“Reading is the sole means by which we  slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” —Joyce Carol Oates, "Literature as Pleasure, Pleasure as Literature" in Antaeus (Autumn 1987)

Reading this particular quote by Joyce Carol Oates got me thinking about the power of words, characters and their impact on me while reading.

The following quotes have remained ingrained in me, as I involuntarily slipped into  someone else’s skin, voice and soul.

“I got potatoes, carrots, garlic and olive oil, put a knife on the counter and set myself on the stool. We gonna make us some ratatouille.” —Girls Like Us

“But I was feeling a chuckle somewheres.” —Girls Like Us

“I work a lot. Like a lot a lot.”—Why Not Me?

“My name is Greta , she said. And we are going to be best friends.” —Why Not Me?

“I ain’t  no princess and I ain’t no baby, so I don’t need to be carried nowhere.” —The Boy in the Black Suit

“But when I tell Anita my thoughts, she laughs, and says girls are just like boys, all they want is fairness and respect.” —Silver People: Voices From the Panama Canal

“We chill back, eating honey buns and drinking Arizona iced teas.” —More Happy Than Not

“It’s kind of, sort of, definitely different.” —More Happy Than Not

"The Boy with no direction taught me something unforgettable:happiness comes again if you let it." —More Happy Than Not

“The dark knight gets around” —More Happy Than Not

“Happy whole people are drawn to happy, whole people, but nothing makes a toxic person more miserable and destructive than a happy whole person.” —Year of Yes

“'Don’t let what he wants eclipse what you need. He is dreamy,' she says. 'But he is not the sun. you are.'” —Year of Yes

“I love romance. I love love.

"I love dating the non-Kens of the world, the men with something more inside their heads than air. I love being in a relationship. I love interesting men.

"I love my client having meetings. Mmmkay?” —Year of Yes