Pick-a-Shelf discussion

Please post a quote from your thought provoking book here. The quote itself doesn't have to be thought provoking, but why not? That is, after all, the theme of the month. If you are stuck on what to post, try something from page 46, but really...any quote will do. :)

"You know, I'm really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules." - Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore, p. 253

From The Author's Note of Between Shades of Gray

Some wars are about bombing. For the people of the Baltics, this war was about believing.

Also from page 1

THEY TOOK ME IN MY NIGHTGOWN.

Thinking back, the signs were there- family photos burned in the fireplace, Mother sewing her best silver and jewelry into the lining of her coat late at night, and Papa not returning from work. My youngest brother, Jonas, was asking questions. I asked questions, too, but perhaps I refused to acknowledge the signs. Only later did I realize that Mother and Father intended we escape. We did not escape.

We were taken.

Tara wrote: "From The Author's Note of Between Shades of Gray

Some wars are about bombing. For the people of the Baltics, this war was about believing.

Also from page 1

THEY TOOK ME IN MY N..."

Thank you for your quote Tara. I've added this to my TR shelf (because it's not large enough already)

pg.58 The Diary of a Young Girl

"Jews and Christians wait, the whole earth waits, and there are many who wait for death".

I both love and hate this book.

"And the air was full of thoughts and things to say. But at times like these, only small things were ever said.
Big things lurk unsaid inside!!!

-The God Of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)

“If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

JuliaC. wrote: "pg.58 The Diary of a Young Girl

"Jews and Christians wait, the whole earth waits, and there are many who wait for death".

I both love and hate this book."

Sorry! I meant that the book Between Shades of Gray would be interesting to read after Anne Frank's Diary. Sorry if that caused confusion.


I read somewhere that this book reminded people of Anne Frank's Diary. It is fiction, but well researched. I found it to be really interesting to compare what was going on in the Baltics with what went was going on in Europe at the same time. Would really be interesting to read after what you read.

Great quotes this month!!

Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

-To kill a mocking bird

@ Tara (msg-8) - I was under the impression that this was translated from her actual diary that she kept while in hiding.

@ Tara and @JuliaC

Diary of Anne Frank and Diary of a Young Girl are the same book. Different editions have different titles.

"Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:
O, that the earth, which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!"

Hamlet, Shakespeare (Act V, Scene I)

Melissa wrote: ""You know, I'm really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules." - Mr. Penumbra's 24-h..."

That is a quite a commentary on current societies. I think it hits the nail on the head.

Great quotes so far this month, everyone.

Tara - I have had that book on my radar for quite a while.

JulieC. - I believe The Diary of a Young Girl is the original European title for the Anne Frank book that was used when it was published in the 1950s. I'm not sure when the title was changed, but I think it was after the movie came out, so that the book and movie had the same title.

Nakul - that is one of my favorite quotes from that book.

Grace - Hamlet is a fun read. I saw Hamlet once at a Shakespeare festival. It has been on of my favorites of his.

"It is a childish realization, I must admit--no one worth knowing can be write known, no one worth possessing can be write possessed--but after all, we were children." Defending Jacob

oops, quite, not "write"

JuliaC. wrote: "@ Tara (msg-8) - I was under the impression that this was translated from her actual diary that she kept while in hiding."

Yes, Anne Frank's Diary is real... Between Shades of Gray is fiction, but written in a kind of diary form and feels similar to the book you are reading. I went back to read my comment and realized I could have worded it better.... :/

From Daughter of Smoke & Bone pg. 59


"Women have been burned at the stake for less, Karou," he'd said.

Lucky for me, she thought, this isn't the Middle Ages.

readinghearts (Lyn M) wrote: "Grace - Hamlet is a fun read. I saw Hamlet once at a Shakespeare festival. It has been on of my favorites of his."

I'd love to see Hamlet live now. I missed the opportunity two years ago - I was a bit daunted because it is a tragedy and I'm a big wuss. But, after reading it, I wish I had gone.

From Frankenstein p.14

"The untaught peasant beheld the elements around him and was acquainted with their practical uses. The most learned philosopher knew little more."

Leo wrote: "From Frankenstein p.14

"The untaught peasant beheld the elements around him and was acquainted with their practical uses. The most learned philosopher knew little more.""

Great quote!

from State of Wonder, p. 46:

"May I come in?" Mr. Fox asked.

