"Prayers for Rain" Dennis Lehane

A few weeks ago, I was in Chicago and had an afternoon all to myself.  This resulted in a visit to CBO, a few other shops, and of course the bookstore, where I picked up this book.  I hadn't read any of Lehane's books, but while this was violent & bit unbelievable, I still enjoyed it.  This passage is for the man who's love of Mustangs, I don't understand, but appreciate a little bit better now...

"I pulled the cover off the car and almost gasped.  The 1968 Shelby Mustang GT-500 is to American automobiles what Shakespeare is to literature and the Marx Brothers are to comedy- that is to say, everything that came before was, in retrospect, a teaser, and everything that came after could never live up to the standard of perfection achieved in one brief blink of time...'I'm sorry,' I told the engine."

"The Liar's Gospel" Naomi Alderman

Must like reading the Bible, I got about halfway through, decided it was a silly story and put it down.

"The House at the End of Hope Street" Menna van Praag

"When she'd walked into the house, long after midnight, she'd felt the presence of Blake, so sharp and strong that it had driven her straight to her clothes.  Now he won't leave her: his smile, his touch, his unreachable heart."

"A Thousand Pardons" Jonathan Dee

"'We have to think in terms of storytelling,' she said.  'Imagine how you want the customers to think of you, say two months from now.  Then we tell the story that leads to that place.  If it's a story of our guilt, of our desire to make amends, if that's how it begins, then so be it.  You have to take the long view, even if it means making some sacrifices now in the service of that greater truth...People want to believe you did something wrong, though.  And if you keep denying what they believe, that just strengthens their suspicion.  But if you take upon yourself, if you just agree to own it, then they're yours, then you're the one making the choices that drive the story from that point forward.'"

"Helsinki Blood" James Thompson

I've read the other books in this series, and this one bordered on the ridiculous.  I wouldn't recommend it and sadly, no quotes. 

"Eleanor and Park" Rainbow Rowell

"All through first and second and third hour, Eleanor rubbed her palm.  Nothing happened.  How could it be possible that there were that many nerve endings in one place?  And were they always there, or did they just flip on whenever they felt like it?  Because it they were always there, how did she manage to turn doorknobs without fainting?"

"He closed his eyes and saw her again.  A stack of freckled heart shapes, a perfectly made Dairy Queen ice cream cone.  Like Betty Boop drawn with a heavy hand...How could he even look at her now?  He wouldn't be able to.  Not without stripping her down to her gym suit.  Without thinking about that long white zipper.  Jesus."

-Loved this YA book

"Broken Harbor" Tana French

"Nights last longer, when you're outside on your own.  You get to thinking strange things.  I could see other lights, in other houses across the estate...I started thinking about all the other people living there.  All those different lives.  Even if they were just cooking dinner, one guy could be making his kid's favorite to cheer her up after a bad day at school, some couple could be celebrating finding out she was pregnant...Every one of them, making dinner out there, every one of them was thinking something all their own.  Loving someone all their own.  Every time I was up there, it hit me harder.  That kind of life:  it's beautiful, after all."