Maybe Mrs. Reddick was a Girl Scout before Dewey hid her away in the stacks and his decimals took over her life. -- pg. 44
Amanda Murphy had no illusions about the quality of her cooking...Her apple pie, for instance. The bottom crust was half an inch think, charred on the bottom and slimy on top, covered with a loose layer of oversweet apples....
"Great pie, Mandy."...
Anyway, it was nutritious. A pie that weighted that much had to have some good in it. Amanda cut herself a small slice, helped it along with a glass of bourbon-spiked Pepsi. (pg. 191)
I learned that railroad rails have the rail size marked on them. Why did I not know this?
Good, but long, smoke quote on 561.
Now I have to read up on Fanny Kemble and her observations on the life of slaves!
Whoops, that "And" in the title should be an "An".
There would have been MANY more words to look up if I had had the stickies to mark them with!
apothegms (pg. 309) -- A short cryptic remark containing some general or generally accepted truth; maxim.
Manichaean (pg. 311) -- Of or relating to Manichaeism; dualistic.
American Nimiety (pg. 312) -- Superfluity; excess.
eremite (pg. 317) -- A recluse or hermit especially a religious recluse.
loco-foco (pg. 334) -- A kind of friction-match, among other things.
sneezer (pg. 334) -- Possibly, a martinet, in the usage cited.
faubourgs (pg. 345) -- Essentially, suburbs.
pentimento (pg. 351) -- !n alteration in a painting, evidenced by traces of previous work, showing that the artist has changed his mind as to the composition during the process of painting.
whilom (pg. 386) -- Having once been; former.
revenant (pg. 424) -- Something, esp a ghost, that returns.
retrorse (pg. 451) -- Directed or turned backward or downward.
tortfeasor (pg. 462) -- A party who has committed a tort
tilbury (pg. 488) -- A light, two-wheeled, open carriage with two seats, used in the 19th century.
redolent (pg. 547) -- Having or emitting fragrance; aromatic.
concomitant (pg. 537) -- One that occurs or exists concurrently with another.
A birdie with a yellow bill (pg. 71) -- Uncredited Robert Lewis Stevenson poem.
Teratololgy (pg. 75) -- The study of malformations or serious deviations from the normal type in organisms.
Honi soit qui mal y pense (pg. 95) -- The motto of the Order of the Garter. It is a French phrase which means "Let anyone who thinks bad things about it be ashamed.".
...a cowan can bribe his way into an esbat... (pg. 96) -- Unwelcome non-Pagan (Non-craft person, an outsider) intruder to a Witches gathering that is not on a Sabbat, usually occurring on a full or dark moon. Also a term for the monthly meeting of a Wiccan Coven, usually held during the full of the moon.
donna e mobile (pg. 119) -- Woman is fickle (Verdi's La Donna È Mobile from Rigoletto)
toasted rusks (pg. 131) -- Known in France as biscotte and in Germany as zwieback, a rusk is a slice of yeast bread (thick or thin) that is baked until dry, crisp and golden brown.
en tutoyant (pg. 163) -- To address in a familiar manner.
quondam (pg. 182) -- Belonging to some prior time; like "erstwhile friend".
triste (pg. 196) -- sad, wistful.
soi-disant (pg. 189) -- Self-styled; so-called.
Benjamin Franklin's parable of the whistle (pg. 223) -- Google it.
veriest (pg. 223) -- An adjective form of very.
slitch (pg. 249) -- Pretty much what I thought it meant.
doxyology (pg. 253) -- Doxology is a hymn or verse in Christian liturgy glorifying God. Friday's doxyology instructor trains her in the sexual arts.
"...It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn't the whole population."
"A very bad sign. Particularism..." -- (pg. 233)