“His voice sank down to a steady and reproachful undertone: 'I'm not explaining this right. What happened was this. There were these beautiful feelings and loose little pleasures inside me. And this woman was something like an assembly line for my soul. I run these little pieces of myself through her and I come out complete.”
― The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
― The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
“B.J.J. dresses stevedore-style: overalls, men's blue shirts rolled up to the elbow, ankle-high lace-up workman's boots, and no makeup to relieve her pallor. But she is womanly, a dignified figure for all her down-to-earth ways. And she wears expensive perfumes, Parisian smells bought at the Masion Blache on Canal Street. Also, she has a glorious gold-toothed smile; it's like a heartening sunburst after a cold rainfall. You'd probably like her; most people do.”
― Music for Chameleons
― Music for Chameleons
“I described that summer day, my baptism- it was so clear to me, the similarities between Quinn and the Reverend Snow, the linking fibers; but I spoke too emotionally, metaphysically, to communicate what I felt, and I could sense Jake's disappointment: he had expected from me a series of sensible perceptions, pristine, pragmatic insights that would help clarify his own concept of Quinn's character, the man's motivations.”
― Music for Chameleons
― Music for Chameleons
“The night was sharp and frosty. The moon was full and rimmed with a golden light. The rooftops were black against the starlit sky.”
― The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
― The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Colleen’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Colleen’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Colleen
Lists liked by Colleen


























