

“I imagined them all thinking it was worth it. Telling me how much they loved me. All my life, when I thought of my future, that was what I pictured. Not a career. The things I thought would come with it. Happiness, love, safety. And that dream had been enough for a long time. What was school if not a chance to earn your worth? To prove, again and again, that you were measurably good. One more deal I struck with a disinterested universe: If I'm good enough, I'll be happy. I'll be loved. I'll be safe.”
― Happy Place
― Happy Place

“I’m not really sure what I am anymore, though- wether I’m a monster or wether I’m just a woman, or both.”
― Woman, Eating
― Woman, Eating

“His hands root me through the floor, the room stilling.
“Sorry. I just needed …”
His eyes search mine, thumbs still sweeping in that gentle rhythm. “A nap?” he teases softly, tentatively. “A fantasy novel? A competitively fast oil change?” The block of ice in my chest cracks.
“How do you do that?”
His brow furrows. “Do what?”
“Say the right thing.”
The corner of his mouth quirks. “No one thinks that.”
“I do.”
His lashes splay across his cheeks as his gaze drops.
“Maybe I just say the right thing for you.”
― Book Lovers
“Sorry. I just needed …”
His eyes search mine, thumbs still sweeping in that gentle rhythm. “A nap?” he teases softly, tentatively. “A fantasy novel? A competitively fast oil change?” The block of ice in my chest cracks.
“How do you do that?”
His brow furrows. “Do what?”
“Say the right thing.”
The corner of his mouth quirks. “No one thinks that.”
“I do.”
His lashes splay across his cheeks as his gaze drops.
“Maybe I just say the right thing for you.”
― Book Lovers

“The moral of this story is:
Beware the man who faces you unarmed.
If in his eyes you are not the target,
then you can be sure you are the weapon.”
― The Atlas Six
Beware the man who faces you unarmed.
If in his eyes you are not the target,
then you can be sure you are the weapon.”
― The Atlas Six

“My best friends taught me a new kind of quiet, the peaceful stillness of knowing one another so well you don’t need to fill the space. And a new kind of loud: noise as a celebration, as the overflow of joy at being alive, here, now.”
― Happy Place
― Happy Place
Marcus’s 2024 Year in Books
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