if I had known. "What did you do that was so terrible?" And she would, I think, have said, "My sins are various."
How to be Safe, Tom McAllister
Instead of banning guns, what they needed to ban was people who get shot. If we stopped having such shootable people, then guns wouldn't be such a problem. Guns could be used for their true purpose of killing nonhumans and empty beer cans.
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life. Anybody.
The House of Broken Angels, Luis Alberto Urrea
They could see the tequila buzz upon her like some electric halo of doom.
Gmorning Gnight!, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Your best impulse, that selfless impulse, let it take the wheel.
Small Country, Gael Faye
War always takes it upon itself, unsolicited, to find us an enemy. I wanted to remain neutral, but I couldn't. I was born with this story.
Transcription, Kate Atkinson
"I'll kill you, you little traitor," Chester Vanderkamp yelled at Juliet as they hauled him away.
"I wouldn't worry," the tall detective said to Juliet. "He probably won't."
A Terrible Country, Keith Gessen
"If it had worked out," my grandmother now said, of the Soviet experiment, "that would have been nice."
The irony is that the more people participate in the media, the more they hate the media. The greater the participation, the greater the paranoia that the media are in control.
Pacific Fire, Greg Van Eekhout
"How's your throwing arm?"
"I throw like a girl," Em said. "By which I mean with strength and accuracy."
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?, Alyssa Mastromonaco with Lauren Oyler
I realize I promised you that I didn't want to focus on "my legacy" in this book, but since they didn't engrave the tampon dispenser with "Made possible by Alyssa Mastromonaco," I wanted to leave a record of it somewhere.
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Five, Bill Willingham
ROSE RED: Well, hang in there, old man. Mowgli will come through.
WOLFLING: Of course he will. Mowg was raised by wolves.
WOLFLING: Wolves know how to get things done.
The Ship Beyond Time, Heidi Heilig
"Is it so strange we find ourselves allies? After all, you're a confessed gentleman."
"What's wrong with being a gentleman?"
"In Hawaii? I've stolen much, Mr. Hart, but never an island."
Legends of Japan, Hiroshi Naito
"How many men will come with him?"
"Oh, they are not human beings. I am not a human being either. You will find out what I am tomorrow."
Small Victories, Julia Turshen
The only way to become a cook is to cook, and the road to becoming a good cook is paved not only with repetition but also with the intuition you gain along the way.
Japanese Soul Cooking, Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat
The golden rule of ramen is...shut up and eat.
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
What had Deidameia thought would happen, I wondered, when she had her women dance for me? Had she really thought I would not know him? I would recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.
The Black Tides of Heaven, JY Yang
"Let the black tides of heaven direct our lives," he murmured. He turned to look at his partner. "I choose to swim."
Hawker Fare, James Sybahout
I'd gone to Europe hungry for refinement. In a weird way, the chefs there were hungry for the rough purity of food like my mom's.
Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
"Hi. Everything OK?"
"Fine. All right to talk for a moment?"
"Yes," said Robin, leaning against the garden wall, and watching a moth banging fruitlessly against the bright glass, trying to enter the house.
Earthly Remains, Donna Leon
It's always the odd, unpredictable things that set us off, Brunetti thought. Grief lies inside us like a land mine: heavy footsteps will pass by it safely, while others, even those as light as air, will cause it to explode.
Basque Country, Marti Buckley
Mushrooms are more than just a food item; they are an activity, a topic of conversation, and a social gesture.
Dragon Coast, Greg Van Eekhout
"Water mages can drown?"
"You'd be surprised. It usually starts with a squabble between rival mages, and before you know it, someone's facedown in a swimming pool."
Cassandra surprised him by allowing a little bit of humor in her eyes. "I love it when wizards die ironically."
Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace
Ghosts didn't get into her house unless she let them. She didn't have to let this one. She stood there, in that choosing moment, weighing dangerous in one hand over useful in the other.
Polpo, Russell Norman
The pears are poached, the apples are caramelized and the figs are left to speak for themselves.
Cravings: Hungry for More, Chrissy Teigen
So for this recipe I wrote a whole thing about how much I love New Orleans for its baked oysters and regrettable yardstick drinks and Clams Casino, but then my editor told me that Clams Casino are from Rhode Island, so I had to scrap it.
Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett
[How do you know it's after the twenty-first hour?] asked Clef.
[TEMPORAL SCRIVING PRORATION RECORDS THE NUMBER OF HOURS PASSED.]
[And how long's an hour?]
[IT IS RECORDED AS SIXTY MINUTES.]
[Oh, that's wrong. They changed all that. Listen...]
Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The knowledge of cooking does not come pre-installed in a vagina.
The Sea Queen, Linnea Hartsuyker
"Did Solvi make you like this?" His voice carried a grief that made Svanhild's eyes burn again.
"Perhaps," she said. "I have learned to take what I want when I can, for I may not keep it long. Is that such a terrible lesson to learn?"
A Study in Honor, Claire O'Dell
Grateful is a bitter word, my father once said.
Conversations on Writing, Ursula K LeGuin with David Naimon
I realized that a lot of people who write about writing don't seem to hear it, don't listen to it, their perception is more theoretical and intellectual. But if it's happening in your body, if you are hearing what you write, then you can listen for the right cadence, which will help the sentence run clear.
Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse
Kai is sprawled across my living room couch, oblivious to the horrid death he recently died in my unconscious, and completely unconcerned.
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Six, Bill Willingham
CINDY: Just guide me to the edge of their territory and I'll take it from there, Rose.
ROSE: And I'm willing to take your word on this why exactly?
CINDY: Because I'm smart and lovely and clearly the leading lady of this particular tale.
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, Theodora Goss
Mudge went to check on his boiler, and they sat in silence: the detective, the murderer, the Giantess, the Poisonous Girl, and the man who might die that night.
