A Silly Book Game Part 36

Previous question:

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler

"Why is Russian, alone of the current top ten languages, set to lose speakers in the twenty-first century?"

"We don't know what to make of this...either. But as more clues come in, you can be sure we'll get to the heart of the matter."

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Please ignite your understanding.

Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives by Edwin Black

"About when did you leave?"

"When I was finally able to stand on my own two feet..."

Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 5 - Hiromu Arakawa

"One is all, all is one"... I wonder what that means?

". . .. . (E)ach has participated in the One,
as drawing on unity, is itself not unity."

Plotinus quoted in The Essential Mystics
ed. by Andrew Harvey

"But how is this to be accomplished?"

"Never."

The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff

"Why do girls say silly things like that?"

"And you catch these people?"

Funny Money by James Swain

"You think theyʻre a team?"

"They're a dog team. They're kind of the same entity."

Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca by Maria Goodavage

"You know what today is?"

"Start of the fourth quarter (!)"

Funny Money by James Swain

"Did Doyle address him by name?"

This was what he wanted more than anything in the world, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff

"Why couldn't she even bring herself to say his name?"

"Indeed, no: nothing but that excellent saddle
of mutton has the slightest attraction."

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers

"Astonishinʻ for a lawyer, what!?"

"Not so much"

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Where are we?"

"Ah, Boston...Beantown, The Handsome Land of the Scenic Bean."

Banana Boys by Terry Woo

"Any requests?"

"Money. Respect. Immortality."

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

"How can you live with yourself?"

"Revenue projections."

Banana Boys by Terry Woo

"Mike, how the hell do you get to sleep at night thinking like this?"

"I'd like to tell you, but you know my conversations with Occam are strictly confidential."

Straight Man: A Novel by Richard Russo

"How old was that cheese spread?"

"I really can't say."

The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff

"What have I done?"

"The only escape from this is beer."

Banana Boys by Terry Woo

"Can't get a date?"

"You watch, when she comes she'll come and talk to me!"

Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce

- Eight cubic km ... that's a lot of water to be released all at once, isn't it?
-Yes, a lot...
-What do you think it will do to Aberystwyth?

"A conference in conjunction with the pig-raising program will be held in our village, which means the good times for us are on their way."

Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan

"Are you really going to take the road he points out?"

"We will feel the floods surging over us...and all the slime of the sea...about us!"

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

"Why did Britain between the years 1750 and 1788 pay to her whalemen in bounties upwards of L1,000,000?"

"Life is very curious."

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

"Where were you at the start of the movement?"

"There were blizzards across Europe, but it was particularly the Frankfurt snow that affected me, since I was supposed to fly out of there a week ago..."

48 Shades of Brown - Nick Earls

"So what's Naomi like?"

"Elderly and entirely bald"

The Good Soldier Schweik by Jaroslav Hasek

"I've made inquiries in the kitchen and I've found out what we had for lunch today. First of all there was soup with dumplings. What did you do with those dumplings?"

"Nothing particularly worth reporting..."

48 Shades of Brown - Nick Earls

"What should I be able to cook, if it's not a Vegemite sandwich fried in a pan?"

"Peanut butter honey on whole-wheat."

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

"Why are so few people eating?"

"...no-one did anything regular all day, as far as I know."

48 Shades of Brown - Nick Earls

"Who's this Jack guy?"

"The curate who succeeded me in Macondo."

In Evil Hour by Gabriel García Marquez

"Can you think of a candidate?"

"Chris Burns is twenty-three and has a nine-inch penis..."

48 Shades of Brown - Nick Earls

"What did you say?"

"Shame has a short memory."

In Evil Hour by Gabriel García Marquez

"What do you think of the mess?"

"Hardtack is generally our standard bread diet, and nothing can beat it."

Moby Dick, or the Whale by Herman Melville

"Oh, cruel! what hast thou done with her?"

"I will admit to holding that money in trust in part to thwart Ginnie, since Dorothy was adamant that her daughter not see a dime..."

The Other by David Guterson
https://www.librarything.com/work/4821240

"Isn't there some kind of stair race here?"

“Nonsense! You only say so because I drove your horses."

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

“What do you mean to do when you reach Lacy Manor?’"

"I want to sleep with Mick Jagger, fly with the Burrito Brothers, and become world famous."

I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres

How can I become enlightened?

"It might take a while, but I should be able to tell you something from the registers,"

Twilight's Dawn by Anne Bishop

"How could you leave me with a little boy?"

"The sheriff wasn't breathing down your neck."

Love by Toni Morrison

"Did you look in your pocketbook?"

"How ridiculous this is."

Winter by Christopher Nicholson

"What are women supposed to touch?"

". . . we will see that (our body) is a
gift from our parents and their parents."

Peace is every Step by Thich Naht Hahn

"Do you ever find yourself watching an awful
TV program, unable to turn it off?"

"I don't want to think about it."

You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt

"I'm done. Are you?"

"It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow."

Wells, The Time Machine

Will tomorrow bring any more clarity?

"The grit and dirt of clearing it up grinds on my very nerves."

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

"Go out! Where 'ud I go to, pray?"

"Near the Ethiopian border"

The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed

-The only school I would like to attend is beauty school.
-What would you learn there?

'It was once believed that a good remedy for warts was to bury a piece of bacon.'

The Best of Bunty Annual

'What did you expect when my hands were so cold?'

"I did not dare to add that I also liked it."

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan

"Anne, do you think I am intelligent?"

"Don't ask me, ask him - because he's proud of it! Sneaking off to that Claphem snooker club instead of learning to spell D-O-G."

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

"Concessions like what?"

"A lemon or a tamarind."

Paul and Virginia by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre

"Have you another child, Madame?"

"I am sorry, though I'm not sure what I'm apologizing for."

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

"So why did you ask me that?"

"For a moment I am embarrassed. And then I decide not to be."

