Page of the Day: Days 66 through 72
Welcome back to Page of the Day! For 100 Days, we are sharing 100 pages of 100 books – page by page, in order on our Instagram page. With each different day, a different book is featured. From advanced reader copies of upcoming releases to new paperback editions, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse – and read a short passage – from books perfect for summer reading. Here are those short passages from Days 66 through 72:
Day 66: Southernmost by Silas House
“He hadn’t packed much more than a shaving kit and a few books. He couldn’t concentrate enough to read. Sometimes he stood by the window and watched the parking lot where he saw cars come and go, people smoking as they gazed up at the moon, a couple who couldn’t help stopping to kiss passionately before they went on to the office to check in.”
Day 67: Minding the Store by Julie Gaines with illustrations by Ben Lenovitz
“Our reputation for selling vintage restaurant ware was growing so much that we started getting calls from establishments looking to get rid of their old dishware.
The food and beverage manager at the Helmsley Palace called about the hotel’s basement full of outdated dishes still in their boxes. He needed the dishes out as soon as possible.
It was perfect timing. We got thousands of teapots and rectangular serving platters with the fancy gold Helmsley Palace Hotel logo…”
Day 68: When the English Fall by David Williams
“It was a hotter morning today, and the sun rose into a reddish, bloody haze. So much smoke around, from the fires. And it has not rained, and there is no word about rain. But then there is no word about much of anything.”
Day 69: Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
“The checker heaved a sigh. ‘Look, anything that costs thirty-two cents will put you over the three-dollar minimum.’
‘I’ve got change,’ said Remy, sparing me further embarrassment, sort of. She fished through her purse at length, looking for the difference.
Clearly, I was the biggest loser ever. There was the clerk, wearily holding all my nickels and dimes as the line stacked up behind us.”
Day 70: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
“ ‘Please tell her that I understand that being married to an incarcerated man is a major sacrifice. I am not accustomed to asking for things. I have worked for everything I have. I wouldn’t have been bold enough to show my face in your house if I hadn’t put in the effort. In my current position, there is no work that I can do to win her love. There is no work I can do to convince you, as her father, that I’m worthy. Before, I had my good job and my gold cuff links. What do I have today? Only my character. I know she can’t wear my character on her left hand, and I know it doesn’t pay bills or father children. But it’s what I have and I believe that it should count for something.’ ”
Day 71: Strangers in Budapest by Jessica Keener
“Another too-hot day in August. She ran with a bottle of water in hand, her cell phone in the other, the sun slicing through her exposed skin. She was the only person running this morning. She jogged past women hurrying to work in heels and summer skirts. Most of the men wore short-sleeve polyester shirts, long pants, no ties.”
Day 72: The Last Days of Café Leila by Donia Bijan
“Afterwards they would go to the café for a coffee or play backgammon in the chilly sitting room wearing their hats and scarves, rolling dice with gloved hands, and on those afternoons Zod’s homesickness was a little less persistent. He missed his family terribly, but he was young and living in Paris, learning to draw and wandering into buildings that men had conceived on paper and then breathed life into every brick.”
