LJ

“It was true they'd always been like two adjacent locks in a canal, one opening into the other, pouring off excess feeling, seeking equilibrium, though she was usually the lock in danger of overflowing and he the one who absorbed excess, rose up as she sank down. People thought being twins made them the same, but it was balance, not sameness, she felt with him.”
― Maggie Shipstead, Great Circle

“Dallas appealed to Wren for the reasons some people disliked it. At first glance unspecialized, covered with characterless concrete, flat, and landlocked, the city felt big enough to disappear in but not big enough to get lost in.”
― Emily Habeck, Shark Heart

“Death took Freddie from Carney and mourning returned to him a visitation, an invisible companion who shadowed him everywhere, tugging at his sleeve and interrupting when he least expected: 'Remember what my smile looked like', 'Remember when', 'Remember me'. Its voice grew quiet and Carney didn't hear it for a while and then it was loud again: 'Remember me', 'This is your job now', 'Remember me or no one else will'. At times it seemed the grief was powerful enough to shut down the world, cut off the juice, stop the earth from spinning. It was not. The world proceeded in its mealy fashion, the lights stayed on, the earth continued to spin and its seasons ravaged and renewed in turn.”
― Colson Whitehead, Harlem Shuffle

“Carney disapproved of criminals who bragged about their cleverness, crowed over the stupidity of their marks, whose paranoia stemmed not from caution but from an outsize sense of their importance.”
― Colson Whitehead, Harlem Shuffle