Paris Red by Maureen Gibbon

"Is it too much to ask what you're working on?"

"Planning some improvement that would benefit them all"

Paul and Virginia by Jacques Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre

"Tell me which of your charms it was that enchanted me"

The top of my skull has been singed bald.

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg

"Don't you want Fernando to drive you home?"

"We each have our own steps to take."

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"So why did you need me?"

"you don't need to know"

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

""You got any spiders in here?"

"The rain ran into the clouds, and the animals descended the ramp.
Two by two.
Two giraffes.
Two spiders.
Two goats.
Two lions.
Two mice.
Two monkeys
Two snakes.
Two elephants.
The rain came after the rainbow"

Extremely loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

"Can I take a picture of your hands?"

"My only desire is to make you happy"

Paul and Virginia by Jacques Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre

"Paul was greatly astonished by the word 'bastard' which he had never heard before. He asked his mother what it meant"

"He's a big, bad man."

Tarry Flynn by Patrick Kavanagh

"Where were you?"

"The drawer of the bedside locker"

All that is solid melts into air by Darragh McKeon

"You're going to get an XRay of your hand. Do you know what that is?"

"...Going to have them X-rayed? They haven't got chest trouble...

...They may have heart trouble. It's no good being hasty..."

Windows by John Galsworthy

"Oh. Do you read?"

"The technical side of things was still beyond me"

The Hacienda by Lisa St Aubin de Teran

-He's got air in his brain.
-How do you get that?

"Not by birth."

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

"And why? they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to a ride of a few more miles."

"They wanted to buy me a drink."

A Stolen Season: An Alex McKnight Novel by Steve Hamilton

"Did you go find some trouble somewhere?"

"She went back where the gun guys are."

Tricky Business by Dave Barry

"You canʻt be too careful. So what happened?"

"So then I didn’t care no more about him, because I don’t take no stock in dead people."

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

"Why, how in the nation did they ever git into such a scrape?”

". . . . unhinged response to (Khizr) Khan,
exposed him as ʻa man without shameʻ."

"Trump: Did Khizr Khan Doom his Campaign?"
by THE WEEK

" ʻHave you no sense of decency, sir?ʻ "

"He found the courage to turn up the corners of his lips in...a bitter little smile of confidence. He looked into the other's dusky face, and flaunted this smile at it in contemptuous defiance. "It is not a subject that I can discuss with propriety—at this stage," he added."

The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic

"Oh, WHY do they behave so badly to us...?"

"A sufficient reason"

The Three Sisters by May Sinclair

-And what CAN you do?
-I can be somebody's secretary.
-Whose?

David Manuel.

The Color of Blood by Declan Hughes

"In Danger? Are you trying to scare me,
Mr. Loy?"

"It was only twenty degrees below zero. Winter was over"

Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov

"You have an artificial eye?"

"An eye hollow and fixed, blank of meaning but for the glassiness of despair..."

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

"You are afraid of ghosts?"

"Oh ghosts -- of course the place must swarm
with them. I should be ashamed of it, if it
didnʻt."

The Jolly Corner by Henry James

"So you had the idea of THIS...?"

"Don't whine so! You're like rain in autumn: one continual drizzle."

And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov

"!What's that on your back?"

". . . a grey metal box similar to those used
sometimes for cash boxes. . ."

Sleeping Lady; an Alex Jensen Alaska Nystery
by Sue Henry

"But there wouldnʻt have been a plane
to see, would there?"

"Not any more."

His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay

Is it important?

"It's not something I've ever studied."

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

"Have I personally broken any laws?"

"There is nothing more displeasing in the Lord's sight than a slatternly girl."

The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan

-They thought it was the end of the world....
-Is this event to be shortly expected?

"He never mentioned it."

His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay

"Would it kill you to phone him?"

"When I go away to school, I shan't have any women telling me what to do."

The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan

"We're not going to do anything you say today. We've made a plan. Isn't that funny?"

"Donʻt speculate. . . . Letʻs just figure
out what to do."

Mist by Carla Neggers

"Did this man threaten you?"

"It has always been at night-time that I have been molested or threatened, or in some way in danger or in fear."

Dracula by Bram Stoker

"What shall I do? what can I do? How can I escape from this dreadful thing of night and gloom and fear?"

"Stay in the car. Stay down. Be quiet. Don't move, and don't make noise."

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

"How long will it wait?"

"Only temporarily. His feelings were hurt, more than anything."

Hag-Seed, by Margaret Atwood

"What's he supposed to do? Threaten them with prison?"

"It was a rhetorical question, Ham."

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

"Who's the last chair for?"

"The head wife of the Kralahome"

Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon

"How is it that you are still a slave?"

"When I was nearly twelve years old, my kind mistress sickened and died...Again and again I asked myself what they would do with me. ...I could not help having some hopes that she had left me free. My friends were almost certain it would be so...After a brief period of suspense, the will of my mistress was read, and we learned that she had bequeathed me to her sister's daughter, a child of five years old. So vanished our hopes."

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Linda Brent aka Harriet Jacobs

"Linda," said he, "what makes you look so sad? I love you. O, Linda, isn't this a bad world?"

"It's just been...a very draining few months."

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

"So this is about your ego?"

"A girl's got to look after her interests if she's going to get ahead in this country."

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

"Where you boys from?"

"...somewhere else in the world (!)"

Sleeping Lady by Sue Henry

". . .couldnʻt they fly across and wait
for her to get there?"

"I never walk when I can be carried"

The Fatal Three by M E Braddon

"George, do you remember my playing that adagio to you for the first time?"

"Yeah, we were all young once."

Nine Island by Jane Alison

"Potency, even? Can we say that?"

"Sir," said Mlle Laroque, with a strange vehemence, "you do not know what you are talking about. And," she added more harshly, "you forget to whom you are speaking,"

The Romance of a Poor Young Man by Octave Feuillet

"You hadn't a penny when I married you, general, had you?"

