if you do not learn to defend yourself, you give power to your enemies. And with that power, they’ll make decisions on your behalf. You put your fate in the hands of others.

Discover the Weekend Reader Challenge—12 curated book bundles across Seasonal (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer), Themed (Growth, Mystery, Romance, Adventure), and Challenge-Yourself (Expand Your Mind, Beyond Your Comfort Zone, Unplug & Unwind, Reignite Your Passion). Printable guides, prompts, and book-club questions included.

Because the world had decided that to be soft was to be weak, even though in Joan’s experience being soft and flexible was always more durable than being hard and brittle. Admitting you were afraid always took more guts than pretending you weren’t. Being willing to make a mistake got you further than never trying. The world had decided that to be fallible was weak. But we are all fallible. The strong ones are the ones who accept it.

At the Museum of Literature, Zoe encounters an eccentric staff in the Books of Dubious Origins department and must discover the truth about her powers and heritage.

Reality, I think, is mostly imagination, poorly disguised.

Why are feelings so brutal? Everyone makes friendship seem like garden parties and sleepovers when really it’s Jurassic Park for emotions.

That was the way of grief, I was realizing. It was a barrage of pain that was so unbearable that it made you numb. And then out of nowhere, something made you feel again and the cycle started over from the beginning.

I realized that it didn’t matter how perfect I was. I was never going to be good enough because they didn’t want me to be perfect or extraordinary. They wanted me to be invisible.

My magic, which I had been waiting to feel surge through me as a tide, remained dormant. It lurked like a skeleton, hiding beneath my skin, marrow brimming with untapped power.

An absurd thing for the murderous state to plead for, but, as always, the massive violence of the state was “justice,” was “law and order,” and resistance to perpetual violence was an act of terror. It would have been funny if there weren’t so much blood everywhere.

People aren’t so bad. They’re just wounded little kids trying to heal.

But never underestimate the American bourgeoisie’s capacity to embrace fascism under the name of populism. Or the power of television. Without TV, Kennedy would never have beaten Nixon.

Heck, I’ve lost my temper a few times. Also, I can be a bit too blunt, and excuse it by saying I’m just an honest person, but if I’m truly being honest, sometimes blunt is just mean. Honesty can be an excuse for bullying.

There is doom to be found everywhere if doom is what you seek.

What chilling mystery awaits the people of Tokyo in these strange houses.

No one called Marty Walsh “Farty” but me, the only reason being that anyone who talked out of his ass as much as he did deserved a name to match.

My baba says the only society worth living in is one where everyone has access to food, shelter, clean water, and health services.

The magic itself was not evil. It was what you did with it, how you shaped the tools given to your use.