“What if bewilderment at social choreography is the only true thing happening in the room? What if decorum doesn’t grease the machine but grinds it to a halt? I’ve never lived in a world where we all say what we actually mean and feel and think and believe and want. Maybe she is the one standing in integrity and the rest of us are just following the damn script.”
― Awake: A Memoir
― Awake: A Memoir
“You should have seen me in my prime, Reka thought, catching a glimpse of herself in the hall mirror. Her own reflection infuriated her—when would she stop being surprised that so much time had passed? When would she stop thinking What the hell happened?”
― The Briar Club
― The Briar Club
“Your mother says that to justify the fact that she isn’t being fair to you,” Mrs. Grace said calmly. “Which is mostly what people mean when they say ‘life isn’t fair.’ It isn’t, which is why people should endeavor to be more fair to one another, not less.”
― The Briar Club
― The Briar Club
“The church that raised me bears almost no resemblance to the one dehumanizing refugees”
― Awake: A Memoir
― Awake: A Memoir
“I reject the patriarchal narrative that says this is how men should be, this is how women should be, and this is how power dynamics should be. I condemn it everywhere it reigns. It does not harm just the women but also the men, not just the girls but also the boys. It is the ruination of freedom. It robs us of autonomy and forces us into caricatures.”
― Awake: A Memoir
― Awake: A Memoir
Shawnda28’s 2025 Year in Books
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