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Just So Quotable!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic/Top Ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I'm so obsessed with lists!

I've got to warn you - this week's topic is absolutely, 100% my favorite one so far. "Top Ten Favorite Quotes from Books" was made for me.

I have a confession: I'm a quote hoarder.

I have notebooks full of favorite quotes, and I always write down at least one from every book I read. If you visit here with any regularity you'll notice that I include a quote with every book review. I also have a Sunday feature I call "So Quotable" where I post a favorite quote and image. When I let Jamie know about my quote obsession and excitement (and anxiety, only TEN?!) about this topic, I found out that she has quote notebooks, too. How awesome is that?!

That leads me to another confession: there are sixteen quotes on this list. Oops! I even separated them into three themes: life, reading and love. With a bonus heartbreak quote.

Without further ado, I present to you:

Top Ten Sixteen Favorite Quotes from Books

A Life Worth Living

“Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.” 
 Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

“We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. 
That's who we really are.” 
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“It's not what the world holds for you. It's what you bring to it.” 
 L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

“All her knowledge is gone now. Everything she ever learned, or heard, or saw. Her particular way of looking at Hamlet or daisies or thinking about love, all her private intricate thoughts, her inconsequential secret musings – they’re gone too. I heard this expression once: Each time someone dies, a library burns. I’m watching it burn right to the ground.” 
― Jandy Nelson, The Sky is Everywhere

"I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty and I wonder how the same can be both."
 Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Her Nose in a Book

“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.” 
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

“Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” 
― Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“Books can be possessive, can't they? You're walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you, like it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention. Sometimes what's inside will change your life, but sometimes you don't even have to read it. Sometimes it's a comfort just to have a book around. Many of these books haven't even had their spines cracked. 'Why do you buy books you don't even read?' our daughter asks us. That's like asking someone who lives alone why they bought a cat. For company, of course.”
 ― Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” 
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird 

"Even when she was old enough to read herself, they still tackled the classics together, moving from Anna Karenina to Pride and Prejudice to The Grapes of Wrath as if traveling across the globe itself, leaving holes in the bookshelves like missing teeth. And later, when it started to become clear that she cared more about soccer practice and phone privileges than Jane Austen or Walt Whitman, when the hour turned into a half hour and every night turned into every other, it no longer matter. The stories had become a part of her by then; they stuck to her bones like a good meal, bloomed inside of her like a garden. They were as deep and meaningful as any other trait Dad had passed along to her: her blue eyes, her straw-colored hair, the sprinkling of freckles across her nose." 
 Jennifer E. Smith, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

So This Is Love

"Maybe that's what it all comes down to. Love, not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way. And maybe making that choice, again and again, day in and day out, year after year, says more about love than never having a choice to make at all." 
― Emily Giffin, Love the One You're With

“It isn't possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.” 
― E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. 
It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” 
 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, 
and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.” 
― Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

“Five years ago, I said vows. And I believe in vows. I meant them, and not just when I said them out loud for an audience to hear but as a motto and a life choice. For as long as we both shall live. I hadn't anticipated the sandy flow of feeling, the yin-yang of love and dread, or the residual buildup of grievances and the slow draining of the benefit of doubt. In good times and in bad. Yes, sure, but in my naivete, I interpreted this as external; we would support each other when the world imposed and intruded. No one tells you that it's the internal that's the real challenge: those moments of decisiveness equal to taking a vow, when you feel the clawing grip of your promises.” 
― Julie Buxbaum, After You

Can't Stop Missing You

“I miss the way he used to kiss my shoulder whenever it was bare and he was nearby. I miss how he cleared his throat before he took a sip of water and scratched his left arm with his right hand when he was nervous. I miss how he tucked my hair behind my ear when it came loose and took my temperature when I was sick or when he was bored. I miss his glasses on my nightstand. I miss watching him take Sunday afternoon naps on my couch, with the newspaper resting on his stomach like a blanket. How his hands stayed clasped, fingers intertwined, while he slept. I miss the cadence of his speech and the stupidity of his puns. I miss playing doctor when we made love, and even when we didn't. I miss his smell, like fresh laundry and honey (because of his shampoo) at his place. Fresh laundry and coconut (because of my shampoo) at mine. I miss that he used to force me to listen to French rap and would sing along in a horrible accent. I miss that he always said "I love you" when he hung up the phone with his sister, never shy or embarassed, regardless of who else was around. I miss that his ideal Friday night included a DVD, eating Chinese food right out of the carton, and cuddling on top of my duvet cover. I miss that he reread books from his childhood and then from mine. I miss that he was the only man that I have ever farted on, and with, freely. I miss that he understood that the holidays were hard for me and that he wanted me to never feel lonely.” 
― Julie Buxbaum, The Opposite of Love

68 comments

  1. I looove that History of Love quote. :) Thanks so much for sharing!

    I'm a new follower. Happy TTT!
    I would love it if you could check out my TTT!
    Michelle

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    1. Isn't the quote awesome? The rest of the book is good, too, but that's definitely my favorite line. Thanks for following! Off to check out your TTT :)

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  2. Oh, I LOVE your list! This week's topic is so much fun to hop through.

