“I do know my own mind,’ protested Anne. ‘The trouble is, my mind changes and then I have to get acquainted with it all over again.”
“Statistics show that men are interested in three things: careers, sports, and sex. That’s why they love professional cheerleaders.”
Cal put down his fork “Well, that’s sexist.”
“Yes I know,” she said. “But it’s true isn’t it?”
“What?” Cal tried to find his place in the conversation. “Oh, the sports and sex thing? Not at all. This is the twenty-first century. We’ve learned how to be sensitive.”
“You have?”
“Sure,” Cal said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t get laid.”
“On the boat the first thing we did — before deciding who we liked and didn’t like, before telling each other which one of the islands we were from, and why we were leaving, before even bothing to learn each other’s names — was compare photographs of our husbands.”
“Every day we’re told that we live in the greatest country on earth. And it’s always stated as an undeniable fact: Leos are born between July 23 and August 22, fitted queen-size sheets measure sixty by eighty inches, and America is the greatest country on earth. Having grown up with this in our ears, it’s startling to realize that other countries have nationalistic slogans of their own, none of which are “We’re number two!”
“A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours.”
“He did a laugh and put his arm round me, though we kept sitting side by side. Then he said: ‘I keep thinking about this river somewhere, with the water moving really fast. And these two people in the water, trying to hold onto each other, holding on as hard as they can, but in the end it’s just too much. The current’s too strong. They’ve got to let go, drift apart. THat’s how I think it is with us. It’s a shame, Kath, because we’ve loved each other all our lives. But in the end, we can’t stay together forever.'”
“Annemarie stood on the balcony of the apartment with her parents and sister, and watched. Up and down the street, and across on the other side, she could see flags and banners in almost every window. She knew that many of those apartments were empty. For nearly two years, now, neighbors had tended the plants and dusted the furniture and polished the candlesticks for the Jews who had fled. Her mother had done so for the Rosens.
“It is what friends do, ” Mama had said.”
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
“I am sure there is magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us –like electricity, horses, and steam.”
“And so they entered a new and alien world where they would become a racial minority, seen as different and inferior, and where they would become ‘strangers.'”
Kaori Square Feet 
Nope. Never read any of your books. 😦
When I think of books, I really can't think of any other than the ones I read in High School. Most other books don't usually make an impression on me.
As I type this, I just remembered probably the most inspirational book, or interesting one, that I had read. Written by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman. It was about their trip around the world on motorbikes. Leave it to me to love a book about motorcycles. 😉
“The Long Way Round”
They did “The Long Way Down” and Charlie Boorman wrote about his trip on the Dakar Rally. Really great reading for motorcycle lovers and travellers.
LikeLike
I began to answer this with a way too long answer. I read Lucy Maude Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables because my girlfriend at the time had every one of the Anne books so I wanted to get an idea of why. I like Anne’s spunkiness and way of thinking. But I have neither read your #1 up there, nor any of the other books. However I did see movie versions of four of them: Your #s 5, 6, 8, and 9. The movie Picture Bride sounds a little similar to #3.
Thanks for the links to all of the books. I ordered #10.
This is a short story I enjoyed in high school that you might like: The Open Window by Saki (H.H. Munro).
Yesterday I was looking at some of the world’s early written stories. The long-ago Egyptians have maybe the oldest version of Cinderella.
The love poems are interesting as well. As are these.
LikeLike
The Long Way Round sounds interesting! I love travel books. I've been trying to find interesting books on Melbourne and Singapore to read on my flight there but I may just wait until I get there and go to a local bookstore to look for something 🙂
LikeLike
By the way…Ewan McGregor as in THAT Ewan McGregor? The one that sang a duet with Nicole Kidman???
LikeLike
I know exactly what you mean, Tall Gary. One book leads to another, which leads to another memory or anecdote. It's hard to stop writing about books. I had to cut out my comments on each book because it just got much too long!
I have to ask, did you like the movie versions of the books? I love love love the movie Much Ado About Nothing (and not just because Keanu Reeves is in it) but I haven't seen Never Let Me Go. As for Pride and Prejudice, I've seen the BBC television version but not the movie. Would you recommend any of them?
Thank you for the links! I've always been intrigued by the Egyptians and the more I learn the more interesting they are to me 🙂
LikeLike
Yup, THAT Ewan McGregor. You have/had a crush on him? 😉 My friend's wife does.
http://www.longwayround.com/
You can borrow my book anytime, provided you find me or meet up with me. We can invite the southern barbarian too. 😉
LikeLike
The Much Ado about Nothing I saw was the 2012 version directed by Josh Whedon. I liked it a lot except that there was some really anachronistic military stuff in it. It was filmed (B&W) in a nice modern house in the hills of Santa Monica.
If you read the book you might not need to see the movie of Never Let Me Go. You understand the emotional toll it will take on you.
The Pride and Prejudice I saw was the 2005 movie with Keira Knightly. I developed quite a crush on Ms. Knightly in that film and I liked her in Domino but, as much as I was impressed with her, there just seems to be something missing in so many of her films. I guess you can’t get out of an actress what isn’t inside her…
I did like the 1993 version of A Secret Garden. After twenty years I remember it vaguely but the ending was moving.
So, to answer your question, “Yes, I liked them all.”
I am glad the links were copacetic. I didn't want to mention the twist ending of The Open Window because you would be expecting one. The American author O. Henry was famous for his twist endings but his writing is now, probably, considered archaic. I had to put his collections of short stories down after awhile because knowing there was a twist coming I could too easily figure out what it was.
It was at an excellent exhibition of ancient Egypt in Tokyo, simple (no solid gold masks!), but the best I have ever seen. It was at this exhibition that I realized a truth about ancient Egypt I didn't realize before. They were not obsessed with death as their mummies might have us suppose. They loved life so much they never wanted it to end. It was all about life lived to the fullest for them.
I recently picked up a book about doing business in ancient Egypt. Not that I will ever read it all but there are sections on land leases, landlords, lessees (tenants), and surveying for those of you in the real estate business.
The family from which the records derive were funerary service providers. “For a remuneration of some sort they would bring offerings to the mummies in the Theban necropolis probably once a week, on festival days, on the birthdays of the deceased, and maybe even on the anniversaries of their deaths.” So, in Japan that would amount to washing the grave stones, cleaning up around the site, and supplying fresh flowers. Not so different from today, huh? I have no idea why this interests me.
LikeLike
He is not my type but he has an amazing voice! 😀
If you have the book, I may take up on your offer! I've been wanting to lure the wild woman out of her hiatus once her schedule settles down myself! 😀
LikeLike
I remember seeing a trailer for the black and white Much Ado About Nothing film but never saw it. I think I love the Kenneth Branagh version so much that it didn't really interest me. You've reminded me that I've seen the same version of The Secret Garden as well!
Doing business in Egypt back in the day sounds interesting, although I have to admit that Egypt is not quite in our target business area at the moment! ;D
LikeLike
I agree, he has a great voice.
I'm sure you can lure her out before her schedule even settles down.
LikeLike