"...a poor young man who was only ambitious because his natural refinement made him feel the necessity of some of those joys which only money can give, can see every day a woman of thirty who is sincerely virtuous, is absorbed in her children, and never goes to novels for her examples of conduct. Everything goes slowly, everything happens gradually...

The Red and the Black by Stendhal

(Italics mine.)

"Who could have told me that I should find any pleasure in shedding tears?"

"I think THEY told you"

The Secret Life of William Shakespeare by Jude Morgan

"Why do I have to have a stepfather at all?"

"I was a posthumous child. My father’s eyes had closed upon the light of this world six months, when mine opened on it. There is something strange to me, even now, in the reflection that he never saw me; and something stranger yet in the shadowy remembrance that I have of my first childish associations with his white grave-stone in the church-yard, and of the indefinable compassion I used to feel for it lying out alone there in the dark night, when our little parlor was warm and bright with fire and candle, and the doors of our house were—almost cruelly, it seemed to me sometimes—bolted and locked against it."

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

"Well now,” said the waiter, in a tone of confidence, “what would you like for dinner? Young gentlemen likes poultry in general, have a fowl!”

"We could get an ice cream together"

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

-He went off on his own to England without a lira. He says he'll find a job there and stay until he learns English.
-Then?

"Then all said together, Ho, ho, ho."

Voyages of Samuel de Champlain y Samuel de Champlain

"Why hast thou broken my pipe? thou seest in truth that I have none other..."

"Trust me, I have a small child, I honestly didn't do this thing."

Those who leave and those who stay by Elena Ferrante

"Do you eat enough?"

"Yes...," replied Wilbur. "At my age it's a good idea to keep gaining."

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

...Said the old sheep, "You know why they're fattening you up, don't you?"

*** On the chance that anyone is not familiar with this children's classic, Wilbur is a pig growing up on a farm.

"Is any sacrifice too great? Which of us would not willingly lay down..."

Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther

" Good gracious!...as he began to whirl the hammer round his head ... Look, there are some people sitting quite close to him - supposing he let go at the wrong moment?"

"...if he managed that, the main difficulty would be at an end..."

Roughing It by Mark Twain

"What to do next?"

"Get out or I'll throw stones in your face!"

I am Nujood, age 10 and divorced by Nujood Ali

-We'll have to find a lawyer.
-A lawyer, what for?

"for Answers"

Calculus Made Easy: Being a Very-simplest Introduction to Those Beautiful Methods of Reckoning which are Generally Called by the Terrifying Names of the DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS and the INTEGRAL CALCULUS by Sylvanus Thompson

"What are we to do?"

"Peel potatoes and do the sprouts"

Winter Love by Han Suyin

"Would you like to dissect with me?"

"Isnʻt there another way?"

"Twiiightʻs Captives" by Christopher Bennett

How often must we say that they
are in the securest care?"

...until daylight this morning."

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

"And Jim?"

"...was Nancy's occasional lover, when she felt well enough between her fits of gastric acidity"

Winter Love by Han SuYin

"You havent had lunch? Why not?"

"I can't help but notice that you always take your breaks whenever I have something important to finish."

The Rithmatist By Brandon Sanderson

"Professor? Are you all right?"

"We must all drink kava together to see if kava will give us an answer"

Man Belong Mrs Queen by Matthew Baylis

"Are you a missionary?"

"I'm a fireman, and I—I've got to get the engine. There's a big, big fire!"

The Bobbsey Twins in Washington by Laura Lee Hope

"Are you sure you are big enough to go to the post-office for me?" asked
Miss Pompret."

He sucked his teeth at the sheer silliness of the idea.

Man Belong Mrs Queen by Matthew Baylis

"Why are you smiling?

"with joy exulting old Mannahatta."

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

"What was that swell I saw on the ocean?"

"Two pairs of wee white stockings"

The Elves and the Shoemaker by Vera Southgate

"How can we thank these little elves who have made us so rich and so happy?"

"I do not feel particularly interested...But Tottlepot is quite a different thing."

Humorous Readings and Recitations selected and edited by Leopold Wagner

"Was not everybody straining to get a glimpse of him?"

"That comes of letting girls go about just as they please among the men."

Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope

-I have been with Anton Trendelssohn.
-And what have you been there for now?

"If my house is being searched, I'm going to be there to see what goes on."

The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey

"What's wrong?"

"I lost my ride."

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

"Up where? Where are they?"

"Under the jasmine sipping cardamom-flavoured tea"

Willow Trees don't weep by Fadia Faqir

"Did my parents want me?"

"You want me, I know, to say ‘Yes,’ but I always delight in overthrowing those kind of schemes."

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"Why did you not tell me that before?"

"We got found out and was took to the police station"

The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale

"Did you not smell something very disagreeable?"

"It is necessary to have a liking for garlic and a nose that fears no smells for this...

At Villefranche there are two unpretentious inns where men with an unnatural craving for Bouillabaisse go and eat it, and return with a strong aroma of saffron and garlic accompanying them, saying that they have partaken of the real dish, such as the fishermen cook for themselves, and not the stew toned down to suit civilised palates."

THE GOURMET'S GUIDE TO EUROPE by Lieut.-Col. Newnham-Davis and Algernon Bastard, Edited by the Former

"A strong remark, eh?"

"Abbas realised that he was on the verge of wanting to hit his favourite brother."

The Golden Cage by Shirin Ebadi

"You're a grown-up yourself - why do you let him treat you like that?"

"One of these days it's going to make me rich."

Shoot! by George Bowering

"Gold?....Land?"

"I just shrugged and giggled. It was all too complicated"

The Glorious Flight of Perdita Tree by Olivia Fane

"I want to know all about King Zog. Was he a popular leader?"

"I never met anyone more complicated."

Hope Makes Love by Trevor Cole

"You want a cigarette?"

