“There was a difference between a book that was regularly opened and a book that was not. The smell, the resistance of the spine, the ease with which the pages turned. this book felt a little like ours, but I knew it would fall open on a different scene, and that the pages with creased corners or worn edges would not be the same pages Ma had read over and over. When we bound these books, I thought, they were identical. But I realized they couldn't stay that way. As soon as someone cracks the spine a book develops a character all its own. What impresses or concerns one reader is never the same as what impresses or concerns all others. So, each book, once read, will fall open at a different place. Each book, once read, I realized, will have told a slightly different story.”
― The Bookbinder
― The Bookbinder
“At first, there is something you expect of life. Later, there is what life expects of you. By the time you realize these are the same, it can be too late for expectations. What we are being, not what we are to be. They are the same thing.”
―
―
“Somewhere in the echo of time, the universe had decided that happiness of a certain kind was not to be mine. I would have to find joy elsewhere.”
― The Berry Pickers
― The Berry Pickers
“These bruised people shored me up, and I wanted them near me, not because misery loved company but because the business of human striving felt common to us all. In this was the presence of God.”
― Any Bitter Thing
― Any Bitter Thing
Donna’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Donna’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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