Reading relics

Here is where I will keep a public record of my personal reading notes.

“Commonplace” is a bit ponce-y and dreadfully overused so I’m going with “Reading Relics”, which I like because it fits neatly into my general theme of Life Litter and things left behind.

RR collection is also a good name for the engine that powers my writing. Rrrrr. That’s the sound of the engine warming up.

When I read, I fold down the bottom corner of a page if there is a quote on it that I like. That way, I can gather quotes later, using the cornered pages as a guide. Joel abhors this desecration but it works well for me. I can harvest what I need—plus I like leaving a little something of my reading experience behind. It’s like a treasure hunt for the next reader: hmm, what was the thing on this page that so grabbed her?

Anyway, here you go, the quotes and passages that stuck out for me. I was going to say “in no particular order” but that’s a lie, the books are in the reverse order I read them, which makes sense to me.

I’ll add more on the top as I go. Next up will be Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, which I am reading at the moment.

TABLE OF QUOTES:

Most recent:

• Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore

• John McGahern’s Memoir

• John McGahern’s That they may face the rising sun

• Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead

• Doris Lessing’s The Grandmothers

• Julia Child’s My Life in France

• Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

• The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles (My review? Fowles can’t write the inside of a woman’s head in any kind of believable way but that’s ok because he absolutely nails Victorian England. 3/5)

From the archives of my Notes app, I’ve also added my favourite quotes from:

• Richard Fortey’s The Hidden Landscape

• Dana Czapnik’s The Falconer

• Mark Vanhoenacker’s Skyfaring

• Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible

• Annie Proulx’s Fen, Bog, Swamp

• Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall

• Hilary Mantel’s A Change of Climate

• Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black

• P.D. Wodehouse’s Jill is Reckless

Yes, this collection will be paywalled. I am dishing you up the best quotes on a digital platter. Pay me.

Onwards, to quotes.

The Grandmothers - Doris Lessing