"I immediately kissed them on both cheeks and probably hugged them too"

The Glorious Flight of Perdita Tree by Olivia Fane

"It is so very likely he will come... should I be dressed as an Albanian? Or should I wear the polka-dot dress?"

"You looked far more dashing with the wetsuit, you know."

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

"When did you figure it out?"

"When I was your age."

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

"“How can you think of such a thing?"

"I thought I could trust you to be discreet."

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien

"Have you an enemy, missus....someone with a grudge?"

"A man once slapped me on the head when he caught me.. looking through the window at the women."

The Consequences of Love by Sulaiman Addonia

"Have you been drinking perfume?"

"...from the floor of this place, they made spouts of perfumed water dart their streams upward."

Essays of Michel de Montaigne - chap.6, Of Coaches by Michel de Montaigne

"Have I not lived long enough?"

"Not particularly."

The Torontonians by Phyllis Brett Young

"Can I make a fresh start now?"

"Don't console yourself with delusions of that 'fresh start' elsewhere. No other decent school would take you."

The Following Girls by Louise Levene

"Have you worked out what you're going to say at your careers interview?"

"Let what will happen."

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

"What stirs the bush?

"There was a mild strip act, the stripper winding up in the kind of two-piece bathing suit worn by Baptist ministers' wives but with sequins."

Holidays in Hell by PJ O'Rourke

"What do Poles really do for fun?"

(Ha!)

"Vivian, now is not the time to indulge such morbid thoughts, we're going on our holidays!"

Eggshells by Caitriona Lally

"Are we ready to roll?"

"I have no emergency brake, and i must keep my foot on the brake pedal or the car will roll away."

Holidays in Hell by PJ O'Rourke

"Will somebody please tell me, what's the matter with McDonalds?"

"There,...I wondered how they could eat it. Nothing should have induced ME to touch it!"

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

"What could I do but invoke a silent blessing on Miss Mills’s head..."

"I don't know. I just think it's a little weird"

Someday this Pain will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron

"What do you mean, you don't want to go to college? ... What do you want to do, run away and join the circus?"

"I want to be a gentleman.”

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

"but don’t you think you are happier as you are?”

"I'm acquiescing to their power...I'm being degraded...I..."

Do With Me What You Will by Joyce Carol Oates

"Do you think that matters?"

ʻProbably."

A Cold-blooded Business
by Dana Stabenow

"Whereʻs the corral?"

"I was there last night."

Do With Me What You Will by Joyce Carol Oates

"And how the hell did you get out of there?"

"Playing hookey"

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete
by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

“What’s your name?”

"Gamrah's chat style didnt have the finesse of Lamees's"

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

"So what about you, Firas: do YOU have a past?"

ʻYeah. They told me what to do and I did it."

Doc Anderson: we have Lived Many Lives
by Robert E. Smith

ʻIs this pretty exciting>"

"Not bad."

Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb

"And who can forget the combined birthday party for the two toddlers at Bridgehampton's Candy Kitchen?

"There'll be lawyers in heaven before you see somethin' this good again."

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

"Did somebody beat you up again, honey?"

If you look, you can still see the crack in the side, even though it's been filled in."

The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore

"What is that thing on the bed?"

"It is a wooden box that can be placed on a table. Or on a writer's lap. It opens to reveal a ... writing surface and storage space for inkpot...There is a long drawer for paper...It is about the size of a portable typewriter..."

The Real Jane Austen - A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne

"Is she 'watching the flow of the tide... in unwearied contemplation?'"

"...if you stand in the same river for too long, even the banks will trickle past you."

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

"Anyone want to talk to this fruitcake?"

"I'll talk if you talk."

Marshall's Law by Ben Sanders

"Had enough?"

"Oh, so you've noticed at last."

The Line by Olga Grushin

"Hey, since we're stuck here anyway, want to hear me sing?"

"...it was a Sunday and I had just heard someone sing a psalm...I said,...I don't want to do this anymore.'

At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid

"Dead lay everything that had lived... All had had or would have its season...and what should it matter that its season five billion years or five minutes?"

"It don't make a difference if you're getting by and you're happy"

The Same Earth by Kei Miller

"What use could anybody possibly have for your panties?"

"There is really nothing to interest you."

Dracula by Bram Stoker

"Why was it that Methuselah lived nine hundred years?"

"Access to goods many people didn't have"

The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee

"When is Kim-Il Sungs's birthdaY?"

" in 1963"

Day of the Moron by Henry Beam Piper

"...Just what happened to him?"

The only answer he got was a grunt and a groan.

Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander

"Does it not seem that the doctor and the
magistrate exhibited remarkable good sense?"

"Even I might have done better."

As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross

"You understand, don't you?"

"Not at all."

The Delight of Being Ordinary ;a road trip with
the Pope and the Dalai Lama by Roland Merullo

"You haven't cheated on me?"

"It's really Philip who's to blame..."

As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross

"What about Minnie?"

"Wrong choice."

"Blinking Moon and Midnight" by Tim McDaniel

"House?"

"Never."

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

"How can you say that?"

"You're paying me; that's all I care about."

"Night Crossing" by Marilyn Todd

"Is that all you care about-- money?"

"It seems we're going through our retirement fund a little more quickly that is ideal."

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

"Is there anything specific you'd like to know about how things work here?

"Captain Steiner tell you to say that?"

Paybacks by Christopher Britton

"Any theories about why?"

"Such a question could only come from a point of view of enormous cultural arrogance"

In Search of The Red Slave by Mike Parker Pearson

"A loud noise - Had Victor put a heavy metal tape on the cassette player?"

"Yes. I like it."

England, England by Julian Barnes

"What do you think?"

"I think you owe me a favor."

The Killler Elite by Robert Rostand

"Who's in it besides Hansen?"

"Robin Hood and his Merrie Men."

England, England by Julian Barnes

"Not exactly going to make Johnny Foreigner crap his pants, are they?"

"As a matter of fact, for the first time I was really terrified."

