The Book of Speculation Quotes

“Once you’ve held a book and really loved it, you forever remember the feel of it, its specific weight, the way it sits in your hand.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Perhaps the book opened a door; books have a way of causing ripples.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Having all the time in the world makes getting things done impossible.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“We carry our families like anchors, rooting us in storms, making sure we never drift from where and who we are. We carry our families within us the way we carry our breath underwater, keeping us afloat, keeping us alive.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“If it’s possible to have a reading hangover, I have one.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“A librarian remembers the particular scent of glue and dust, and if we’re so lucky—and I was—the smell of parchment, a quiet tanginess, softer than wood pulp or cotton rag. We would bury ourselves in books until flesh and paper became one and ink and blood at last ran together.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Because there are things you do for people you’ve known your whole life. You let them save you, you put them in your books, and you let each other begin again, clean.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“We carry our families like anchors, rooting us in storms, making sure we never drift from where and who we are. We carry our families within us the way we carry our breath underwater, keeping us afloat, keeping us alive. I’ve been lifting anchors since I was eighteen. I’ve been holding my breath since before I was born.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Hard thoughts are held in small words.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Nobody loves you quite like someone who's sorry.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Why the hell don't people understand there are some things you don't talk about? You keep it to yourself so you hurt fewer people. You're supposed to pay with guilt. Guilt is penance.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Once you’ve held a book and really loved it, you forever remember the feel of it, its specific weight, the way it sits in your hand. My thumb knows the grain of this book’s leather, the dry dust of red rot that’s crept up its spine, each waving leaf of every page that holds a little secret or one of Peabody’s flourishes. A librarian remembers the particular scent of glue and dust, and if we’re so lucky—and I was—the smell of parchment, a quiet tanginess, softer than wood pulp or cotton rag. We would bury ourselves in books until flesh and paper became one and ink and blood at last ran together. So maybe my hand does clench too tightly to the spine. I may never again hold another book this old, or one with such a whisper of me in it.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“How good it was that people, like houses, had frames and that those frames could be so beautiful.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Something is very wrong. What began as a passing fascination with the book has turned into something darker,”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Half the charm in old books is the marks of living they acquire;”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“Even in a sea of names, a drowning mermaid has a way of standing out.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“I need to get into the water, to clear my head.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“It’s sort of like a hobby, but kind of like addiction?” he says, voice tipping up as he cocks his head. “You think you’re gonna get just one, but then one starts looking really good with another and before you know it you want every piece of you drawn on. I wish I had more space. Some people don’t like their skin, you know?” He pops a piece of broccoli into his mouth, using his fingers. “I picked mine.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“You killed him too. It just took longer.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“She is half a soul, hungry or another...

The girl, she may not know, but she will drink your soul. She cannot help it. Half a soul will kill to be whole.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“I think sometimes it is difficult to look after ourselves,' he said, thoughtfully. 'We look to friends to do it for us.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“People spend their entire lives moving back and forth over the same water, moving but staying.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“With life blooming inside her, the water answered her questions with a whispered yes, and part of her knew home. In a tidal river on the Virginia coast she encountered a peculiar creature that scuttled the riverbed. She held it up and examined the graceful curve of its shell, its neat spike of a tail, and spidery feet that kicked and scratched at the air as she cradled it in her palm. A wonder just for her, she thought. The flickering of a child inside her laughed. Evangeline”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“She just got sad, okay? Unbearably sad.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“He hoped, foolishly perhaps, but he’d always loved the Fool. Amos”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“They made an oddly joined puzzle, but the pieces fit in the right craggy places.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“(damned patronymics).”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“The dirty secret about history is how much of it is conjecture.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“To think of the time I spend procuring books... How fitting: a book procured me. Utterly fantastic...”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation

“The book is open, spine cracked, abused in a way no one with respect for paper should ever do.”
― Erika Swyler, The Book of Speculation