TOP TEN TUESDAY: Ten book quotes I loved in the past year

(Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish!)

10) '99 Days' by Katie Cotugno

"It feels unfair though, right?" Gabe says. "I mean, if you're a dirty slut, then I'm a dirty slut."

I only read '99 Days' last week, and while I think Gabe could have said it more eloquently, I really like the sentiment behind his statement. Sexism is rampant, in that girls get called sluts and guys get called legends, and I liked hearing a guy addressing that.

9) 'Landline' by Rainbow Rowell

"You don't come into this world with a name like Georgie McCool and throw it away on the first pretty face."

Georgie has the McCooliest name I've ever seen, and I think this is a wonderful quote.

8) 'The Lover's Dictionary' by David Levithan

'"Most times, when I'm having sex, I'd rather be reading." This was, I admit, a strange thing to say on a second date. I guess I was just giving you warning.' 

'The Lover's Dictionary' is beautiful because it focuses on such an unconventional relationship, and it's told in a completely unconventional format. Also, I'd rather be reading than doing most things in life (showering, working, sleeping, eating) so I definitely sympathise.

7) 'Fire With Fire' by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivien

'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a burn for a burn. A life for a life. That's how this got started. And that's how it's going to end.' 

The best closing sentence to a novel ever, and it made it impossible to resist reading the third and final book in the trilogy.

6) 'Trigger Warning' by Neil Gaiman

"Can you hear it?"

"What?" I said.

"A sort of background whispering white noise that actually becomes whatever song you wish to hear when you sort of half-concentrate upon it?"

This quote isn't deep or meaningful, but this happens to me literally all of the time, so I'm glad to know that someone else experiences it, and that Neil Gaiman succeeded in putting it into words.

5) 'From A Distant Star' by Karen McQuestion

"This is a very confusing planet. People believing things that aren't true about other people because of how they look and what kind of vehicle they drive. Why can you not wait and see who they are inside before you make a decision?"

We'd be wise to keep this quote in mind.

4) 'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline

'I gradually began to figure out that pretty much everyone had been lying to me about pretty much everything since the moment I emerged from my mother's womb. This was an alarming revelation. It gave me trust issues later in life.'

Wade has such a brilliant awareness of the world around him, and that's exhibited the strongest in this quote. I also think this is such an easy quote to relate to - we all go through that realisation at some point, that adults haven't been completely honest with us, and I think it's that point where adulthood really begins.

3) 'Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda' by Becky Albertalli

'The whole coming out thing doesn't really scare me. I don't think it scares me. It's a giant holy box of awkwardness, and I won't pretend I'm looking forward to it. But it probably wouldn't be the end of the world.' 

I think it's brilliant, reading an LGBT character who isn't terrified of coming out - Simon is comfortable enough with himself and his family that he knows that everything will be okay. I also think it's a great way to introduce the character and his amazing voice.

2) 'Looking For Alaska' by John Green

'From a hundred miles an hour to asleep in a nanosecond. I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together, in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to me room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.'

I could have picked one of five quotes from this novel. 'Looking For Alaska' is the only book I've ever highlighted in, but a few of my favourite quotes are very spoiler-y so I thought I'd go with this one. The entire novel is pretty faultless though, and I reread it rather frequently.

1) 'The 5th Wave' by Rick Yancey

'The uncertain circumstances of your certain destruction.'

I love this quote so much that (eventually, when I'm less worried about the pain and can afford it) I'm going to get it tattooed on my collarbone. It just struck me so deeply when I first read it, and it's stuck in my mind ever since.

I hope you enjoyed this Top Ten Tuesday! What are your favourite quotes?