Let me speak! by Domitila Barrios de Chungara

"Meanwhile, what had happened to my family?"

"See! There they are... What a degraded and vile sight it is!”

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

"Why are you looking at that dark tree in the lane?"

'I am watching the priests accept Catherine
into the Church."

Doc Anderson: we Live Many Lives
by Robert E Smith

"Are you happy?"

"...Hounded by storms...utterly exhausted, no one had slept a full night since fleeing the island..clothes had rotted under the stinging force of the rain...starved, gaunt and filthy, the pork was spoiling and the bread was damp and mouldy grey."

Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare by John Toohey

"Had they eaten something poisonous?"

" . . .SOMEONE definitely tampered with
those oreos."

Murder of a Royal Pain by Denise Swanson

"Are you blackmailing anyone?"

"The gators on shore and the tapirs in the woods lifted heads to listen"

In Far Bolivia by Gordon Stables

"S'pose wild beas' come eatee you, w'at den you do?"

The earliest myths of humanity deal with
death and rebirth.

Doc Anderson: we have Lived Many Lives
by Robert E, Smith

"Why do you think Leona is so bad?"

"I suppose it's living in this frightful, god-forsaken place."

The Four Graces by D E Stevenson

"Are you going to judge the ankle competition?"

"Lemme just try."

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

"Oh, you think you're mighty smart, don't you?"

"This room has been filled with idiots this
afternoon, and I would enjoy some sanity
for a change."

The Red Box by Rex Stout

"How was it? Nice funeral?"

"Thoroughly rational, I'd call it."

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

"What did he tell them, what were the exact words?"

"er-- 'fond of' --er--'women?' "

"Jonathan Stannard's Secret Vice" by Rex Stout

"Pardon me, . . . but are you speaking of
your husband?"

"It's something a thousand times worse."

The Absolute at Large by Karel Capek

"Have you ever read Spinoza?"

“No. Not yet.”

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

“Where the devil could Monsieur le Maire be going?”

"You will have a fit of apoplexy if you cannot calm yourself."

The Brothers Carburi by Petrie Harbouri

"What are you doing?"

Hmm? "What"?

A Fine and Bitter Snow by Dana Stabenow

Filled up your woodshed?

"The woodworking shop."

Disobedience by Jane Hamilton

"Hey! How was Wisconsin?"

"I used to testify on a lot of legislation up there."

The Attorney by Steve Martini

"Then how do you know you can trust
his information?"

"It's nothing but lies!"

Disobedience by Jane Hamilton

"So, Henry...what are your plans?"

"I've got the directions, sir, and the car's
ready to go."

Farthing by Jo Walton

"Can you recommend anywhere to stay
in Winchester?"

"The address is below."

Barkskins: A Novel by Annie Proulx

"Will you join me at breakfast and tell me all your secrets?"

"My thoughts come out much better on paper."

Mister Nightingale by Paul Bowdring

"How much do you have written?"

"A paragraph"

A Ride to Khiva by Fred Burnaby

-So you are going to Kashgar?
-No
-Why do you not go there?

" . . . cause you might blush."

A Fine and Bitter Snow by Dana Stabenow

"Do you think it'll work?"

"I know what I'm talking about, don't think I don't."

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

"Who humiliated your fathers and raped your daughters?"

"79,000 British, Portugese and Spanish soldiers."

Beethoven: The Man Revealed by John Suchet

"Who was Beethoven's Immortal Beloved?"

"A singer so operatic she needed ten radios to cover her cries."

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

"But why?"

"I don't know. I think I wanted to see if
I'd remembered to lock the door."

A Fine and Bitter Snow by Dana Stabenow

"Get tags?"

"There's no use."

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

"My whole life was about to be transformed but now...if I can't get out, what will happen to me?"

"You need to tell them what you know about Mano."

Wired Hard by Toby Neal

"Do you know him socially?"

"I might be sharing his couch if it weren't that he knows it would grieve Hephaistion"

The Persian Boy by Mary Renault

"Who were Harmodios and Aristogeiton?"

"Hipparchus was assassinated by two men
named Harmodios and Aristogeiiton."
The Ancient Greek World by Jennifer Roberts
and Tracy Barrett

"Where is Greece? Who are the Greek people?"

"I do not know...Pity my stupidity."

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

"Have I not said an hundred times that the South is a good land?"

"Her eyes widened. I saw how she tried to keep her outrage to herself."

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by anonymous

"Like my new blouse?"

"Buttons . . . It's all about buttons."

Cosmic Cocktails ed. by Denise Little

"What are they having?"

"Forgiveness portion...The liquid was pale green and sweet but with something sharper that lingered at the back of the throat."

The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan

"What about the children?"

"I hope to God they get them. And string them all up"

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

"There is one of our nurses. Does she not look well in her red and white and her cap upon her head?"

"I don't know. I suppose so."

Uneasy Relations by Aaron Elkins

"Can't you do that, Corbin?"

"No...Not like that."

The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart

"What makes you angry?"

"I spent the first eighteen years of my life..raised with a chimpanzee"

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

"How did you know where I live?"

"You wouldn't want to know."

Dark Justice by Jack Higgins

"So what happens now?"

"Now, I just make brooches."

The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart

"Are you still working on the footpaths?"

"I do hope Harfang isn't a long way off."

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis

"What are you talking about?"

"I made the team."

Playing with Fire: The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows of Theo Fleury by Theo Fleury

"Why are you here?"

"My obligations as King . . ."

Ludwig of Bavaria by Robert Peters

"Wagner?"

"I am rather shy so anyone not too gay or too energetic. Preferably good looks, golden hair and blue eyes. If not available, any decent type will do."

Marriages are made in Bond Street by Penrose Halson

-I'm keen on fellatio
-Oh, that's stamp collecting, isn't it?

'Heller, you're not serious!"

Guilty Minds by Joseph Finder

"So why does she own SCANDAL SHEET?"

