7,712 Quotes About Books

Children's books are not a hiding place, they are a seeking place.

I have seen this in thirty years of bookselling: customers stroking a book’s cover, peeking under the jacket, surreptitiously closing their eyes to smell the valley of pages - this sometimes accompanied by a quiet moan of pleasure- hugging it after purchase, and even giving it a little kiss.

And the truth is, Henry loves the store. Loves the smell of books, and the steady weight of them on shelves, the presence of old titles and the arrival of new ones and the fact that in a city like New York, there will always be readers.

He waves his hands over the books, proud as a new father. The image sticks in my mind, and I wonder if this is a man who sees books for what they are. Who understands that if there is magic on this earth, it is in these small bound pages.

These are the routes she just left. They are yours now.” Handing me the map, I see that it’s creases are already worn white and water warps the top of it. It is hope, folded up and ready to carry in my pack.

…but we all know that each reader reads a book that is different to the one written by the author, and that the reading is tainted by the memories, fears and traumas that are the true standard lamps by which the reader sits and reads.

A reader lives many lives. The person who doesn’t read lives but one. But if you’re happy just doing what you’re good and reading what other people think you should read, then don’t let me stop you. I just find it sad.

. . . while the world became the something else of dreams, of books, of Kate.

I, on the other hand, spent those days lost in my reading. I sat in front of the fire sometimes with my husband, and sometimes alone. I forgot where I was, so forceful were the settings and characters in those books I read, so fine and deep. Yet when I came to, it wasn't unpleasant. In fact, it pleased me very much.