    Angela @ AJ Arndt Books

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    1. I think this has been my favorite TTT topic so far!

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  3. FANTASTIC list! I now have a desire to reread both To Kill a Mockingbird and The Poisonwood Bible!

    I agree with Angela's comment above -- I've been scribbling down quotes in my notebook like craaaaaaaaazy!

    Here's my list: http://writergrrlreads.blogspot.ca/2012/05/top-ten-favorite-bookish-quotes.html

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    1. When I was choosing quotes, I had a strong desire to go reread every book I was quoting :) I think I'm going to have to do that soon! I've been writing other quotes down like crazy, too. AND I've added a bunch of books to my TBR! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  4. I need to start keeping consistent journals of quotes. I haven't done it in a couple of years.

    Love yours, and thanks for sharing 16! That's just even more inspiration and love! And you have reminded me of books I need to re-read to get quotes from. =)

    MY TTT!

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    1. Yes, you should definitely get a journal just for quotes. I love mine! But I think it's about time for me to get a new one. And I'm glad you enjoyed that I had 16 - I wanted to stick to 10 but I just couldn't narrow it down. Hope you do get a chance to re-read some soon! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  5. WOAH. That is a super list! And you know what? It ROCKS! Love Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere so love love for that quote! I'm Val ^^ ! Im a new book blogger. So I want to meet readers :D A pleasure! •My list•

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    1. Always happy to meet new bloggers, especially ones that love The Sky is Everywhere. I just finished it recently, and it was awesome. There were so many quotable passages. LOVE! Thanks for stopping by & saying hello!

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  6. GREAT COLLECTION! {NEW FOLLOWER and NEW BLOGGER!}

    Check mine out @ Books With Cass

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by and following!

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  7. Love the one you took from TSPoLaFS. Awesome list! :D

    Drop by my Top 10?

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    1. Oh that book was such a fun read! It's sweet and fun with just the right amount of family drama thrown in for good measure. And there were several quotes I love from it!

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  8. I loved every quote on your list, thanks so much for sharing them!

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    1. I'm so glad you like the quotes, and thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed them :) Glad you stopped by!

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  9. To Kill A Mockingbird and The Book Thief and Anne Of Green Gables? I HAVE NO REGRETS ABOUT SUBSCRIBING TO YOUR BLOG. Seriously, those books are like my soul mate books I love them.

    I love that quote from The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight. I love that image of books being something you can share, something that if maybe you grow away from, it's always still a part of you.

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    1. You are seriously one of my favorite people, and those books are like my soul mate books, too. For real. And you have no idea how much I'm crazy in love with the fact that you love them, too. I knew I liked you when I visited your blog for the first time and saw something about Anne of Green Gables. I always know I've met someone awesome if I find out they love Anne.

      And that's exactly why I love that book! I love the idea that it's a trait you can pass on, something that "blossomed inside her." Such a lovely image!

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  10. Oh man . . . you picked some great ones! I have the same TKAM on my list today. I also love the one from Tree Grows in Brooklyn as well as The Poisonwood Bible.

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    1. I had the hardest time choosing quotes from those three books because they have SO many passages that are worth quoting. You know it's good writing when you want to quote the whole book! Thanks for saying hello :)

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  11. All of your good quotes make me wish I had a quote notebook because I feel like there are so many that I let get away!! How do you organize it? Do you write things down chronologically as you get to them or do you have a system?

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    1. I just write them down as I find them, but they usually end up grouped by book since I'll write them down as I'm reading. I've started them transferring them into a Word document on my computer so that I can put them into more of a system (I like to have all the quotes grouped first by author and then by book). But my notebook isn't too structured because I just add quotes as I go along. I tried grouping it by category/theme on my computer, but that got to be to be a pain. I really hope you do start a quote notebook! It's a great way to make sure no quotes get away :)

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  12. Lady! These are so good. I am delighted we both used Emily Giffin's quotes. :) I am such a quote hoarder... when I'm finished I'll go into GoodReads and I'm like the only one adding quotes for books. haha. :) These are some really great ones. I must must read Anne of Green Gables. My coworker lent it to me and I haven't gotten to it yet. (Surprise, surprise.)