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold
Studying him, Desplains rubbed his jaw and grimaced. "So, have you become a security risk, Vorpatril?"
"I don't know, sir," said Ivan, as honestly as possible. "Nobody tells me anything."
The Consuming Fire, John Scalzi
"Your pledge moves us, Countess," Grayland said. "It is a reflection of the quality of your soul, and we are glad to know it." And then, after that absolutely fucking masterpiece of saying, Oh, I see you, bitch, and making it sound like a compliment, the emperox turned her attention to Kiva.
A Baker's Life, Paul Hollywood
I defy anyone to make one loaf and never make another.
Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats, Lonely Planet Food
This culinary adventure is not for the small of stomach nor, for that matter, the indecisive.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Infinity Quest (graphic novel), Gerry Dugan
ANT-MAN: This is amazing! I can hear that dog speaking with a Russian accent in my head.
COSMO: Da, and Cosmo can hear least popular Avenger.
ANT-MAN: Wait, wha--
Bitch Planet: Triple Feature, Volume One (graphic novel), Kelly Sue DeConnick
NANNA: Is this the one? Is he the one? For real and for true?
KIMMY: Oh, Nanna, he is, I swear it, David is my perfect Prince Charming. And he treats me like his princess and gets me anything I ask for. And making him happy makes me so. Happy. Nanna. Like a real woman. For real and for true.
NANNA: ...What a goddamned disappointment you turned out to be.
Ottolenghi Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
Unless otherwise stated: All eggs are large, all milk is whole, all weights in parentheses are net, all salt is table salt, black pepper is freshly cracked, parsley is flat-leaf, and all herbs are fresh.
Everyday Dorie, Dorie Greenspan
These days I have only one rule: There must be dessert! Please follow it.
All About Cake, Christina Tosi
I mean no harm by my feelings on cupcakes.
Shaya, Alon Shaya
If I were to cook this book cover to cover, I think the results would taste like my life flashing before my eyes.
Null States, Malka Older
"The problem with feeds, beyond all the obvious problems, I mean, is that they give us the illusion of a perfect truth, incontrovertible evidence, a flat, singular version of history. They are too easy to rely on, to believe in." She lightens her words with a smile and a half-shrug. "I practice sustaining my disbelief in objective, documentable truth."
Artificial Condition, Martha Wells
"Sometimes people do things to you that you can't do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on."
Where the Dead Sit Talking, Brandon Hobson
We were silent for a while.
Finally, he spoke up:
"I keep thinking about death," he said.
L.A. Son, Roy Choi
That's L.A. for you: eating local, even after midnight in a K-town nightclub in 1992.
Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells
Right, so the only smart way out of this was to kill all of them. I was going to have to take the dumb way out of this.
The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin
Klara won't be a woman who is sawed in half or tied in chains--nor will she be rescued or liberated. She'll save herself. She'll be the saw.
The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai
"But it's hard to paint when someone's yelling in your ear."
Fiona said, "Why did you put up with it?"
"Guilt, I suppose. He'd been through so much. And I was madly in love, and you're never reasonable when you're in love."
Florida, Lauren Groff
I didn't say, I had never said: Lord, how I longed for a version of you I could hold, entire, in my arms.
Exit Strategy, Martha Wells
So the plan wasn't a clusterfuck, it was just circling the clusterfuck target zone, getting ready to come in for a landing.
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
"You have suffered--yes--but what you are doing now will only prolong that suffering."
She shook her head.
"You're wrong. There are times when I almost enjoy myself."
"And that, Mademoiselle, is the worst of all."
A Lucky Man, Jamel Brinkley
Feints and trickery are generalized into a capoeira player's worldview such that they are revealed to be an unavoidable part of the texture of life itself.
The Witch Elm, Tana French
Rain swept softly against the window, the fire fluttered. I felt like there was something else they should be telling me, some crucial secret that would illuminate this whole story so that all its rotten shadows blazed to life with a great transforming meaning, but I couldn't for the life of me think what that might be.
Kill the Queen, Jennifer Estep
I was going to perform the dance perfectly, every single step, and not just because my life depended on it. No, I was going to perform the dance for me. Because I had put the time, energy, and effort into learning it, just as I had all those other useless skills, and because I never did anything less than my best.
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Lois McMaster Bujold
"Bring home one dismembered body part, once, mind you, once, and people get twitchy about checking your luggage ever after."
The Strange Bird, Jeff VanderMeer
Human beings had such strange ideas about gratitude. When it should be given. When it should be withheld. Should she be grateful for being imprisoned? What should she feel now? She sang out the question that was its own answer.
Warlight, Michael Ondaatje
"Who do you think is going to come for you someday?" I would have asked her, if I had known. "What did you do that was so terrible?" And she would, I think, have said, "My sins are various."
How to be Safe, Tom McAllister
Instead of banning guns, what they needed to ban was people who get shot. If we stopped having such shootable people, then guns wouldn't be such a problem. Guns could be used for their true purpose of killing nonhumans and empty beer cans.
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life. Anybody.
The House of Broken Angels, Luis Alberto Urrea
They could see the tequila buzz upon her like some electric halo of doom.
Gmorning Gnight!, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Your best impulse, that selfless impulse, let it take the wheel.
Small Country, Gael Faye
War always takes it upon itself, unsolicited, to find us an enemy. I wanted to remain neutral, but I couldn't. I was born with this story.
Transcription, Kate Atkinson
"I'll kill you, you little traitor," Chester Vanderkamp yelled at Juliet as they hauled him away.
"I wouldn't worry," the tall detective said to Juliet. "He probably won't."
A Terrible Country, Keith Gessen
"If it had worked out," my grandmother now said, of the Soviet experiment, "that would have been nice."