"We don't hold with book-reading, " Mr. Wormwood said. "You can't make a living from sitting on your fanny and reading story-books."

Matilda by Roald Dahl

"But what if they agreed?"

"Hard, but not impossible."

Mr. Monk Gets on Board by Hy Conrad

"Do you think he had an accomplice?"

"No, Hassouna is not the callous reprobate you believe, he is only a shallow-pated lout"

A Grave for a Dolphin by Alberto Denti di Pirajno

"What would happen to their crops if they did not keep the wart-hogs away from their farms?"

'"There's something I need to check first."

Cyanide Wells by Marcia Muller

"So he got his notice, did he?"

"How glad I am, I had it here ready"

Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

-So Milady stays away a few days and gets the sack.
-What'll she do now then?

"I don't like the idea of leaving."

The Fifth Witness; a novel
by Michael Connolly

Who do you think sent you the letter?"

"Do not answer yet."

At the Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell

"Do Mickey Mouse films or other animated cartoons of that sort frighten you?"

"After the episode of the lizard, the nights, nearly sleepless already, became a torment."

Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

"Are you in love with another woman?"

"Don't worry about me."

The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway

"Has today been a good one?"

"Not really. The children must have told you. I was sick, Otto died"

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

"What stinks?"

"There are explosives enough in the
world already."

Black Coffee by Charles Osborne
(adapted from an Agatha Christie drama)

"You are his son, perhaps?"

"It is impossible."

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

"May I ask why not?"

"Her feet would get sore."

Elisabeth's Daughter by M Fredriksson

- She's... completely unpredictable
-In what way?

"She ran away on Wednesday; she said that
she couldn't stand the secret any more."

Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood

"What secret?"

"My great return to Britain was a great failure."

Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett

"Do you still work for that company?"

"Well, never mind. That's long past, and what's happened today changes the situation."

Cyanide Wells by Marcia Muller

"You love it here, don't you?"

"Yes. It's nice now. When I left, the Ethiopians were killing men my age."

Ciao, Asmara by Justin Hill

"Do they eat fertiliser for breakfast?"

"That's absurd, and you know it is."

Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Los Angeles."

Cyanide Wells by Marcia Mulller

"Why wouldn't the boyfriend have gone to the police?"

"...there were terrible obstacles everywhere: mountains, rivers, precipices, bandits and savages."

Candide by Voltaire

"Are these the two suspicious strangers?"

"They're all Indians but from different ethnic groups"

I, Rigoberta Menchu by Rigoberta Menchu

"How were we going to find the path?"

"If Pangloss were here he'd know and tell us."

Candide by Voltaire

"Then what are we to do?"

"Let's just try to do the job."

Bomber's Law by George V. Higgins*

"Paid out over twenty years, right?"

*a very under-rated author who died in 1999 at
about age 60. A review of "Bomber's Law"
marked one of the few instances of taking him
seriously and not (outside of Boston) as just
another crime fiction writer.

"We have to take some risks"

Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden

"Is somebody chasing you?"

"I am all he wants in the world. He can't help himself."

In the Country of the young

"How do you know so much?”

"It's for children mostly."

"The Cabinet" by William Preston

"Should I marry Anna?"

"You will be disappointed..."

In the Country of the Young

"Was it love at first sight...?"

"There seemed a spark."

The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald

"And what next?"

“I’ll get you some soup...”

In the Country of the Young

“How are you feeling?”

"Not at all happy this morning"

A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow

-You're not thinking of wearing them today...your brown shoes.
-Why not?

I think we should just leave them alone."

In the Country of the Young

"But do they make me look unattractive?"

"Don't give up hope, my dear."

The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald

"What's your game, Daisy?"

"Bringing the Roman empire to an end"

Hidden Histories by Mary-Ann Ochota

"Do the properties have...long, narrow back gardens?"

". . .it had attracted farmers. . ."

The Hills: More Tales from the Blue Stacks; stories of Ireland
by Robert Bernan*

" ʻWerenʻt it funny, though, about the sheep. . . ?ʻ "

* Know author.

"Pleasant little incidents, which soon became known, played their part in improving public sentiment"

Elizabeth, Empress of Austria by Egon Caesar Conte Corti

"She also visited Bedlam...the largest lunatic asylum in the world..A madman spoke:

-"Why are you here? " she asked

"Visiting the Shacklefords."

A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor

"What else is there to go to a party full
of new people for?"

"There were some tame miniature porcupines from Java."

Elizabeth, Empress of Austria by Egon Caesar Conte Corti

"Is the Empress pious?"

"Maybe . . . . . she not so goddam religious."

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carreʻ

ʻWhat else was I supposed to say to him?"

Try to gain the person's attention before speaking and remember to speak slowly, clearly and at eye level...be prepared to repeat things many times."

Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias by Nori Graham

"My father has dementia and is making mistakes with his money. What should I do about this?"

"You begin by throwing a handkerchief up in the air..."

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra

"Things are getting worse. Aren't they?"

"Such as what? Name a couple."

Our Kind of Traitor
by John Le Carreʻ

"How about our personal texts?"

"Disinhibition can be one of the most difficult symptoms to cope with."

Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias by Nori Graham

"My mother is showing worrying signs of memory loss..but refuses to go to the doctor. What shall I do?"

"You see? It's fate."

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

"WHAT! Sorry, yes: what?"

"I do not know how to put it to you dear. Miss Lacey will explain"

Elders and Betters by Ivy Compton Burnett

"Why are you a governess if you don't know much?"

"Why'd you say that?"

"Serious Damage" by Cathryn Grant

"Why didn't you pay attention to my warning?"

"When the clanging of a bell woke her from a deep sleep Mary presumed it to be the bell that rang around the house at 8 o clock every morning to rouse its inhabitants for breakfast."

Those Wild Wyndhams by Claudia Renton

"Where's Fraulein?"

" . . . . . a closed crime scene."

