Pick up the book nearest to you ...

Surely this religion had more than one story in its bag --- religions abound with stories.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

"Now she could begin to see him/her as a woman."

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

He couldn't open his eyes, couldn't move

Highland Dream by Tess Mallory

The sentence starts on line three and ends on line seven.

Anywhere else in Chicago he would have stood a good chance of being arrested, but the police in Packingtown were apparently used to these informal movings, and contented themselves with a cursory examination now and then.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

"Mother certainly couldn't remember after the pain she suffered giving birth to Dominic." The Dark by James Herbert

"The therapist claimed that Charlotte's newfound passion for organization was symptomatic of her need to control every detail of her life so that she could never again be surprised."

Dead Ringer by Jasmine Cresswell

"...Soobie, I'll whale you, 'fore God!"
The Gunslinger by Stephen King

"I watched anxiously for the water signs that Sergeant Duril had taught me -a line of trees, a depression where the plants where thick and greener than ususal or animal tracks converging -but I saw only that the land was becomming more barren and even stonier."
Shaman's Crossing, Book One of the Soldier Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Is it any wonder some people find my sentences longwinded at times? And it still ain't nothing compared to most fantasy novels I've read.

"I have some financial matters to discuss with you, my lord," Jamie said. "I was talking with Abby Sawtell--"

The Price of Temptation by yours truly, which really was the closest book to hand! I'm writing the acknowledgments for my new book, and wanted to see what I said last time.

When he reached the front door of the castle it was opened for him by a guard and he took a deep breath as he stepped outside into the cold sunlight to face the assembled men.

The 47 Ronin Story by John Allyn

"At the very least, if they were discovered in his posession, they'd be taken from him and burned."

--The Outstretched Shadow: Obsidian Trilogy Book 1 by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Sidenote: Drat on my husband for leaving his book out.

He wanted to return to life, and he wanted to leave life as he has entered it: lost in a poem.

In the Hand of Dante Nick Tosches

She was on life support and not expected to live through the day.

A Beautiful Child -- Matt Birkbeck

"Kirk and secular law both required us to report any rumor of Darkness."

Bloodring, by Faith Hunter

The Bastians are a primitive race of cannibals.
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places - Alberto Gianni and Manguel Guadalupi

"They looked like three-day-old nans. Who would eat these, I wondered."
-Life of Pi by Yann Martel

"An administrative assistant at Prufrock Preparatory School"
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket

"Some of these feminists married; some did not."

The Twentieth Century: A People's History
by Howard Zinn

Way to go Freestyle! Keep exploring the threads here. You will be surprised at how much you can expand your thinking while goofing off here. Enjoy them!

(C) more talented than writers of mainstream fiction
~ The Official SAT Study Guide

How weird is it that out of thousands of questions in this book, the specific one on page 59, five lines down, portains to writing-- and not even in a "where-should-the-comma-go-in-this-sentence" kind of way?

Ugh. This reminds me. I've got to start studying.

"If you are looking through a window at an interesting scene all that you ask of the glass is that it be invisible, that it does not intrude itself upon your eyes or your thoughts in any way."

How to Write Short Stories
L Josephine Bridgart
The Writer's Digest
1921

I have bookcases on my computer desk with about 40-50 books staring me in the face at this moment asking "why didn't you pick me?"

antalkali - a substance that neutralizes an alkali or counteracts alkalinity

Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition

The point in textbook reading is to do it smarter.

The Princeton Review, Reading Smart: Advanced Techniques for Improved Reading

"Milwaukee built special bathhouses for newly-arriving immigrants, and other town councils voted to distribute chloride of lime to the poor, who were believed most susceptible."
--Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel

(the phone book was actually closer, but how interesting is that? "Burry-Trice Architects, 815 NW 13th...")

"Then I edge closer and inspect the contents of my girlfriend's sleeping mind."

The Sadness of Sex by Barry Yourgrau