reading is my favorite thing on the face of the planet to do. for some reason tonight books were on my mind. so here is a list of my favorite books, books i could read over and over again (some i've read many times). in my opinion, everyone should read these books.
ex libris by anne fadiman
"to us, a book's words were holy, but the paper, cloth, cardboard, glue, thread, and ink that contained them were a mere vessel, and it was no sacrilege to treat them as wantonly as desire and pragmatism dictated. hard use was a sign not of disrespect but of intimacy."
the cure by sonia levitin
"'simply put,' relplied the elder, 'we are shaped by our experiences. this experience will, if we are successful, completely erase your deviant desire to make music. music-that road to emotion, to passion, to deviance-will be erased from your mind. the very thought of music will be totally repugnant to you. you will be, in other words, perfectly adapted. cured.'"
narrative of the life of frederick douglass by himself
"the truth was, i felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people weighted me down. i spoke but a few moments, when i felt a degree of freedom, and said what i desired with considerable ease. from that time until now, i have been engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren-with what success, and with what devotion, i leave those acquainted with my labors to decide."
the little prince by antoine de saint-exupery, translated by katherine woods
"i did not know what to say to him. i felt awkward and blundering. i did not know how i could reach him, where i could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more. it is such a secret place, the land of tears."
1984 by george orwell
"the thing that he was about to do was to open a diary. this was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws)..."
my daniel by pam conrad
"some of this story is true. some of it's lies. no brontosaurus has ever been found in nebraska, but i'm partial to nebraska, and all my own fossils and bones come from there. and while i never heard of a young girl in nebraska taking part in a dinosaur adventure, there was once a young girl in england in 1810 who made an important dinosaur discover with the help of her brother. so this story could have happened like it says, almost, but it didn't really, not exactly anyway."
fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury
"it was a pleasure to burn. it was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. with the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history."
the poisonwood bible by barbara kingsolver
"you can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. they're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next."
the westing game by ellen raskin
"the sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but sunset towers faced east. strange! sunset towers faced east and had no towers. this glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the lake michigan shore five stories high. five empty sotries high. then one day (it happened to be the fourth of july), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. the letters were signed barney northrup. the delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as braney northrup."
the giver by lois lowry
"jonas reached the opposite side of the river, stopped briefly, and looked back. the community where his life had been lived lay behind him now, sleeping. at dawn, the orderly, disciplined life he had always known would continue again, without him. the life where nothing was ever unexpected. or inconvenient. or unusual. the life without color, pain, or past."
their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston
"the people all saw her come because it was sundown. the sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. it was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. it was the time to hear things and talk. these sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. but now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. they became lords of sounds and lesser things. they passed nations through their mouths. they sat in judgment."
ex libris by anne fadiman
"to us, a book's words were holy, but the paper, cloth, cardboard, glue, thread, and ink that contained them were a mere vessel, and it was no sacrilege to treat them as wantonly as desire and pragmatism dictated. hard use was a sign not of disrespect but of intimacy."
the cure by sonia levitin
"'simply put,' relplied the elder, 'we are shaped by our experiences. this experience will, if we are successful, completely erase your deviant desire to make music. music-that road to emotion, to passion, to deviance-will be erased from your mind. the very thought of music will be totally repugnant to you. you will be, in other words, perfectly adapted. cured.'"
narrative of the life of frederick douglass by himself
"the truth was, i felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people weighted me down. i spoke but a few moments, when i felt a degree of freedom, and said what i desired with considerable ease. from that time until now, i have been engaged in pleading the cause of my brethren-with what success, and with what devotion, i leave those acquainted with my labors to decide."
the little prince by antoine de saint-exupery, translated by katherine woods
"i did not know what to say to him. i felt awkward and blundering. i did not know how i could reach him, where i could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more. it is such a secret place, the land of tears."
1984 by george orwell
"the thing that he was about to do was to open a diary. this was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws)..."
my daniel by pam conrad
"some of this story is true. some of it's lies. no brontosaurus has ever been found in nebraska, but i'm partial to nebraska, and all my own fossils and bones come from there. and while i never heard of a young girl in nebraska taking part in a dinosaur adventure, there was once a young girl in england in 1810 who made an important dinosaur discover with the help of her brother. so this story could have happened like it says, almost, but it didn't really, not exactly anyway."
fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury
"it was a pleasure to burn. it was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. with the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history."
the poisonwood bible by barbara kingsolver
"you can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. they're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next."
the westing game by ellen raskin
"the sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but sunset towers faced east. strange! sunset towers faced east and had no towers. this glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the lake michigan shore five stories high. five empty sotries high. then one day (it happened to be the fourth of july), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. the letters were signed barney northrup. the delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as braney northrup."
the giver by lois lowry
"jonas reached the opposite side of the river, stopped briefly, and looked back. the community where his life had been lived lay behind him now, sleeping. at dawn, the orderly, disciplined life he had always known would continue again, without him. the life where nothing was ever unexpected. or inconvenient. or unusual. the life without color, pain, or past."
their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston
"the people all saw her come because it was sundown. the sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. it was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. it was the time to hear things and talk. these sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. but now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. they became lords of sounds and lesser things. they passed nations through their mouths. they sat in judgment."
2 comments:
what unbelievable quotes.
Someone else has read the westing game? wow!
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