Could You Repeat That? 153
Invisibles: The Power of Anonymous Work in an Age of Relentless Self-Promotion, David Zweig
To get to the top of your field, you need to do more than simply perform your job well. To be exceptional, you need to perform your job differently from what is prescribed.
Kitty in the Underworld, Carrie Vaughn
Rules of the underworld: don't eat pomegranate seeds. Don't eat or drink anything the fairies give you. When you enter through the gates, you must remove all your clothing, all your possessions. You must bring an offering of blood to the shades who dwell there, especially if you want to ask them questions. When you leave the underworld, don't look back, not for anything.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Desserts, Jeni Britton Bauer
Ice cream desserts are like my favorite people--they look the best when they are starting to fall apart.
Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson
"I said," Demane repeated, "I don't do that." His mortal mask slipped a bit askew, and he couldn't hide, for a moment, the piece of him that was perilous, a god.
Last First Snow, Max Gladstone (x2)
"Sometimes we need pain."
"Easy words to speak from the comfort of a penthouse."
Two Serpents Rising, Max Gladstone (x2)
He sought the dry blue sky for an answer, finding none. "I need a drink," he said at last.
Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone (x2)
"What choice will you make?
Abelard opened his mouth, intending to say, the Lord will guide me. He caught himself, and settled instead for, "The right one, I hope."
Inheritance, Malinda Lo
There was something magical about it: this warm September night, the yellow-and-green flags fluttering from the ceiling, the salsa burning hot on her tongue, the Mexican Coke a rush of sugary sweetness. This is normal, she thought, and she wanted to cry.
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, Lindy West
I know that this bear's name is technically Little John. But Little John is clearly a character being played by a bear actor named Baloo, who also played himself in The Jungle Book and, decades later yet seemingly un-aged, in Tale Spin. (Sub-theory: Baloo is the thirteenth Doctor.) I'm calling the bear Baloo and this conversation is over.
And...
I had waited so long for someone to pick me. And then he changed his mind.
Low Midnight, Carrie Vaughn
If they were going to be disappointed and ashamed of her, she would earn their ill will.
W is for Wasted, Sue Grafton
Watching her drink was like watching roses bloom by way of time-lapse photography.
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Sometimes I wrote things because I couldn't say them, couldn't sort out my feelings about them, couldn't keep them bottled up inside me. It was a kind of writing I always destroyed afterward. It was for no one else.
Four Roads Cross, Max Gladstone
So whither the beast, and whence its roughness? Insects keep their skeletons on the outside; human beings only display their structure under force.
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies, JK Rowling
She left him devastated, and set out for London three days later.
Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide, JK Rowling
The castle is a congenial place for ghosts, because the living inhabitants treat their dead friends with tolerance and even affection, no matter how many times they have heard the same old reminiscences.
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics, and Pesky Poltergeists, JK Rowling
A love of all things saccharine often seems present where there is a lack of real warmth or charity.
Once Broken Faith, Seanan McGuire
"Don't mistake me for a friend because I sometimes choose to be friendly," said the Luidaeg. "Don't pretend you have some sort of control over what I do. I'm First-born. That means something. Even here, even now, in this washed-out mockery of Faerie, it means something. If you forget again, I'll have to leave you with something to remember me by. So please, Arden. Because I loved your father, in my own way, in my own time, don't make me remind you."
Chaos Choreography, Seanan McGuire
I put a hand on his knee, hoping it would be enough to hold him in place. If it wasn't, I was going to witness the remarkable sight of my grandmother punching my husband in the throat.
The Girls, Emma Cline
I thought that loving someone acted as a kind of protective measure, like they'd understand the scale and intensity of your feelings and act accordingly. That seemed fair to me, as if fairness were a measure the universe cared anything about.
Feedback, Mira Grant
I almost jumped to my feet and ran after her. In the end, I couldn't make myself move. I just sat there on the kitchen floor, staring at the cupboard, and waiting for the future to begin.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Volume 1, Amy M. Reeder, Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, and Tamra Bonvillain
I love science. Science class, on the other hand...science class can be hard.
The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman
Each hammer blow sounded like a heartbeat.
Silk: The Life and Times of Cindy Moon, Robbie Thompson, Stacey Lee, Anapaola Martello, and Tana Ford
SILK: Get them out of here--
SPIDER-MAN: Silk--
SILK: It's me she's after. And he needs help. I'll buy you time: Go! Then come back. Definitely come back after.
Death's End, Cixin Liu & Ken Liu (translator)
Against the lights of New York City, Wade's figure appeared as a black ghost, his eyes glinting with a cold light.
"We'll send only a brain," he said.
Grunt, Mary Roach
US government button specifications run to twenty-two pages. This fact on its own yields a sense of what it is like to design garments for the Army.
Kitty Saves the World, Carrie Vaughn
Since I couldn't tell my pleasant, easygoing mother that I was on my way to trap and assassinate the two-thousand-year-old mastermind of a global vampire conspiracy, I made up something about a onetime chance to interview a very important person for the show. Mom made impressed and encouraging noises and didn't ask questions. Bless her.