Don’t aim at success,’” he read. “‘The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue … as the unintended side effect of one’s dedication to a course greater than oneself.’”
The Art Of Purring by David Michie
Continue reading “It’s a compliment…?”Her eyes had the golden brown sparkle of a cockroach in the sunlight. They were watery and large like chestnuts.
Hero in a Halfling by William Tyler Davis
Mom’s theory was that youthful skin would make a woman more money (true in both acting and waitressing), good underwear would make her more confident (so far, so true), and good books would make her happy (universal truth), and we’ve clearly both packed with this theory in mind.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Just let him go. These are the words Ky Tran will forever regret. The words she spoke when her parents called to ask if they should let her younger brother Denny out to celebrate his high school graduation with friends. That night, Denny—optimistic, guileless, brilliant Denny—is brutally murdered inside a busy restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, a refugee enclave facing violent crime, an indifferent police force, and the worst heroin epidemic in Australian history.
Returning home to Cabramatta for the funeral, Ky learns that the police are stumped by Denny’s case: a dozen people were at Lucky 8 restaurant when Denny died, but each of the bystanders claim to have seen nothing.
Desperately hoping that understanding what happened might ease her suffocating guilt, Ky sets aside her grief and determines to track down the witnesses herself. With each encounter, she peels back another layer of the place that shaped her and Denny, exposing trauma and seeds of violence that were planted well before that fateful celebration dinner: by colonialism, by the war in Vietnam, and by the choices they’ve all made to survive.
“Would an explanation of why something was not done in the past make you feel better?” he said, defaulting to a line he often used on Ky’s mother whenever she re-litigated his past decisions…
This quote reflected in words a feeling I’ve had myself many times. I often tell myself this any time I find I’m dwelling on the past that can’t be changed, and it helps to let things go and move on. The message to let go and move on is strong in this whole book. Ky’s mother reflects this in a way, whose mindset is that her son is dead and knowing details about why and how isn’t going to make him not dead, so the details ultimately do not matter.
…whatever sense of satisfaction she derived from getting him to admit his faults would be swallowed by the guilt of making another person feel rotten.
Another sentiment I related to quite a lot from Ky was this one. Vindictiveness is not in my nature, and it’s for almost this exact reason. The key difference is that I’m not upset by guilt, I’m upset by cruelty. Ky’s motivation to not be cruel is based only on her guilt that results from breaking a common social contract to avoid conflict and confrontation. Does that imply that she doesn’t truly care about making the person feel rotten? It’s one of many reflections Ky has about herself and her personal identity crisis over the course of the novel.
Continue reading “Review in Quotes: All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien”
More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
Book one review here! Mini Review: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
‘Customer (holding up a book): “What’s this? The Secret Garden? Well, it’s not so secret now, is it, since they bloody well wrote a book about it!'”
From “Did Harry Potter kill Hitler?” to “Can we play cricket in your bookshop?”, a selection of the most ridiculous conversations from the shop floor. Bewildering, hilarious and slightly alarming, this is a book for dedicated booksellers and booklovers everywhere.
Illustrated by the Brothers McLeod, this collection includes queries and incidents from bookshops (and libraries) around the world, and even a section of Weird Things Customers Say at ‘Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops Book Signings.’
Well I enjoyed book one and I figured book two would be much the same. Lo and behold, it was! There were still some references to books or cultural things that I could see sailing over the heads of people less familiar with reading overall. For example, the customer looking for the book about a boy with autism and a dog and called “the curious something something…” would have had me chiming in with “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” with the other 3 booksellers in that moment.
Continue reading “Review: More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell”Boudoir was mum’s favorite word, along with magnificent and sparkle. Gusset was her least favorite word, along with adenoid. Gill likes moon and dislikes nits, other than that he’s easy.
The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Continue reading “Bro, I think I would know”Before I could muster the courage to ask again, he pulled a bundle of cloth from his bag and held it out for me. “You must be hungry.”
I debated pointing out that I’d eaten soup for lunch at the same table he had, and if he couldn’t remember that I’d helped myself to seconds and thirds, he certainly didn’t have a right to act like an observant, considerate Mage now. But my hands took the bundle from his, and my heavy legs decided on their own accord that it was time to sit.
The Quarter Mage by Angelina J Steffort
The problem with human connections stemmed from the false assumption that finding friendship should be easy—that with the number of people on this planet, stumbling into meaningful relationships was a statistical guarantee.
Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim
My Book Joy 