“The atmosphere of the place soothed her automatically; the rich lantern lights, the sheer scent of paper and leather, and the fact that everywhere she looked, there were books, books, beautiful books.”
―
Genevieve Cogman,
The Invisible Library
“Johnson! Have I committed any illegal actions?'Johnson checked his watch. 'Not within the last three minutes, sir.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“and the deepest, most fundamental part of her life involved a love of books. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to shut the rest of the world out, and have nothing to worry about, except the next page of whatever she was reading.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“We have to report this." Kai sighed deeply in relief. "I was afraid you were going to say that we had to investigate it ourselves.""Don't be ridiculous," Irene said briskly. "We may collect fiction, but we are not required to imitate the stupider parts of it.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“I have spent most of my life preferring books to people,’ Irene said sharply. ‘Just because I like a few specific people doesn’t change anything.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Burning Page
“Irene made a private mental resolution that if she ever became a queen, her throne would incorporate a cushion. Also a convenient bookcase.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Lost Plot
“We are the Library," Coppelia pointed out. "What we don't know, we research.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“How?' Irene enquired. She'd decided a while back that Socratic reasoning was a good idea, because (a) it got students thinking for them selves, (b) sometimes they came up with ideas she hadn't thought of, and (c) it gave her more time to think while they were trying to find answers.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“She was a Librarian, and the deepest, most fundamental part of her life involved a love of books. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to shut the rest of the world out and have nothing to worry about except the next page of whatever she was reading,” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“And at that moment the alligators burst into the room.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“This is a place built to store books, by people who wanted to preserve books, and used by people who want to read those books. I am not alone.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City
“The perfect Librarian is calm, cool, collected, intelligent, multilingual, a crack shot, a martial artist, an Olympic-level runner (at both the sprint and marathon), a good swimmer, an expert thief, and a genius con artist. They can steal a dozen books from a top-security strongbox in the morning, discuss literature all afternoon, have dinner with the cream of society in the evening, and then stay up until midnight dancing, before stealing some more interesting tomes at three a.m. That's what a perfect Librarian would do. In practice, most Librarians would rather spend their time reading a good book.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City
“And she didn’t want great secrets of necromancy, or any other sort of magic. She just wanted—had always wanted—a good book to read. Being chased by hellhounds and blowing things up were comparatively unimportant parts of the job.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“Remind me why I took this job,’ Kai muttered. ‘People pointed guns at you. Right?’ ‘Yeah. Something like that.’ ‘And you like books.’ She glanced sidelong at him. He flashed a quick, genuine smile at her. ‘Yeah. That would be it.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“We also wish to make it absolutely clear that Librarians should not attempt to use the Library to transport dinosaur eggs. And if they do disregard this rule, under no circumstances should they draw official in-world attention while doing so. In fact, we wish to remind all Librarians that they are here to collect books, not dinosaurs. Those Librarians who have problems distinguishing between the two should take a refresher course in Library basics.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Burning Page
“Belgium always seems to get invaded, fall prey to meteorites or get infested by alien fungus or something . . .” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“And Irene hadn’t broken the letter of any ordinances – she hoped. She’d just jumped up and down on the spirit of them, then taken them down a dark alley and made some pointed suggestions at knife-point.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City
“Apparently Lord Wyndham did regularly donate books to various museums around London. They were usually ones which he had collected earlier, but which were no longer of interest to him or his associates. Irene twitched at the very notion. Give books away? How very frivolous, she finally said.” ― Genevieve Cogman
“no strategy ever survived contact with the enemy. Or, in the vernacular, Things Will Go Wrong. Be Prepared.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“Johnson! Have I committed any illegal actions?'Johnson checked his watch. 'Not within the last three minutes, sir.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“and the deepest, most fundamental part of her life involved a love of books. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to shut the rest of the world out, and have nothing to worry about, except the next page of whatever she was reading.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“We have to report this." Kai sighed deeply in relief. "I was afraid you were going to say that we had to investigate it ourselves.""Don't be ridiculous," Irene said briskly. "We may collect fiction, but we are not required to imitate the stupider parts of it.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“I have spent most of my life preferring books to people,’ Irene said sharply. ‘Just because I like a few specific people doesn’t change anything.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Burning Page
“Irene made a private mental resolution that if she ever became a queen, her throne would incorporate a cushion. Also a convenient bookcase.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Lost Plot
“We are the Library," Coppelia pointed out. "What we don't know, we research.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“How?' Irene enquired. She'd decided a while back that Socratic reasoning was a good idea, because (a) it got students thinking for them selves, (b) sometimes they came up with ideas she hadn't thought of, and (c) it gave her more time to think while they were trying to find answers.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“She was a Librarian, and the deepest, most fundamental part of her life involved a love of books. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to shut the rest of the world out and have nothing to worry about except the next page of whatever she was reading,” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“And at that moment the alligators burst into the room.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“This is a place built to store books, by people who wanted to preserve books, and used by people who want to read those books. I am not alone.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City
“The perfect Librarian is calm, cool, collected, intelligent, multilingual, a crack shot, a martial artist, an Olympic-level runner (at both the sprint and marathon), a good swimmer, an expert thief, and a genius con artist. They can steal a dozen books from a top-security strongbox in the morning, discuss literature all afternoon, have dinner with the cream of society in the evening, and then stay up until midnight dancing, before stealing some more interesting tomes at three a.m. That's what a perfect Librarian would do. In practice, most Librarians would rather spend their time reading a good book.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City
“And she didn’t want great secrets of necromancy, or any other sort of magic. She just wanted—had always wanted—a good book to read. Being chased by hellhounds and blowing things up were comparatively unimportant parts of the job.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“Remind me why I took this job,’ Kai muttered. ‘People pointed guns at you. Right?’ ‘Yeah. Something like that.’ ‘And you like books.’ She glanced sidelong at him. He flashed a quick, genuine smile at her. ‘Yeah. That would be it.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“We also wish to make it absolutely clear that Librarians should not attempt to use the Library to transport dinosaur eggs. And if they do disregard this rule, under no circumstances should they draw official in-world attention while doing so. In fact, we wish to remind all Librarians that they are here to collect books, not dinosaurs. Those Librarians who have problems distinguishing between the two should take a refresher course in Library basics.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Burning Page
“Belgium always seems to get invaded, fall prey to meteorites or get infested by alien fungus or something . . .” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
“And Irene hadn’t broken the letter of any ordinances – she hoped. She’d just jumped up and down on the spirit of them, then taken them down a dark alley and made some pointed suggestions at knife-point.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City
“Apparently Lord Wyndham did regularly donate books to various museums around London. They were usually ones which he had collected earlier, but which were no longer of interest to him or his associates. Irene twitched at the very notion. Give books away? How very frivolous, she finally said.” ― Genevieve Cogman
“no strategy ever survived contact with the enemy. Or, in the vernacular, Things Will Go Wrong. Be Prepared.” ― Genevieve Cogman, The Invisible Library
