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“We can be confident in our dealings with the world when what the world sees is the outer person, with all the outer person's defences: the intimacy of a love affair is a different matter altogether. And who might not feel just the slightest bit insecure under the gaze of a lover--a gaze which falls on birthmarks, on blemishes physical and psychological, on our imperfections and impatience, on our human vulnerability?”
― The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
― The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
“I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia.”
― The Silver Chair
― The Silver Chair
“Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.”
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“The doctor drummed the fingers of his left hand on the edge of the table, a strange gesture which suggested, Isabel thought, an impatient temperment. Perhaps he had been obliged to listen too long to those whom he did not consider his intellectual equal, exhausted patients with long-running complaints, unable to put their views succinctly. Some doctors could become like that, she thought, just as some lawyers could; prolonged exposure to flawed humanity could create a sense of superiority if one was not careful--and perhaps he was not.”
― The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
― The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”
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Q&A with Alexander McCall Smith
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— last activity May 05, 2015 07:39PM
THIS Q&A HAS CONCLUDEDBest-selling author Alexander McCall Smith joined Goodreads fans for a Q&A and group chat May 10-17, 2010. The official Q&A is n ...more
Q&A with Garth Stein
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— last activity Mar 18, 2012 05:07PM
In celebration of the re-release of his first novel, Raven Stole the Moon, Garth Stein, the author the NYT bestselling literary novel The Art of Racin ...more
Ruth’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ruth’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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