“I’ve come to believe that until I really examine my life I won’t be able to accept it, and either apologize or be grateful for everything in it . . .
“Someone had told her once that mothers existed to blunt the existential loneliness of being a person. If that was true then her biggest maternal responsibility was simply companionship. You bring a child into this fractious, chaotic world out of the heat of your womb, and then spend the next ten years walking beside them while they figure out how to be a person.”
― Before the Fall
― Before the Fall
“Choosing to love—despite all the ways that people let you down, and disappear, and break your heart. Knowing everything we know about how hard life is and choosing to love, anyway.. That’s not weakness, that’s courage.”
― Things You Save in a Fire
― Things You Save in a Fire
“Everyone is from someplace. We all have stories, our lives unfolding along crooked lines, colliding in unexpected ways.”
― Before the Fall
― Before the Fall
“That’s how life is. Things happen. Lives get broken. Some people never can put themselves back together. I wondered if she would. I wondered if I would. . . . But what was that old saying my dad loved so much? The best revenge is forgetting. I clearly hadn’t forgotten a thing. Despite all my efforts.”
― Things You Save in a Fire
― Things You Save in a Fire
“Everyone has their own path. The choices they've made. How any two people end up in the same place at the same time is a mystery. You get on an elevator with a dozen strangers. You ride a bus, wait in line for the bathroom. It happens every day. To try to predict the places we'll go and the people we'll meet would be pointless.”
― Before the Fall
― Before the Fall
Books on the Nightstand
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— last activity Feb 01, 2026 04:05PM
A group to discuss books and topics mentioned on Books on the Nightstand, a blog and podcast about books and reading.
Kendra’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Kendra’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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