"Mr. Monk Goes to Hawai'i"
by Lee Goldberg

"Did you offer to move her?"

I'm getting menus that are
3 - 8 years old!? Anbody having this problem, or know the cause?

"...this problem" (264)

The problem seems to be solved,
as of 8:50 PM EST, 01/10/18.

playing off #263

"Did you offer to move her?"

--------------------------------

"The point is to get her, and her sisters (not to mention her brothers) to come"

Live alone and like it by Marjorie Hillis

"Is it correct for a woman to go into a bar and have a cocktail if she is alone?"

“Of course not...I keep them at home.”

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

“Why do you care?”

"We don't happen to have a couple of
years to spare."

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre'

"This is all the information I get?"

"Obviously you are a criminal, look at the company you keep."

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

"Tell me something you've done today, hmm?"

"Bombarded the town and harbour"

A Habsburg Tragedy by Judith Listowell

"Why should working class people receive heavy fines for barbaric acts while rich young aristocrats get off scott free?"

“That’s a story for another day.”

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

“What’s an escalator?”

"Very good. Just right. Turn around."

The Walnut Door by John Hersey

What else is new?"

"I'm not telling you." *

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

"And where are the books I asked for?"

---------------------------------------------------

* This sounds so much like my four-year-old grandson! :D

Alex didn't tell me about any of this."

A Summons to Memphis
by Peter Taylor

"Why not? I demand to know why not!?"

"The Viennese police are watching me!"

A Habsburg Tragedy by Judith Listowell

"What do the four million Hungarians think they can do in the midst of many more millions Gerrmans and Slavs?"

"We have a discrepancy. A king-sized one."

Our Kind of Traitor by John LeCarre'

"Tough question time. Feel up to it?"

"But Milly-Molly-Mandy shook her head"

The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley

"She still could not make up her mind which of all those nice things to do.She thought and thought for a long time.
And then- what do you think she bought?"

". . .the broken highball glass found in Keisha's room(!)"

Murder and Misdeeds by Helen Goodman

". . .what does 'substance' mean in cop talk?"

"Cheese souffle"

Miss Buncle's Book by D E Stevenson

"I've read your novel and I like it...Why did you write it?"

"Thank you for putting things in perspective for me."

Say No to Murder by Nancy Pickard

ʻYou want to come down to the hospital and then to the station with us, donʻt you?"

"Don't go too far, dear, and don't overtire yourself or get your feet wet"

Mis Buncle's Book by D E Stevenson

"The twins were just coming in from their morning walk....
-Have they been good, Nannie?

"As requested."

Oslo; a play by J T. Rogers

"What if we leaked it?"

"You mustnt let your little sister get herself wet"

My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards

"Shall we go down the garden and eat gooseberries?"

"I wish I could stay here with you, but I have to return to the other place..."

Long Nights Alone - Miki Fujita

"Don't you have other things to do?'

"Not yet. But you wait!"

"Eyeless in Gaza" by Aldous Huxley

"But why did you keep it up your sleeve?"

"Yes. I am possessive, to be sure.

Long Nights Alone - Miki Fujita

"Why should we have to go through this?"

"You may do it from choice. Lots of people do"

Live alone and like it by Marjorie Hillis

"You probably spend plenty of breakfasts, luncheons, evenings, Sundays and holiudays entertaining yourself. Are you really entertained?"

"I am feeling better for the first time in twenty days."

Long Nights Alone - Miki Fujita

"But what does that have to do with my happiness...?"

"Oh, you should have seen him shiver
When they pull'd him from the river.
He was in a sorry plight!
Dripping wet and such a fright!
Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann

"And when the good cats sat beside
The smoking ashes, how they cried!
"Me-ow, me-oo, Me-ow, me-oo,
What will Mamma and Nursy do?"

Quit. Thatʻs what reporter Milt Solin did today.

- - Milt Solin, quoted in: Viva la Repartee
by Mardy Grothe

"Canʻt you control your wife? Or are
you like me?"
Robert F. Kennedy, quoted in
Viva la Repartee by Mardy Grothe

"It is just a question of manual dexterity"

Woolworth Madonna by Elizabeth Troop

"Any problems at home, bedwetting?"

"Ooh. Yaw."

The Walnut Door by John Hersey

"Know why I came to Hanover to hear you that time?"

"I suppose, cold-bloodedly, you could say 'Two lonely people getting rid of inhibitions' "

Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters by Jane Dunn

"If I ask you to yield to my passion
Will you ever surrender - say 'yes' ? "

"I want to show the world how fortunate I am to be with you, my dear."

Long Nights Alone - Miki Fujita

"But, my lord, what would Lady Wisteria and Lady Bellflower think?"

". . .become ever more voracious in their demand for listeners."

A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor

"Please tell me how, at your tender age, your life has been ruined?"

"The lot of a young composer's so hard."

The New Moon with the Old by Dodie Smith

"Don't you think she should use a darker lipstick?"

"I certainly don't care..."

Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin

"How does that concern you?"

ʻWeʻre likely to need a good speeder scout on this mission."

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"Am I permitted to plead extenuating
circumstances?"

" But Father laughed scornfully. "

The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag

"Grandma, can I pee in the water?"

"You can't possibly be serious."

Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin

"Suppose she found out?"

"You donʻt miss a trick, do you?"

The Walnut Door by John Hersey

"What did you say her name was, that firecracker from Bennington whoʻs here now?"

"Ah...you are lonely for your mistress."

Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin

"What are you buying me to drink?"

"Citizenship could be suspended for habitual intoxication."

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

"What conceivable chance...was there to make so vile a place safe for white men?"

"Poison was the latest thing...you could find it by the bagful."

The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag

"What's in your bag, Father?"

"We donʻt have time for this!"

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"What seems to be the problem here?"

"He could not so much as walk through the town without being accosted on every side with greetings, and when he walked on the hills, he was at the mercy of the friendly peasantry... It began to tell on his nerves"

Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay

"Why did Aunt Evelyn...elect to live all the week in London?"

