Anna James > Quotes

“Be brave, be curious, be kind.”
― Anna James, Tilly and The Bookwanderers

“Some people see a bookshop as an archive, or a shrine, or even a time machine. But I think a bookshop is like a map of the world. There are infinite paths you can take through it and none of them are right or wrong. Here in a bookshop we give readers landmarks to help them find their way, but every reader has to learn to set their own compass.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Books aren't interested in who is reading them... A book will welcome any reader; any age, any background, any point of view. Books don't care if you can't understand every word in them, or if you want to skip bits or reread bits. Books welcome everyone who wants to explore them, and thankfully no one has ever worked out a way to stop that.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Lost Fairytales

“So nowadays I try to make a little more space for the impossible to happen.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Well, I've listened to the audiobook, if that counts.' 'It definitely counts,' Tilly said.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“But the world would be in a lot of problems if it ran out of imagination,”
― Anna James, The Map of Stories

“A bit of nonsense never hurt anyone ...”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Do not wait too long for something special to present itself. Go out and find it.”
― Anna James, The Lost Fairy Tales

“I have seen the same problems again and again, and reading is nothing but a merry distraction from it. A way to escape problems and cares, ay, but not a way to solve them. I wish it were otherwise.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Map of Stories

“Grandad always says that the books we read help us choose who we want to be, that we’re all made up of characters that mean something to us.”
― Anna James, The Book Smugglers

“But not really at your service, you understand, it’s a symbolic thing. I’m a prince – I’m not going to actually help you with anything.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Lost Fairytales

“I think a bookshop is like a map of the world. There are infinite paths you can take through it and none of them are right or wrong. Here in a bookshop we give readers landmarks to help them find their way, but every reader has to learn to set their own compass.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Words can mean much more, or less, than they seem, and we can put them to such creative uses.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Lost Fairytales

“…because stories last much longer than we do. Our stories are how we will be remembered – so we’ve got to make sure they are worth telling.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Well, I've listened to the audiobook, if that counts.' 'It definietly counts,' Tilly said.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“I'm not sure best friends are a one-size-fits-all sort of situation, Tilly,' Grandad said carefully. 'Sometimes a person who becomes a friend is the least likely person you'd expect. friends should bring out the best in you, not be the same as you. I'm sure you're someone's perfect fit.”
― Anna James, Pages & Co.: The Bookwanderers

“This was their story now.”
― Anna James, The Book Smugglers

“After all, to read is to wander, and bookshops and libraries are the places to set our compasses.”
― Anna James

“I guess a book about a nice safe place where nothing happens would be kind of boring and no one would read it.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Books can change minds and change worlds, open doors and open minds, and plant seeds that can grow into magical or even terrifying things. Stories are things to be loved and respected at the same time; never underestimate the power of them.”
― Anna James, Anna James Pages & Co Collection 2 Books Set

“LEGERE EST PEREGRINARI”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“… you can’t wait for adventure to find you… You must go and find adventure, and shake it firmly by the hand as you set out towards the horizon together.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Be brave, be curious, be kind. This is from the book Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James. I think it is a good way to live one's life. :)”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Stories enhance our lives; they shouldn’t replace them.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“It's about creating a record of who's read and loved each book. I love thinking about other people reading the books I love, or why someone gave that book as a present - those names and messages are like tiny moments of time travel linking readers from different eras and families and even countries. (This is the Grandad talking to Tilly about finding books with written notes in them or a book owner's name written on the inside of the book. I like think that way as well). :)”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“The books we love when we’re growing up shape us in a special way, Tilly. The characters in the books we read help us decide who we want to be.”
― Anna James

“Books can change minds and change worlds, open doors and open minds, plant seeds that can grow into magical or even terrifying things. Stories are things to be loved and respected at the same time; never underestimate the power of them. It's why books are often casualties of censorship; those who ban or burn books are those who are scared of what can be found among their pages.”
― Anna James, Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“Human lives run in lines," she said as her sisters held the thread against a rod and snipped it. Atropos held it up in a shimmering streak.

"They have beginnings and ends," she said. "The fact that a life must end gives it great power, a potent magic all its own. The freedom to do what you choose with the thread that is allotted to you."
"You may tell a tale of great adventure or one of quiet purpose, and both have equal value," Lachesis said, measuring dared againsthetrod. And hopeful when die hirads or out you will book back and say that was alicel sais jams content for my book to be returned to the great liagd
the Fates.

"But stories are circles," Clotho went on, gesturing a her wheel as it spun round and round. "They are made from the same stuff as life but formed in a different shape. And in stories great power comes from the fact that an ending is always also beginning.”
― Anna James

“And that is where we leave Pages & Co, reader. But what’s that? Do you feel something strange in the pit of your stomach, like the feeling when you go over the top of a roller coaster? Do you hear the click-clack of a world building itself around you? Can you smell something on the air? Something smoky and sweet, almost like marshmallows toasting on a bonfire? Hold on tight, bookwanderer. For when you are a reader, there is always a new adventure to start.

The End.

The Beginning.”
― Anna James

“Often it's the things that don't come naturally to us that are the most important.”
― Anna James