ABCs of Mitch Albom's the little liar

"A true and loving kindness." p.33 and p. 283

"Before the story ends, there is even a moment of magic, set against an endless tapestry of human frailty." p. 9

Chioni, the Greek word for "snow" - because he seemed so untouched by earthly deceit." p. 11

"Developes a penchant for blame." p. 28

Esplanada p. 21

"Four is a complete circle of the bases, until you end where you began, at home." p. 313

Gizella gave Frannie jequirity pea rosary, because ... "Sometimes it is better to leave this world by your own hand than theirs." p. 119

How a Lie Grows p. 28

"In a world full of lies, honesty glimmers like silver foil reflectingvthe sun." p. 11

Jequirity bean or rosary pea, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae.The entire plant is toxic, but the beans are highly toxic to humans.

Katalin Karády : After the German invasion of Hungary, authorities put pressure on Karády by banning her songs ... her new films... In 1944 she was arrested with allegations that she spied for the Allied Forces. Karády was in prison for three months, during which time she was tortured, and nearly beaten to death... Despite mishaps, she carried on with life in the war-torn capital, even..." see "R" below source

Ladino - language of his youth. The word ladino is Spanish (meaning “Latin”) source

Nicole Krispis

"Ochi!" (No!) p. 23

Poison rosary beads

"Quite the opposite. It all seemed rather pathetic to him..."

Rescuing numerous families at the bank of the Danube waiting to be shot by Arrow Cross guards, in exchange for personal belongings and gold which she had saved from her robbed apartment. She took a number of children home to care for them until the fighting stopped. source

"Sometimes it's the truths we don't speak that echo the loudest." p. 47

Tumultuous years p. 19

Udo Graf "finds a place to stay" p. 49

Venizelou Street in Salonika

"Whatever countenance you were borh with, Truth will enhance it." p. 11

Xaná means never again in Greek

"You've given me more joy than you can imagine. ou survived..." p. 244

Zekelman Holocaust Center... a precious and invaluable resource." p. 331 

ABCs of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

"Agricultural Agnostics" p.11

Barbara Kingsolver detailing her family's attempt to eat only locally grown food for an entire year.

Chapter 1 - Called Home

"Dirt... essential to serve us - we all need to eat every day of our lives." p. 9

"Everything starts over in the springtime. " p.335

"First, Eat Your Greens" by Camille p. 59

Gratitude : May p. 100 Chapter 7

Hungry Month : Feb-March p. 19 Chapter 3

"Is it possible to explain the year we had?Jonquils called tranquils by the author's daughter Lily and it stuck p.45

"Knowing how foods grow is to know how and when to look for them" p. 10

"Leaves of Grass kind of culture" p. 4 [main ideas in Leaves of Grass are a celebration of individuality in relation to society and nature as well as a celebration of America. In addition to these, other ideas such as love, spirituality, and death are also dealt with in the book. source]

Molly Mooching April Chapter 5

Neighborly eating: "Think Locally, Act Neighborly." p. 150

"Oh man, those things touched dirt!" p. 10

"Picture a season of foods unfolding as if from one single plant. Take a minute to study this creation--an imaginary plant that bears over the course of one growing season a cornucopia of all the different vegetable products we can harvest. We’ll call it a vegetannual." P. 64

Quixotic: most often used to mean equally impractical and idealistic, it also has the sense of romantic nobility. p. 337

 "Restaurant selling food produced by farms within an hour's drive." p. 149

"Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast" Chapter 9 p.124

T. S. Eliot wrote that "April is the cruelest month... springtime makes people crazy. See "W" below

"Unfolding as if from on single plant" p. 64

Vegetannual : an imaginary plant that bears over the course of one growing season a cornucopia of all the vegetable products we can harvest." p. 64

We expect too much, the World burgeons with promises it can't keep... p.43

"eXpertise is useful for certain kinds of people, namely, the ones who eat" p. 10

"You Can't Run Away on Harvest Day: September- Chapter 14 p. 219

"Zucchini Larceny: July - Chapter 12 p. 173

Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur

An utterly gripping, immersive story of one family's unravelling traumas and hopes. It will capture and hold you in its depths. 

Ambergris p. 179 is a solid, waxy material produced in the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and also in the pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps)

"Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost." ~ Kahlil Gibran"

“The single biggest problem in Communication is the illusion that it has taken place”. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Dreck p. 258 merchandise that is shoddy or inferior

Every time I hear this song, I think of Dad xoxo

 "Frankenstein comes to mind...ambition, revenge, loss, a body's impermance..." p. 27

Gyres pronounced gyre/ˈjī(ə)r/ : a spiral or vortex. p. 20

"Her mother's parental jujitsue left Steph dumbfounded." p. 36

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Jonah, the recalcitrant prophet. Jonah and the Whale... in the belly of the beast for three days." p. 137

"Ken, a tightly wound aspiring politician concealing great depths of childhood trauma" source

New words like this one "littoral" relating to or situated on the shore of the sea or a lake drift ten thousand years earlier p. 24

One moment, you're studying the white-pink sand below; the next, you're over a blue-black abyss and staring into darkness.” p. 9 Adam, a brilliant Oceanographer, comparing his mind and moods to the Ocean.

Pelagic : of or relating to the open seas or oceans. living or growing at or near the surface of the ocean, far from land, as certain organisms.

Prescient: /ˈpreSH(ē)ənt/ adjective: having or showing knowledge of events before they take place. 

Quote seen at Peak Coffee is so inline with the book I was readng at the time: “Connection is why we're here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. The power that connection holds in our lives was confirmed when the main concern about connection emerged as the fear of disconnection; the fear that something we have done or failed to do, something about who we are or where we come from, has made us unlovable and unworthy of connection.” ~ Brené Brown, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

“Reid is not going to believe how messed up things were in 2016.” p. 297

Strombus gigas p. 178 I was given one of these for my 30th birthday nearly 33 years ago

Twombly p. 23 energetic use of lines, color

"Utterly gripping, immersive story of one family's unravelling traumas and hopes. It will capture and hold you in its depths." ~ Christy Lefteri 

Vogue Best Book of 2023..., and the memoir “Wild Game,” which was a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, NPR, People, and the Washington Post. Both "Little Monster" and "Wild Game" are in development as films. She founded the literary magazine, “Zoetrope: All-Story” with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola

“Whenever I paint the truth, no matter how strange, people see themselves in it.” p. 19

"eXquisite sensation of déjà vu, feeling a comradeship with other great discoverers..." p. 4

"Yes and no. Knowing the truth has made some things make more sense." ~ Steph p. 302

Zoetrope p. 224 a pre-film animation device that produces the illusion of motion, by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. A zoetrope is a cylindrical variant of the phénakisticope, an apparatus suggested after the stroboscopic discs were introduced in 1833. Wikipedia