Wednesday, September 30, 2009

next#451373

a few reserves came in today and I did my random pick for which to read first ... and it is The Children's Writer, by Gary Crew, 2009

Friday, September 25, 2009

quotes#555765 The Rose Grower

Married life was like the walnut inlaid drawers that lined one wall of the pharmacy; you slid them open one at a time, hooking your little finger into the hollow under the brass handle, and so learnt which ones were best left shut. p204

Autumn has always been his favourite season. His grandfather used to tell him that as he grew older he would long for springtime, for blossom and quickening green. But spring promises so much, how can it help not living up to expectations? Autumn is unexacting, dependable, its leaves like so many responsibilities discharged and now unloosed, drifting quietly earthwards. p168

by Michelle de Kretser, c. 1999

Thursday, September 24, 2009

quotes#346980 21 dog years (doing time at Amazon.com)

In some ways it was the curse of talent; there was a whole list of things in which I showed great promise. But there is a hell of a gap between "talented" and "successful," and to bridge it you need something called "will." My teachers begged me to dedicate myself - just a little - and said I would really blossom. I dug in my heels and refused. I feigned scorn and indignation but really I was just too scared to apply myself. I was afraid I would discover my limitations. Better not to know. Better to be free and easy and cultivate an air of smug accomplishment. Nurture my talent. Read another book. Play some more Nintendo.
But I miscalculated. p4

But "beat" in what context? B&N still has all its physical stores, and even if the website isn't growing at a staggering rate it's not as if B&N's physical store sales have been crippled by Amazon. People still like going to bookstores, which strangely is considered more romantic than spending an evening alone in your underwear staring at a website. p67

by Mike Daisey, c. 2002 -- lcl res

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

quotes#604908 Going the distance

If Diana was Milton St John's scarlet woman, then Maddy must be at least a carmine apprentice. p195

By the time she'd had a bath and washed her hair and, again, wrapped in the quilted dressing gown, had staggered back into the kitchen, Suzy and Drew were setting the table. She felt slightly embarrassed, but extremely relieved that he was still there. He smiled at her. "Feel better now?"
"Cleaner. Not better. You can't improve on perfection." p188

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

quotes#732854 Going the Distance

She turned the key. Nothing. She tried again. The engine didn't even whimper. There was a strange buzzing noise. Pushing her ear against the dashboard, Maddy cursed. Suzy had left the radio on all night. The battery was as flat as squashed hedgeghog. p46

Apart from that, you're a brilliant jockey. It's a bit tough though - Ricahrd can't ride because he's got ginger hair and freckles and a lived-in-face. p80

Thursday, September 17, 2009

next#702152

pearls, by lindsey dawson, c. 2001 -- wcl - had to add to good reads
the italian surgeon, by meredith webber, c. 2005 bc
going the distance, by christina jones, c. 1997 - wcl pbk

Monday, September 07, 2009

next#971338

the earth hums in b flat, by mari strachan, c. 2009 -- res, lcl copy
intensity, by dean koontz, c. 1995 -- bc6725807
about time. growing old disgracefully, by irma kurtz, c. 2009 -- res, lcl copy

Friday, August 21, 2009

next#779917

the way of gentleness, by elizabeth vickers, c. 1998 bc7434141
savannah secrets, by fiona hood-stewart, c. 2005 bc7434143
molly fox's birthday, by deirdre madden, c. 2008 new book wcl

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

next#815756

dune road, by jane green, c. 2009 -- res, copy from pcl

ah postponing down an english lane & powers

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

next#300917

once in a lifetime, by cathy kelly, c. 2009 res ncl
upside down, inside out, by monica mcinerney, c. 2002 res lcl
powers, by ursula le guin, c. 2007 res lcl
down an english lane, by margaret thornton, c, 2006 res ncl
quotes#731823 Slumdog Millionaire

I had only fifty thousand rupees, but every rupee had a technicolour dream written on it and they stretched out on a cinemascope screen in my brain to become fifty million. I held my breath and wished for that moment to last as long as it possibly could, because a waking dream is always more fleeting than a sleeping one. p179

You have been counting rosary beads for an era,
But the wandering of your mind does not halt,
Forsake the beads in your hand,
And start moving the beads of your heart. p110

