Mysterious Time Quotes...Revisited

Back in 2014 I came across an article on The Guardian that told of their mission which began in 2011 to find a literary quote for every minute of the day. They were getting very close to filling in their last remaining times and had called on readers to help them with the empty minutes. 

Well...you know how I love a good challenge. And I love a good mystery. I also have a great fondness for quotes. So...I decided to set myself a challenge: to find a mystery book quote for every minute of the day and posted about it [HERE]. At the time, I mused on whether I make it completely round the clock in three years. Little did I know how much mystery writers (and possibly all writers for that matter) love certain times more than others. And so much that is important happens on the hour, half-hour, or quarter-hour. At this rate, I may finish filling in all the blanks by the time I finish the last book on my TBR mountainscape [i.e. Never].

 So...I thought I would ask all my mystery-loving friends to give me a hand. I'll post a link below that leads to my spreadsheet. When you pick up your next mystery--If you happen to notice an odd time (like, say, 3:01 A.M.) that's still empty, would you snag the relevant quote and send it, the book title, and author to me (phryne1969 AT gmail DOT com)? Thanks! 

*Addendum: Ken Hull has already jumped in and provided numerous times (noted on the spreadsheet). Thanks, Ken! Due credit will be given to everyone who contributes!

Mysterious Time Quotes Spreadsheet

 

Mysterious Time Quotes

Image Credit

This past week I read an article on The Guardian that told of their mission which began in 2011 to find a literary quote for every minute of the day. They are getting very close to filling in their last remaining times and have called on readers to help them with the empty minutes. 

Well...you know how I love a good challenge. And I love a good mystery. I also have a great fondness for quotes. So...I decided to set myself a challenge: to find a mystery book quote for every minute of the day. I just started today and I wonder if it will take me three years (or more) to fill in my time slots? 

Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout offered up a hefty batch of times in its 190 pages.  I'm off to a pretty good start....

The Mystery Lovers' Book of Quotations: Review

The Mystery Lovers' Book of Quotations by Jane Horning (ed) is a lovely book of snippets from some of the world's great crime and mystery authors.  There are quotes from the creators of such characters as Sam Spade and Sherlock Holmes, from Miss Marple to Miss Silver.  There are thoughts on the detection of crime and the mind of the murderer.  There are musings on the psychology and emotions and the nitty-gritty bottom line.  We hear echoes of The Godfather and the Nameless detective.  Horning has done a terrific job capturing well-known authors as well as writers who may have been well-known at one time, but few modern readers may recognize.  My only quibble--she quite often describes an author by citing their most famous work--and then proceeds to give us quotes from other novels.  I would have liked to have seen at least one quote from the novel/s mentioned.  But it's a minor quibble--four stars for a great reference book.  I do love me some quotes.

Booking Through Thursday: Quotable

A weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. Hosted at Booking Through Thursday. A while ago BTT interviewed their readers for a change, and their final question was, “What question have they NOT asked at BTT that you’d love them to ask?” Ever so often they will pose those questions to their BTT followers. Like now.

 

Valentina asks: Do you have a favorite quote from a book? 

Um. No. I have hundreds of quotes from all sorts of books that I've collected over the years.  And they're all my favorite.  There's no way I could possibly narrow it down to just one.  So, let me give you a few of my favorites from books about books....

The trouble with bookshops is that they are as bad as pubs.  You start with one and then you drift to another, and before you know where you are you are on a gigantic book-binge.

                                    Bodies in a Bookshop

                                     —R. T. Campbell

N: And who lasts longest? [in Heaven]

M: …scholarly people, they tend to last as long as anyone.  They like sitting around reading all the books there are.  And then they love arguing about them.  Some of those arguments—she cast an eye to the heavens—go on for millennium after millennium.  It just seems to keep them young, for some reason, arguing about books.

                                    Narrator; Margaret

“The Dream”

                                    A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters (304)

                                    —Julian Barnes

 

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.

                                    Recipe for a Magic Childhood

                                    —Mary Ellen Chase

“Lord,” he said, “when you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue—you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and honor and ships at sea by night—there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book, I mean.

                                    Parnassus on Wheels

                                    —Christopher Morley

My husband claims I have an unhealthy obsession with secondhand bookshops….either you intrinsically understand the attraction of searching for hidden treasure amongst the rows of dusty shelves or you don’t; it’s a passion, bordering on a spiritual illness, which cannot be explained to the unaffected.

                                    Elegance (14-15)

                                    —Kathleen Tessaro

…the perfect tranquility of life, which is nowhere to be found but in retreat, a faithful friend, and a good library.

                                    The Lucky Mistake

                                    —Aphra Behn

 

I care not how humble your bookshelf may be, nor how lowly the room which it adorns.  Close the door of that room behind you, shut off with it all the cares of the outer world, plunge back into the soothing company…and then you are through the magic portal into that fair land whither worry and vexation can follow you no more.

                                    Through the Magic Door

                                    —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle