Readers Advisory Quotes

Excuse me?"
The librarian looked up again.
"I need help now. I need to print this article and . . . do you have any books about dukes?"
The librarian's eyes went wide and she rubbed her hands together with glee. "We have a fantastic romance section," she said. "Do you need recommendations? How do you like your dukes? Grumpy? Tortured? Alpha, beta, or alpha in the streets, beta in the sheets?"
"Actually, I meant nonfiction," Portia said glumly.
The librarian sighed. "Aye. Just a warning, love - the non-fic dukes are not nearly as fun. ~ Alyssa Cole

But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world. ~ Betsy Lerner

For those readers who want to do additional reading in the subject, I might suggest starting with the references that are listed at the end of some of the chapters. Here I identify important sources from which I drew much of the information for the chapter in question. These sources often offer theoretical focuses that some readers may find useful or interesting. These sources ~ Courtney Brown

Freedom of speech trumps political correctness. I would say our magazine would publish an anti-Semitic or Holocaust denying cartoon if it meant Jews around the world were rioting because of it and burning embassies because of a cartoon. We would want to show our readers what all the fuss was about. ~ Ezra Levant

Authors write, readers read, money talks. ~ Toba Beta

Paola Calvetti takes readers on a delicious trip through Italy, books, letters and love, reminding us all of the joys of a completely compelling read."
Cathie Beck, author of Cheap Cabernet: A Friendship ~ Paola Calvetti

Because often it is the reader of adventures who saves the world. Because no matter how bad things look, or how rough things get, the reader keeps turning the pages... A reader never walks away from her own story. ~ R.K. Ryals

With its vastly complicated plot and its immense cast of characters swirling around the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce that has been grinding away in the Court of Chancery for decades, 'Bleak House' is, for many readers, Dickens's greatest novel. ~ Robert Gottlieb

I have more freedom when I write fiction, but my memoirs have had a much stronger impact on my readers. Somehow the 'message,' even if I am not even aware that there is one, is conveyed better in this form. ~ Isabel Allende

I get most of my inspiration from two places: my own life, and reading. I read widely - in my genre (romance), and in all sorts of different genres, from urban fantasy to literature. Then there's your own life. Romance is a fantasy genre, but if the rock core of your characters doesn't come from your own life, from emotions you know intimately, the book won't fly. I don't mean you have to be married to Casanova - I mean that a heroine will feel genuine to readers if she shares some of your fears or triumphs. Craft the emotional part of the plot from truths you learned from your own life, from watching your friends' lives, or from reading books. ~ Eloisa James

I think the thinking is, in the comic books, I should pack as much onto a page as possible, because, you know, it's kind of the cheaper format, and you want to give readers as much as you can for their dollar. ~ Chester Brown

People are going to die who don't die in the books, so even the book readers will be unhappy. So everybody better be on their toes. David and D.B. (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss co-creators of 'Game Of Thrones) are even bloodier than I am. ~ George R R Martin

To be fair, my analysis failed to spell out Obama's first-term accomplishments, although I did acknowledge his 'enormous skills' and tried to focus readers on the distinction between good and great presidencies. ~ Ron Fournier

A lot of the ways that I like to approach comic books, or anything like that, is not just the book itself, but the fans of it, the readers, the world that exists around it as a cultural object. ~ Kate Beaton

For male readers: imagine being nine months constipated having inadvertently swallowed a coconut whole, and then being asked to lie on an operating table, legs apart, with lots of people watching dressed in silly clothes. Would you be able to shit? ~ Graham Chapman

Do what you love, especially if your sharing the word ~ Ann Simpson

Here's what an e-reader is. A battery operated slab, about a pound, one half-inch thick, perhaps an aluminum border, rubberized back, plastic, metal, silicon, a bit of gold, plus rare metals such as columbite-tantalite (Google it) ripped from the earth, often in war-torn Africa. To make one e-reader requires 33 pounds of minerals, plus 79 gallons of water to produce the battery and printed writing and refine the minerals. The production of other e-reading devices such as cell phones, iPads and whatever new gizmo will pop up (and down) in the years ahead is similar. "The adverse health impacts from making one e-reader are estimated to be 70 times greater than those for making a single book," says the Times. Then you figure that the one hundred million e-readers will be outmoded in short order--to be replaced by one hundred million new and improved devices in the years ahead that will likewise be replace by new models ad infinitum, and you realize an environmental disaster is at hand. ~ Bill Henderson

AN IMPERIALIST POWER THAT ACTS ON ITS OWN REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS. 18–29 30–49 50–64 65+ Improper/Somewhat improper 86% 73 69 67 Somewhat proper/Proper 3 13 20 17 No other group we studied - not Democrats generally, not self-described progressives or libertarians, not readers of The New York Times - had a greater spread between the two extremes. ~ John Zogby

A modern librarian, who has faith in the law that 'BOOKS ARE FOR USE,' is happy only when his readers make his shelves constantly empty. It is not the books that go out that worry him. It is the stay-at-home volumes that perplex and depress him. ~ S.R. Ranganathan

Get a wealth of 'GOoD' vibes at goodreads.com ~ T.F. Hodge

I think Britain has this tradition which suggests that if you make the readers laugh too much, you can't really be serious. Whereas, I think one of the functions laughter can perform in a book, as in life, is that it's a reaction to genuine horror. ~ Mark Haddon