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    1. Girl, I'm so glad you're a quote hoarder. Finding out someone likes quotes = automatic awesome opinion of them in my mind. In this case, I already knew you were awesome so I'm not surprised haha! I don't think I've ever added quotes to Goodreads, but I totally need to start doing that. I always get disappointed when I see books without any quotes added when I KNOW they had some good quotes inside. You MUST MUST MUST read Anne of Green Gables! And when you do, imagine that you're young and love books and have just found a kindred spirit heroine. I hope you'll love her like I do! And I have so many unread books that you'll find no judgment here haha!

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  13. OMG I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY!!!! First off, you are one of my new favorite people ever. <33 And we are definitely kindred spirits with our quote notebooks!

    1) I love that we both have P&P and The History of Love quotes...the same ones!
    2) Haven't read Emily Giffin but gawwwwd I love that one!!
    3) ditto to A Room With A View!!
    4) We seriously have such similar taste in books! I either have read it or it's on my TBR list! lol
    5) POISONWOOD!! That's such a good quote from that one!
    6) SOB! The Book Thief
    7) I'm totally reading The Sky Is Everywhere right now. Reading that quote makes me want MORE TIME to spend with it...but alas I am at work.

    In short, I love this post and I heart your face off!

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    1. You're seriously making my heart so happy right now :) You're one of my favorite people, and I just ADORE your blog. Plus, I have major props for you for coming up with such a great meme. I am obsessed with lists.

      OMG I love that we included the same quotes! It's definitely proof that we're meant to be friend. I really like Emily Giffin - it's like chick lit but well-written and with really well-developed characters. So good!

      A Room with a View was such a good read. It's short and doesn't take too long, but I just love it. I'm so glad we have similar taste in books. That makes me squeal with joy!

      Which books are still on your TBR? Maybe I can convince you to move them up on your list!

      Don't even get me started on The Book Thief. I can't even. I decided I was due for a re-read so I got the audiobook. I think I've even sadder listening to it. I better not start crying at work!

      I heart your face off, too! Seriously. YAY FOR KINDRED SPIRITS!

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  14. I love Harry Potter! There are SO many great quotes in it. Sweet, funny ones, but also great knowledge and deeper stuff. I like the one you choose.

    I also LOVE LOVE The book thief. I choose two quotes out of it, but you can quote the whole book. This is just an amazing book :)

    http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.com/2012/05/top-10-tuesday-10.html

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    1. I had so many more quotes from Harry Potter and The Book Thief that I could have included! You're right, there are so many passages in it that are just made to be quoted. Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. Apparently, we are the same person. Lists and quotes and lists of quotes! And what great quotes you've chosen! I loved them all. I even included several of the same books and quotes in my list.

    I saw your quote from Sunday, but now I'm going to have to go back through them. That's such a great idea! Pretty pictures and wonderful quotes - what a combination!

    Also, I know this probably isn't why you did it, but I love that you included that last quote so that the list included an even number. Even though the quote itself came close to making me cry.

    I love that Tree Grows in Brooklyn quote! I have no idea how I don't have that one saved. I'm going to go remedy that now...

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    1. I love meeting people who share my quote obsession. It's the best! I'm glad you liked the quotes I chose - I ADORED your ginormous list. It was fabulous & made me want to read so many new books.

      I'm glad you like the idea behind my "So Quotable" posts. Whenever I write down quotes, I like to imagine what image I'd pair them with :)

      And yep, I totally wanted an even number. Guilty as charged haha! And as sad as that quote is, I just adore it. I love that whole book.

      Glad you're going to save that Tree Grows in Brooklyn quote. It's a keeper, for sure!

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  16. eeep I love this post! I love that you made it into different sections and the photos are lovely! I've been seeing The History of Love a lot today so it means I should read it soon. I even have a copy but haven't gotten around to it. This is an incredibly lovely post.

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    1. Yes, you should definitely read it! There were a parts of it that I really loved and some parts that kind of bothered me. But I know several people who consider it a favorite book so I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

      I'm glad you liked the sections and the photos. I always think it helps to break things up a little bit - much more visually appealing :)

      Thanks for the kind words!

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  17. Off to go write some of these down right now!!