Friday, August 07, 2009

quotes-from-my-notebook#718527 Paying for It and other stories

Sometimes in families, the child is more grown up than the adults, like Ayesha in this story. Parents make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that they stop caring. Being part of a family can be a painful, messy business. Accepting this is often the key to survival. p43

When I was little my mum and dad were abroad a lot, and when they were away I sometimes used to stay in Scotland with people who were kind to me but left me on my own a lot. Outside my bedroom was a dark corridor with a bookshelf crammed with ghost stories and horror stories. I read right through them. Sometimes I was too scared to sleep. But I kwpt on reading more ... p67

squeezing-in#669393
Slumdog millionaire, by Vikas Swarup c. 2005 -wcl teen

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

quotes#799385 from my notebook The Broken Window

"The butterfly effect," she said. "A small thing in the past makes a big difference in the future." p277

Amelia Sachs didn't believe in a sixth sense. Not in the way people think of the supernatural. To her, the whole world was so amazing and our senses and thought processes so complex and powerful that we didn't need superhuman skills to make the most perceptive of deductions. p246

Saturday, July 25, 2009

quotes#728761 Where are you now?

I could feel the beginning of a headache, and even though I wasn't hungry, I went down to the kitchen, made a pot of coffee, and toasted an English muffin. I carried it to the breakfast alcove and sat at the table, gazing at the spectacular view of the East River. Thanks to the strong breeze, the current was visibly swift, and I found myself identifying with it. I was being carried by a current I could not fight, and I had to let it take me along until it either overwhelmed or released me. p151
[not profound - but I still like it]

The apartment was always immaculate, but today the sun was especially bright and, like a magnifying glass, exposed the worn areas of on the edge of the couch and the chip on the corner of the glass coffee table. p31
squeezing-in#289651

together alone, by ron falconer, c. 2004 wcl 919.851

Thursday, July 16, 2009

next#094641

shadows&silence by clare goodwin c. 2005 lcl
the ugly duck thing, by laurence anholt, c. 2008 lcl kids book
the little soul and the earth, by neale donald walsch, c.2005 wcl kids book

Friday, July 10, 2009

next#456456

Jamaica Street, by Sally Worboyes, c. 2004 wcl paperback
How I changed my body and my life, by Suzanne Prentice, c. 2002 bc7337326
Where are you know?, by Mary Higgins Clark, c. 2008 wcl
The broken window, by Jeffery Deaver, c. 2008 bc
Poppy [Pirate Princess], by Judy Brown, c. 2008 w kidsbk, purp
Paying for it and other stories, by Viv French, c. 2002, w kidsbk red
Prom, by Laurie Anderson, c.2005, bc7337433
Dangerous spaces, by Margaret Mahy, c.1991, w kidsbk red
A fortune branches out, by Margaret Mahy, c. 1993, w kidsbk red
Imagine, by Ruth Brown, c. 2006, w kidsbk, green

Sunday, July 05, 2009

quotes#839312 One day at a time

"Next time you'll be wiser and more careful," Coco said quietly. "Don't beat yourself up. You learned something from it. We always do." p84
[not profound but useful to remember]

Her mother sighed as she listened. It was as though they were whispering across the Grand Canyon - neither of them could hear the other, nor wanted to. p30
[by Danielle Steel]

Saturday, June 20, 2009

kids-picturebooks#013013
cindy and the lost jandal, by chris gurney
the princesses have a ball, by teresa bateman
ella's big chance, by shirley hughes

next-on-list#066221
the elegance of the hedgehog, by muriel barbery, c. 2006 lcl request
the heiress bride, by laurey bright, c.2002 bc 7288012
homeplace, by dorothy garlock, c. 1991 bc 7288015
little fred riding hood, by michael cox, c. 1995, wcl purple kids
reunions, by eileen berger et al, c. 2000, lcl
the prince's virgin wife, by lucy monroe, c. 2006 bc 7288016
where yesterday lives, by karen kingsbury, c. 1998 wcl
gobbolino, the witch's cat, by ursula moray williams, c. 1942 wcl red kids

Sunday, June 14, 2009

next-on#870023

the good thief, by hannah tintri, c. 2008 request lcl
the spectacle salesman's family, by viola roggenkamp, c. 2008 request lcl