The Book Charmer

Love can't cure a broken heart, but it can hold the two sides together while they heal.

Don’t you think that’s the beauty of a book? It can take you places you can’t visit on your own, lets you meet people and see things you can’t in real life.

Don’t hide, child. People who really live have a little wear and tear. But that’s good. It’s what makes us interesting.

It's sad, but life is not fair. I sometimes think it was never supposed to be. Life is made up of moments, good and bad. But while you don't get to pick all the moments, you do get to pick which ones you cling to.

When it's a memory, you already know the outcome so it's easy to think it was an easier time. Looking forward is much more uncertain, and is more complicated. But I don't think it is. Not really.

It's funny, but we only know the people in our lives in relation to who they are to us--a father or a mother or a brother. We never see them the way others do.

Life is made up of moments, good and bad. But while you don’t get to pick all the moments, you do get to pick which ones you cling to.

Life is full of surprises and not all of them are good.

When it’s a memory, you already know the outcome, so we believe it was an easier time.

The school won’t let them hang pictures of bare-chested men in their lockers, so she and her friends cut out little outfits for them.

Dementia was an unforgiving illness, one that stole hope and crumbled pride.

When it's a memory, you already know the outcome, so we believe it was an easier time. Looking forward is much more uncertain, and so feels more complicated. But I don't think it is. Not really.

That's what mother's do. They bother you until you listen. And they do it because they car.

Although only seven, she’d been reading since she was three, a fact her mother told anyone who would listen. Sarah was a voracious reader, and she’d found friends hiding between the pages of books. For her, the trips to the library meant more than the refreshing burst of air-conditioning. They were life.

You don't really believe in nothing, do you?" "I believe in possibilities...

The Days can spin yarns that seem so real that if one of them told you a tale about a blizzard, you’d get frostbite even if you were standing in your kitchen on the hottest day of the year.

It’s funny, but we only know the people in our lives in relation to who they are to us—a father or a mother or a brother. We never see them the way others do.

We have to move forward, sweetheart. And we can’t do that if we hold on to what was.

Love can’t cure a broken heart, but it can hold the two sides together while they heal.

It’s odd—when you look back, things seem simpler, but they weren’t.” “Really?” “When it’s a memory, you already know the outcome, so we believe it was an easier time. Looking forward is much more uncertain, and so feels more complicated. But I don’t think it is. Not really.

Mama G nodded and turned away, pulling a tissue from her sweater pocket and wiping her eyes. “I’m making this harder on us both.” “Nonsense. You’re scared. To be honest, I’m scared, too. But we’re together and that isn’t going to change.

Right now, Mama G’s memory is like the ocean. It comes and goes, high tide and low tide. But each time, the beach erodes a little bit more.

big-box stores and outlet malls, and then you add e-sales on top of that—” Kat grimaced. “Small businesses get outpriced fast.

his brown hair slicked to one side as if his comb only worked in one direction.

Time was much too short of a word. And it got smaller still when you cut it down into countable hours, and then racing minutes, and finally into desperately minuscule seconds.

God save her from a man with green eyes. It was like trying to do complex math while your favorite song played in the background.

You might be a good mom...You can practice on me.

parenting and caretaking were so much harder than she’d thought they would be. No one had explained to her that she’d be constantly worried, her imagination churning out worst-case scenarios with devastating details as if she’d suddenly become Stephen King’s muse.

It’s sad, but life is not fair. I sometimes think it was never supposed to be. Life is made up of moments, good and bad. But while you don’t get to pick all the moments, you do get to pick which ones you cling to.