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    1. YAY! Glad there were some that you liked enough to want to write them down :)

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  18. This is such a fantastic collection of quotes! The Sky is Everywhere was my favourite read of 2010. Gorgeous.

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    1. Yes, it was absolutely gorgeous! I just finished reading it, but there were so many things I loved about it. The writing was fantastic!

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  19. I l-o-v-e-d Guernsey and To Kill a Mockingbird, and those quotes are outstanding! I'm adding them to my list of favorites, as I'm quite a quote hoarder myself!

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    1. Always nice to meet another quote hoarder :) And those two are definitely worthy of being included in any quote collection!

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  20. I think every blog I've read so far keeps a little notebook of quotes. :)

    I've seen a lot of different quotes from the sky is everywhere. I guess I need to move it up on my TBR list.

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    1. Yes, you should! I just finished reading it, and I wish I'd gotten to it sooner. It's a lovely read!

      And yay for quote notebooks :)

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  21. <333 Lovely, lovely post, Hannah! I love how you categorized them and everything! :) The Sky is Everywhere & Statistical Probability <3

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    1. Thanks Jess! I'm glad you liked the categories and everything. How did I know that you'd love The Sky is Everywhere quote? Haha! I'm SO glad you raved about it. It was such a great read!

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  22. What a beautiful list. I love it! Great quote from The Sky is Everywhere. Such a fantastic book!

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    1. Thanks! And yes, that book is so lovely! I wish I'd read it sooner :)

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  23. I love that you included The Sky is Everywhere and The Book Thief! <3

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    1. Two very, very good books! There were so many other quotes from those that I could have included!

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  24. I absolutely love your set up for this week's topic. Beautifully done. I especially love the To Kill a Mockingbird quote. Resonates, for sure.

    Thanks for stopping by earlier!


    Laura @ The Traveling Owl

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, and I'm glad you like my set up! I was hoping breaking it up would convince people to actually read it since I went over 10 haha!

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  25. I love that you included a quote from The Book Thief. It's one of my top five favourites of all time.

    My Top Ten.

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    1. YESSS! That book is awesome! I just bought the audiobook of it so that I could experience it all over again :)

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  26. OMG yes I adore that line from Sugar Queen.

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    1. I loved the role books played in The Sugar Queen! It was definitely my favorite by Sarah Addison Allen for that reason alone :)

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  27. So many of these are soooo good. I read over them several times.

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    1. Thanks again, Juju! I'm glad you liked my picks :)

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  28. I love the Harry Potter and Anne of Green Gables quotes that you chose. Excellent Top16 list!
    Here's my Top10 post :)

    -Kimberly @ Turning The Pages

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    1. Thanks! There were so many other quotes I could have included, it was almost impossible to choose! It was so hard to narrow it down - and you can probably tell I didn't do a good job of that since I ended up with 16!

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  29. Girl, you have some AMAZING books! I love quotes but don't have them all in one place - your quote book sounds like the perfect idea!

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    1. You should totally get a quote notebook! It's so fun writing them down and being able to look back at what stuck out to me while I was reading. And then it's fun if I re-read a book later so I can compare what stood out to me the second time around and see what changed!

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  30. Aaaaaaaaaaa I love the one from The Sky Is Everywhere <3 <3 LOVE LOVE IT! <3

    And OMG the last one? WOW. Holy Wow. Beautiful. I miss some of that things as well :)

    Amazing top16 ;) :)

    nea
    My Top10

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    1. I'm so glad you love that last one! I just love that book, and I can't even explain why. I just adore it, and that is one of my very favorite passages from it. And The Sky is Everywhere is wonderful! I'm sure you've already read it, but if you haven't, GET ON IT! That's just one of many good quotes :)

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  31. Love these! I'm going to have to bookmark this page for all the great quotes! I very nearly had that Barbara Kingsolver quote on my list, but at the last minute went with the Bean Trees one

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    1. I haven't read Bean Trees yet, but I've heard great things about it. I loved The Poisonwood Bible, so I definitely need to read more by Kingsolver.

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  32. I've seen quotes from the Book Thief on so many blogs! I have it on my bookshelf downstairs and I think this means I NEED to read it!

    I'd love it if you can and checked out my Top Ten Quotes.

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    1. Yes, you HAVE to read it. Like right this minute! It's so good - one of my very favorites :)

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  33. Ahhh! I have quote notebooks too. Yes, plural. I've been keeping them since middle school. haha! Anyway, I loved your quotes. Adding them to my notebook...

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    1. Yay for quote notebooks! They're the best :) Glad you liked my picks!

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