-
In a way, looking back, it seemed a long, long time since she had been eighteen, but in another way her memories were so clear and vivid that it seem…
-
Women want love to be a novel. Men, a short story. Daphne du Maurier Daphne du Maurier (born May 13, 1907) was created a Dame Commander of the Order …
-
Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength. A.J. Cronin July 19, 1896: Scottish writer A.J. Cronin was a practicing…
-
Charm is the ability to make someone else think that both of you are pretty wonderful. Kathleen Winsor October 16, 1919: Kathleen Winsor's racy 1944 …
-
The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. Kate Chopin Kate Chopin (born February 8, 1850) wrote early feminist novel The Awakening. She first began wr…
-
Free Classic Literature Newsletter!Sign Up Discuss in my forum Top 9 Coming of Age Novels By Esther Lombardi , About.com Guide See More About: coming…
-
Our updated Terms of Use will become effective on May 25, 2012. Find out more. Le Rêve (novel) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigat…
-
This is where it all begins. Everything starts here, today. David Nicholls July 15th is St. Swithun's Day in the U.K. According to legend, if it rain…
-
You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. Mark Twain June 21, 528: In Mark Twain's time-travel novel, Connecticut Yankee i…
-
He never went out without a book under his arm, and he often came back with two. Victor Hugo February 26, 1802: Romantic French writer Victor Hugo wa…
-
My experience of life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel.…
-
What I've come to learn is that the world is never saved in grand messianic gestures, but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisibl…
-
Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready. Ernest Hemingway March 4, 1952: Er…
-
The AR Reading List **This post from September 2009 has been saved as a page** Earlier this month, Ori Inbar posted on Games Alfresco about why peopl…
-
Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads. Erica Jong Happy 72nd birthday, Erica Jong! She wrote…
-
The Modern Novel A website on the world-wide literary novel since approximately the
beginning of the twentieth century, arranged by nationality. T…
-
I barely knew I had skin before I met you. Sarah Waters Happy birthday, Sarah Waters! As part of her research for her PhD thesis, the Welsh writer re…
-
Darkness is drawn to light, but light does not know it; light must absorb the darkness and therefore meet its own extinguishment. Edna O'Brien Decemb…
-
Be glad. Be good. Be brave. Eleanor H. Porter December 19, 1868: The title character of Eleanor Hodgman Porter's novel, Pollyanna, has become shortha…
-
And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep. Kurt Vonnegut November 11, 1922: American author K…
-
I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Ingalls Wilder (bor…
-
Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up. Thomas Wolfe Thomas Wolfe (born October 3, 1900) grew up in a…
-
The music in his laughter had a way of rounding off the missing notes in her soul. Gloria Naylor January 25, 1950: Happy 64th birthday, Gloria Naylor…
-
Facts are like cows. If you look them in the face long enough, they generally run away. Dorothy L. Sayers English crime writer Dorothy L. Sayers (bor…
-
The first duty of wine is to be red. Don't talk to me of your white wines. Henry Murger Henry Murger (born March 27, 1822) was definitely adhering to…
-
The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. Daniel Defoe April 25, 1719: Robins…
-
Damn you, spoilt creature; I shan’t make you love me any the more by giving myself away like this. Vita Sackville-West March 9, 1892: Rakish heiress …
-
Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. J.D. Salinger July 16, 1951: J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye was publis…
-
I'm glad you like adverbs — I adore them; they are the only qualifications I really much respect. Henry James April 15, 1843: Writer Henry James is o…
-
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words…
-
I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don't care for the great centuries. All I care about is life, struggle, intensity. Émile Zola Fren…
-
All I ever really want to know is how other people are making it through life—where do they put their body, hour by hour, and how do they cope inside…
-
You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. Colette The French writer Colette (born January 28, 1873) was preparing for the Broadway ada…
-
I know of a cure for everything: salt water...in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea. Karen Blixen Karen Blixen (born April 17, 18…
-
When I discover who I am, I’ll be free. Ralph Ellison Ralph Ellison (born March 1, 1914) is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the Nat…
-
Sleep is good, he said, and books are better. George R.R. Martin August 6, 1996: A Game of Thrones was first published 19 years ago today. George R.R…
-
You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful. Amy Bloom Happy 61st birthday, Amy Bloom! After selling her first novel…
-
There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons. Stephen Chbosky Happy bir…
-
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. Norman Maclean December 23, 1902: Norman Maclean did not begin writing fiction un…
-
About the travels of a man who was researching a graphic novel about Edward Lane and found himself in the middle of the Egyptian Revolution. Narrated…
-
What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do? Ralph Ellison Ralph Ellison (bor…
-
If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing. Sherman Alexie Happy 48th birthday, Sherman Alexie! The author grew u…
-
Read as much as you want on BostonGlobe.com, anywhere and anytime, for just 99¢. Books Boston.com Classifieds : Cars Jobs Real Estate Log In Subscrib…
-
I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen. John Steinbeck May 28, 1935: John Steinbeck's first successful novel, Tortilla Fl…
-
What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? John Green Happy 37th birthday, John Green! His bestselling yo…
-
If they strain me up tight, why, let 'em look out! I can't bear it, and I won't. Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (born March 30, 1820) published only one nov…
-
It was not the feeling of completeness I so needed, but the feeling of not being empty. Jonathan Safran Foer April 16, 2002: Jonathan Safran Foer's b…
-
How I would enjoy being told the novel is dead. How liberating to work in the margins, outside a central perception. You are the ghoul of literature.…
-
I know all about endings. It is beginnings that elude me. Marion Zimmer Bradley Marion Zimmer Bradley (born June 3, 1930) wrote her first novel at th…
-
A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it. D.H. Lawrence November 2, 1960: Penguin Books was sued for obscenity for releasi…