"Iʻm as curious as you are."

Cyanide Wells by Marcia Muller

"Anything else that you need?"

"Fried clams are supposed to be very good..."

The Scent of Pine - Lara Vapnyar

"Are you hungry?"

"Iʻm all right."

The Hills More Tales from the Blue Stacks by Robert Bernan*

"Could you tell me where Conny Willy Bann is?"

*Know author.

"He died last night and bury."

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

"Where is Jerry?"

"Locked in her bedroom, cocooned in love

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

- A forfeit!...
-What's it to be, boys?

". . . Iʻll just work with wood, thanks . . ."

The Walnut Door by John Hersey

ʻHave you called the police?"

"I'm afraid not,"

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"Did you call?"

"Would you bring us please a little Portugal wine- it must be very good, I will know at once."

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

"Where's my mermaid?"

"You mean OURS?"
(emphasis added)

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"Whereʻs ʻHEREʻ?"

"...it's impossible to explain over the phone."

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"Are you in town?"

"Yeah. I didnʻt tell you before."

Cyanide Wells by Marcia Muller

"And what did you expect me to do?"

"You'd just come to, it's like a convention almost, and you'd let us pick your brain."

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"What about we try to set you up in some sort of office job, filing and whatnot?"

"I cannot try the patience of my public nor waste my own time dealing with the problems of insensate animals."

The Owl in the Attic by James Thurber

"Our cat...never seems sleepy nor particularly happy. Is there anything I could give her?"

"No need to."

Playing Catch-Up by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

"Want to punch the bag a little, or jump rope?"

"You have to go at these things carefully and calmly"

The Owl in the Attic by James Thurber

-My husband is a collector.
-And what do you collect?

"...bad credit and good life insurance."

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"You want me to walk you around, explain more?"

"Yes, thank you."

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

ʻIs he dead?"

"Oh, I don't know. I don't have any contact with him."

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"People have moved on? Really?"

"I'm never going to be scared of anything again. I'm going to be a painter!"

Frida Kahlo and the bravest girl in the world by Laurence Anholt

"You know why I wear a long dress all the time?"

"...it's a branding issue."

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"Where'd you get that?"

"I got a delivery some place long in here."

Beloved by Toni Morrison

"Where are you?"

"Seated on a pile of faggots and making a whistle"

Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay

"What's your favourite pudding?"

"You have a suggestion?"

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"What now?"

"It would be very nice to visit Tibet"

Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay

"What in the world DO people talk about in bedrooms in the small hours?"

"Now YOU AND I need to talk." (emphasis added)

Cyanide Wells by Marcia Muller

"Anything else?"

"I found three gulls' eggs yesterday, one was addled"

Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay

-Where was she?
-Under the floor.
-What in the world was she doing there?

"Obviously someone incompetent running the show."

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"I trust mine. You trust yours?"

"I do". She stroked her chest. "I love it."

The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard

-I think I might have rabies.
-What on earth makes you think that?

"Call me curious."

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"How about I call you DEAD?"

"My precious, you're making a whole lot of fearful suppositions."

The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard

"She asked him quickly, whether he thought there would be a war starting this weekend.
-'What makes you ask that, my duck?' "

"Some strange stuff..."

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

"Oh my God, Oh my God, what are we going to do?"

" . . . would do nicely."

Star Wars: Choices of One by Timothy Zahn

"And did he know . . . what Ferrouzʻs side really was?"

"At least someone in the Hill family knows..."

Clover - Dori Sanders

"So tell me, how do you know?"

"I expect he asked Hugh who told him exactly the opposite"

Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard

"Goffering a surplice - I mean, really! When could that be said to be a useful accomplishment?"

"It's nice because I can work at home..."

Clover - Dori Sanders

"Can't you just die from all that beige and taupe she's wearing?"

"(No), but HE obviously does."
(emphasis added)

Star Wars: Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn

"Speaking of Pakrie, has there been any sign of him?"

Oh, yes, I'm still around...but I've been very busy."

Clover - Dori Sanders

"Why don't you come down for a visit...?"

".. . . . itʻll take a while."

The Entitled by Frank Deford

"What kinda ʻwrinkleʻ?"

"It isnt too bad, but I bet you Christopher could find you another"

Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard

"Do you think you like him because you have some sort of father complex?"

"Yeah, but I was too dumb to know that."

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

"Is there someplace you want to go?"

"To the Unknown Regions . . ."

Star Wars: Choices of One by Timothy Zahn

"You have a suggestion?"

"Try to walk a bit faster: it looks as if it might rain"

The Poor Christ of Bomba by Mongo Beti

"Is her health too poor to come out here?"

" . . . had psychogenic ailments that were
being treated by African psychotherapy."

Anatomy of an Illness by Norman Cousins

"How was I to get my adrenal glands and my endocrine system in general working well again?"

"...I hate to keep harping on this, but you really must eat something."

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

"Did you get it checked out by a doctor?"

"Here even the best Christians make use of sorcerers in an affair of this kind"

The Poor Christ of Bomba by Mongo Beti

"You have a concubine perhaps?"

"I enjoy the company and there's plenty of space in my room."

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

"Where is she? Is she all right?

345-352 is a great segment! The questions and answers flow like a dialogue. Congrats to all!

(playing on 352)

"On the one hand she may have been;
on the other, she may not."

Watt by Samuel Beckett

"You remember Grehan?"

"Don't worry...I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to."

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

"Am I in trouble?"

"Oui, Monsieur le Baron!" / "Yes, Baron!"

La Cousine Bette by Honoreʻ de Balzac

"Vraiment?" / "Really?"

"Yes. Sort of."

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

"You need anything?...a drink of water maybe? A soda?"

"Sorry, Sorry; Iʻm nervous, okay?"

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

"You caught that, huh?"

(Moving to the next thread...It's taking too long to load!)