Marina in the dark, in the cold of early April, nodded her head and he followed her to the door of her house and stood very close behind. He shifted to the left and then slightly to the right and then stopped and pressed himself against her back while she dug for her keys in her purse. He was trying to shield her from the wind. It was that tenderness that brought the tightness to Marina's throat and before there was a chance to stop herself she was crying. Was she crying for ... "

from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, p 91

"When I saw those toenails," Mary told me years later, "I nearly fainted. I though, Oh jeez, she's a real person. I started imagining her sitting in her bathroom painting those toenails, and it hit me for the first time that those cells we'd been working with all this time and sending all over the world, they came from a living woman. I'd never thought of it that way."

@ Sara -

This quote is quite unsettling, which is the point I suppose. I've added this book to my TR shelf.

Sarah wrote: "from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, p 91

"When I saw those toenails," Mary told me years later, "I nearly fainted. I though, Oh jeez, she's a real person. I started imaginin..."

Such an amazing book. I read this one a few years ago and I still think about it from time to time. Great book for this shelf. That is a perfect quote to go with the book as well.

Lots to think about in Uglies, but this quote in particular stood out to me:

"'Clear-cutting' was the word for what the Rusties had done to the old forests: felling very tree, killing every living thing, turning entire countries into grazing land. Whole rain forests had been consumed, reduced from millions of interlocking species to a bunch of cows eating grass, a vast web of life traded for cheap hamburgers."

from The Picture of Dorian Gray p. 10

"I have given away my whole soul to some one who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer's day."

from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes:

"I got to study Will Traynor up close, in those first couple of weeks. I saw that he seemed determined not to look anything like the man he had been; he had let his light-brown hair grow into a shapeless mess, his stubble crawl across his jaw. His grey eyes were lined with exhaustion, or the effect of constant discomfort (Nathan said he was rarely comfortable). They bore the hollow look of someone who was always a few steps removed from the world around him. Sometimes I wondered if it was a defence mechanism, whether the only way to cope with his life was to pretend it wasn’t him it was happening to.
I wanted to feel sorry for him. I really did. I thought he was the saddest person I had ever met, in those moments when I glimpsed him staring out of the window. And as the days went by and I realized that his condition was not just a matter of being stuck in that chair, of the loss of physical freedom, but a never-ending litany of indignities and health problems, of risks and discomforts, I decided that if I were Will, I would probably be pretty miserable too. "

AND

"The thing about being catapulted into a whole new life – or at least, shoved up so hard against someone else’s life that you might as well have your face pressed against their window – is that it forces you to rethink your idea of who you are. Or how you might seem to other people."

There are so many great thought provoking quotes from this book, that if I posted them all I would have to post the whole book. :P

Sean-michael wrote: ""It is a childish realization, I must admit--no one worth knowing can be write known, no one worth possessing can be write possessed--but after all, we were children." Defending Jacob"

I love that quote, Sean-michael. That is a book I have been wanting to read for a while.

Grace wrote: "readinghearts (Lyn M) wrote: "Grace - Hamlet is a fun read. I saw Hamlet once at a Shakespeare festival. It has been on of my favorites of his."

I'd love to see Hamlet live now. I missed the oppor..."

Seeing it live in a professional venue was amazing. :)

Sarah wrote: "from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, p 91

"When I saw those toenails," Mary told me years later, "I nearly fainted. I though, Oh jeez, she's a real person. I started imaginin..."

That quote really makes you think, Sarah. Another book that I have on my TBR and need to get to. The problem with reading all the reviews and quotes in this group is that I do not have enough time to read all the books, lol.

Melissa wrote: "Lots to think about in Uglies, but this quote in particular stood out to me:

"'Clear-cutting' was the word for what the Rusties had done to the old forests: felling very tree, killin..."

Wow, Melissa, that does stop and make you think, doesn't it. It paints such a bleak picture.

Leo wrote: "from The Picture of Dorian Gray p. 10

"I have given away my whole soul to some one who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ..."

How did you like this book overall, Leo. I tried to read it years ago, but had a hard time getting into it.

readinghearts (Lyn M) wrote: "from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes:

"I got to study Will Traynor up close, in those first couple of weeks. I saw that he seemed determined not to look anything lik..."

Just added this one to my TBR. I have the same problem you do when I read these quotes.

From Never Fade

This line just cracked me up and I am totally going to have to use it sometime...

“Oh, I'm sorry," Chubs said, 'apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue.”

And now a quote from pg. 47.

"I just could not afford to feed on their fear and let it twist my own. I'd worked so hard to numb myself to this place , and they didn't get to blow that apart. They got my attention, my concern, my protection, but they didn't get that."

Tara wrote: "From Never Fade

This line just cracked me up and I am totally going to have to use it sometime...

“Oh, I'm sorry," Chubs said, 'apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted t..."

I love the first quote, Tara. I may have to use that one myself, too.