

“Some things were certain - they had already happened - but the future could not be divined. Perhaps by Ida Paine. For everyone else, the future was no ally. A person had only his life to barter with. He felt that way. He could lose himself... or trade what he had for something he cared about. That rare thing. Either way, his life would be spent.”
― The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
― The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

“It takes so little, so infinitely little, for someone to find himself on the other side of the border, where everything - love, convictions, faith, history - no longer has meaning. The whole mystery of human life resides on the fact that it is spent in the immediate proximity of, and even in direct contact with, that border, that it is separated from it not by kilometers but by barely a millimeter.”
― The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
― The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

“So there is responsibility. I cry, you cry. We all come running, and the one that stays quiet, the one that stays home, must explain. Is he in league with the criminals? Is he a coward? And what would he exect when he cries? This is simple. This is normal. This is community.”
― We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
― We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda

“You should have heard the old men cry
You should have heard the biddies
When that sad stranger rasied his flute
And piped away the kiddies.
Katy, Tommy, Meg, and Bob
Followed skipping gailey
Red-haired Ruth, my brother Ron,
And little crippled Bailey
Jon and Nils and Cousin Claire
Dancin', spinnin', turnin'
'Cross the hills to god knows where-
They never came returnin'.
'Cross the hills to god know where
The piper pranced a leadin'.
Each child in Hamlin town but me
And I stayed home unheedin'.
My papa says that I was blest
For if that music fond me
I'd be witch-cast like all the rest.
This town grows old around me.
I cannot say I did not hear
That sound so hauntin' hollow.
I heard, I heard, I heard it clear...
I was afraid to follow.”
―
You should have heard the biddies
When that sad stranger rasied his flute
And piped away the kiddies.
Katy, Tommy, Meg, and Bob
Followed skipping gailey
Red-haired Ruth, my brother Ron,
And little crippled Bailey
Jon and Nils and Cousin Claire
Dancin', spinnin', turnin'
'Cross the hills to god knows where-
They never came returnin'.
'Cross the hills to god know where
The piper pranced a leadin'.
Each child in Hamlin town but me
And I stayed home unheedin'.
My papa says that I was blest
For if that music fond me
I'd be witch-cast like all the rest.
This town grows old around me.
I cannot say I did not hear
That sound so hauntin' hollow.
I heard, I heard, I heard it clear...
I was afraid to follow.”
―
Tobie’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Tobie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Tobie hasn't connected with her friends on Goodreads, yet.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Tobie
Lists liked by Tobie