Once we thought, journalists and readers alike, that if we put together enough 'facts' and gave them a fast stir, we would come up with something that, at least by the standards of short-order cooks, could be called the truth. ~ Melvin Maddocks

Our loneliness makes us avid column readers these days. ~ Edward Hoagland

The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

The word war itself has a kind of glazing abstraction to it that conjures up bombs and bullets and so on, whereas my goal is to try to, so much as I can, capture the heart and the stomach and the back of the throat of readers who can lie in bed at night and participate in a story. ~ Tim O'Brien

I often feel I'm working in a vacuum, or in a country where few readers can hear the sounds. ~ James Laughlin

It seemed self-evident that hands were the essence of humanity. That was why there were palm readers; palm readers said the lines on a person's palms allowed them to determine an individual's personality. Hands were mirror that reflected the person's past and future. ~ Otsuichi

The storyteller and poet of our time, as in any other time, must be an entertainer of the spirit in the full sense of the word, not just a preacher of social or political ideals. There is no paradise for bored readers and no excuse for tedious literature that does not intrigue the reader, uplift him, give him the joy and the escape that true art always grants. ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

When you want to touch the reader's heart, try to be colder. It gives their grief as it were, a background, against which it stands out in greater relief. ~ Anton Chekhov

Certain readers resented me when they could no longer recognize their territory, their institution. ~ Jacques Derrida

Books allow readers to determine what they wish. People often aren't quite as forgiving if you don't read or see exactly what they wish you to. ~ Anne Mallory

It has often been said
there's so much to be read,
you never can cram
all those words in your head.
So the writer who breeds
more words than he needs
is making a chore
for the reader who reads.
That's why my belief is
the briefer the brief is,
the greater the sigh
of the reader's relief is.
And that's why your books
have such power and strength.
You publish with shorth!
(Shorth is better than length.) ~ Dr. Seuss

My tough and grotesque images were thrown on the roads and were stepped on by my critics, and I was talked about with scorn. I felt regret that readers only seemed to like something they were accustomed to. ~ Kim Hyesoon

Books themselves need no defense. Their spokesmen come and go, their readers live and die, they remain constant. ~ Lawrence Clark Powell

I don't laugh that much, but I do like humorous books, and I like to entertain readers that way. ~ Jonathan Ames

1. Find a subject you care about.
2. Do not ramble, though.
3. Keep it simple.
4. Have the guts to cut.
5. Sound like yourself.
6. Say what you mean to say.
7. Pity the readers. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Children's authors don't talk down or patronise their younger readers. ~ John Boyne

Writers write for the same reason readers read. We want to know how it ends, too. ~ Robynn Tolbert

The copywriter uses words as tools to persuade and motivate an audience. You persuade your readers that you have something valuable to offer; you motivate them to acquire it for themselves. This is the essence of effective copywriting. ~ Richard Bayan

You can always regain readers that you lost from not updating enough. But it's not so easy to regain them if they've been turned off by crumby, half-ass posts. ~ Jonah Jones

Of course I know that the twins are only words on a page, and I'm certainly not the sort of writer who talks to his characters or harbours any illusions about the creative process. But at the same time, I think it's juvenile and arrogant when literary writers compulsively remind their readers that the characters aren't real. People know that already. The challenge is to make an intelligent reader suspend disbelief, to seduce them into the reality of a narrative. ~ Michel Faber

I've always been a firm believer that love conquers all and that every woman's experience is a story in itself. Life is a never-ending journey and my imagination and experiences have inspired me to write powerful stories. Although my books are fiction, my goal is to offer compelling lessons about life and love. The message I wish to convey to my readers is that despite the many challenges we face in this world, we must have hope and faith. Overall, it is love that binds us together. ~ Geraldine Solon

What if the preacher or father's saying 'Someone here's lost and hopeless' was tantamount to those Sun-Times horoscopes that are specially designed to be so universally obvious that they always give their horoscope readers that special eerie feeling of particularity and insight, exploiting the psychological fact that most people are narcissistic and prone to the illusion that they and their problems are uniquely special and that if they're feeling a certain way then surely they're the only person who is feeling like that. ~ David Foster Wallace

Publishing a book is like planting a vegetable seed. The first day your book is out there is the same as seeing the first sprout from the ground. Is it ready for harvest? Obviously not. The fruit of your labor is still to come so long as you continue to nurture the soil by being persistent in letting readers know your book exists. If you give up on this process too early, your seed will dry up and be consumed by a most merciless sun. ~ Kevin Ortegel

The Light in the Labyrinth is a beautifully written book, a gem. I savoured every word; words written with so much 'colour'. Even though I know the story of Queen Anne Boleyn, Dunn's perspective on her last days is missing in so many other books of the genre. Dunn gives grace to the history and an honest, and very compassionate look at Anne's last days. I cried in the end, shedding tears for the young Kate, Anne and her little Bess. I have not yet read a Tudor book that has moved me to tears, as this wonderful journey does. Dunn's dedication and research shines through in this unforgettable book, a book not just for young readers, but also for all." - Lara Salzano, avid Tudor reader. ~ Wendy J. Dunn