“And that’s part of our trouble. Thinking things are inevitable. Not believing change is possible.”
― Sunrise on the Reaping
― Sunrise on the Reaping
“Don't you remember, she told him then, when you were nothing but shadow and smoke?
Darling, he'd said in his soft, rich way, I was the night itself.”
― The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Darling, he'd said in his soft, rich way, I was the night itself.”
― The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
“I can’t lose the thing I’ve held onto for so long, you know?” My face twists up from the pain of pushing it out. “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.”
“I know,” she says.
“Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it”? I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide open empathy. “It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”
― My Dark Vanessa
“I know,” she says.
“Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it”? I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide open empathy. “It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”
― My Dark Vanessa
“The show’s not over until the mockingjay sings,” she said.
“The mockingjay?” He laughed. “Really, I think you’re just making these things up.”
“Not that one. A mockingjay’s a bona fide bird,” she assured him.
“And it sings in your show?” he asked.
“Not my show, sweetheart. Yours. The Capitol’s anyway.”
― The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
“The mockingjay?” He laughed. “Really, I think you’re just making these things up.”
“Not that one. A mockingjay’s a bona fide bird,” she assured him.
“And it sings in your show?” he asked.
“Not my show, sweetheart. Yours. The Capitol’s anyway.”
― The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
“Patiently educating a clueless white person about race is draining. It takes all your powers of persuasion. Because it’s more than a chat about race. It’s ontological. It’s like explaining to a person why you exist, or why you feel pain, or why your reality is distinct from their reality. Except it’s even trickier than that. Because the person has all of Western history, politics, literature, and mass culture on their side, proving that you don’t exist.”
― Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
― Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
Ellen’s 2025 Year in Books
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