My Favorite Book Quotes from 2021

I’m so excited to be sharing my favorite quotes from the books that I read this year!

For the last four years, I’ve posted lists of my favorite book quotes. Feel free to check out the previous years below:

• My Favorite Book Quotes of 2017
• My Favorite Book Quotes of 2018
• My Favorite Book Quotes of 2019
• My Favorite Book Quotes of 2020

Let’s dive into my list for this year!

Favorite Quotes from 2021

But while pity was what her brain wanted to feel, her heart told her to buck up and be strong. She intended to listen.
— Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard

L’Oreal or Cover Girl couldn’t paint on a soul.
— Whispers in the Dark by Laurel Hightower

Even as he said the words, a memory Kieran had almost forgotten tumbled off a dusty shelf in his mind.
— The Survivors by Jane Harper

In the daylight, her nocturnal experiences paled and became unimportant, a product of a befuddled brain. That’s all it was.
— In Darkness, Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish

“We’d tear the universe apart for the people we love, but sometimes we forget to love ourselves.” 
— The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

We all choose our own blinders.
— Hearts Strange and Dreadful by Tim McGregor

She ran her finger along the spine of a tall tome with a cracked leather binding held together by a few twists of thread. When she pulled it loose from the shelf, a layer of sediment came with it, and Emma’s resulting sneeze sent another puff of dust into the atmosphere. The leather crinkled and cracked as she opened the cover. The pages inside were yellowed with age and thicker than normal paper.
— House of Sage and Salt by Chris Cooper

It didn’t help any when the cops told women living in the area to take precautions. You know, the usual stuff. Hold your keys between your fingers to use as a weapon. Keep your phone in your hand and dial nine-one-one if you’re being followed or feel afraid. If every woman who felt afraid called nine-one-one, the switchboard would melt. That is what women live with every day of our lives. 
— The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

The heat grew in Patrick, spreading through his body like ink dipped in water. 
— The Gulp by Alan Baxter

The bags under my eyes sank heavy as if summoned by the vast, unnamed gods below. 
— Anoka by Shane Hawk

There’s no cure for being an arsehole.
— Run Walk Crawl: Getting Fit In My Forties by Tim Lebbon

Now that night had fallen, it felt like an entirely different carnival. Darkness lends a feeling of magic to carnivals; the flashing, coloured lights coupled with the enchanting music has them feeling like they were part of another world. Another world of whimsy, magic and excitement – where anything could happen – even if only for one night.
— Halloween Land by Kevin J. Kennedy

The entire harbor is coming alive. Everywhere he sees the dead appearing and moving this way. It’s like someone stuck a stick into an anthill – and Dan is that stick.
— Dead Meat: Day 7 by Nick Clausen

She was mystery wrapped in silence, and sometimes, unwrapping the secret just wasn’t worth the struggle. 
— Dear Laura by Gemma Amor

“Human beings, those are the monsters that you’ve gotta fear.”
— The House By The Cemetery by John Everson

Facts are harder to swallow than rocks, but just as solid.
— Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias

Words are boomerangs. 
— Jedi Summer With the Magnetic Kid by John Boden

“Hey, you bring a bigfoot to the Bronx, you have to expect shit to get weird.”
— Bigfoot in the Bronx by Hunter Shea

Now he heard Axel saying, “We mustn’t judge books by their covers, Jade.”
“I was going off the first few chapters,” came her reply.
— Synchronicity by Michaelbrent Collings

Dawn crept in on the world, and like a dangerous predator, it drove the stars in hiding. Humans, too. Death was waking up.
— The Darkening by Chris Sarantopoulos

No-one ever got clear skin eating brains are chowing down on human bones, I’ll tell you that now. Eat some broccoli dude. Drink some fucking green tea.
— These Wounds We Make by Gemma Amor

“Well, this is it,” said Boyd. “Doesn’t look like much, does it?”
“Quicksand doesn’t look like much, either, until you step in it,” said Caleb. “Are we ready to go in?”
— Blood Kin by Ronald Kelly

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
— Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

I guess that’s what makes people do horrible things – they think whatever they’re doing isn’t nearly as bad as what somebody else will do.
— Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

The navy sky lightened as the sun chased the moon away with the approaching dawn. 
— Once Upon a Fang in the West by John Dover

The store became hushed, the air thick with time slowed, each moment clinging to the next. Rows of gold-tipped titles, worn covers, uncut pages, and faded illustrations surrounded them. A dense wall of fantasy worlds.
— An Excuse For Murder by Vanessa Westermann

Hope was the most dangerous of feelings, because it was the only one that existed in places where you had nothing but hope… and so it was the only thing that could still be taken away.
— Scavenger Hunt by Michaelbrent Collings

“I hope you are still writing.” I nodded my head, noticing the three of them were looking straight at me. I still did not mention I had a closet full of notebooks. There was probably the same amount of ink on those pages as blood and tears in my body. 
— Goddess of Filth by V. Castro

But for some hate is the only way they can feel comfortable with what they don’t understand or can’t control.
— The Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro

He felt something pull at his thoughts, almost like a fisherman’s line tightening to reel in a stubborn catch, and, slowly, he took a couple of steps downward. 
— The Web of La Sanguinaire & Other Arachnid Horrors by Ronald Kelly

The shadows, which hadn’t grabbed my attention before, were creeping across the floor. I attempted to step around them because, at that moment, I convinced myself something lived in that darkness.
— Slattery Falls by Brennan LaFaro

There are things beyond the realms of reality that humans were never meant to see and, unfortunately, my eyes have witnessed such oddities.
— The Demon in the Glass by Matt Wildasin

Legal documents were not notorious for their page-turning quality and were more often associated with their eye-closing quality.
— The Idiots’ Club by Tony Moyle

Time is relative, and it’s never quite as relative as when you’re stuck somewhere you don’t want to be. The hours creep past agonizingly slowly, time stretching out between them like gum left on a hot sidewalk.
— River of Souls by T.L. Bodine

We’ve invented euphemisms to dull the way an affliction sounds, but not necessarily how it feels. I think that’s the most dangerous part about being human—conceiving nice ways of saying something truly terrible.
— The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca

Never trust a fucker who learned to drive in a fancy car. 
— RedHanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick by Suruthi Bala & Hannah Maguire

Evil, like goodness, is very much human; and all we can do when we see it is try to stop it.
— Someone To Share My Nightmares: Stories by Sonora Taylor

Inaction is its own kind of choice.
— House of Lazarus by T.L. Bodine

One thing about Maine – if you’re looking for something strange, you’ll find it here.
— A Darker Shade by Laura K. Curtis

Plenty of young children worried about monsters under the bed or creatures in the closet, but those fears diminished with age. What caused fear in older children tended to be threats that emerged from the shadows, and often had a name.
— Mercy Creek by M. E. Browning

I don’t think it’s ever wrong to keep up hope, even when it seems impossible, or even when there’s a high chance you’ll get your heart broken. And you know why? Because a broken heart can be healed, but a heart that’s given up hope? Well, that’s a lot tougher to fix. 
— Dead Meat: Day 9 by Nick Clausen

The people in this town know your business before you do. 
— Lark Awakening by L.K. Beal

It wasn’t important. But then, how often in life do we actually focus on what’s important? Not often, and not nearly as much as we should.
— Malignant by Michaelbrent Collings

A nightmare so horrendous that it crumbles the very foundation of daylit reality, then pursues the tortured mind relentlessly into the realm of troubled sleep afterwards.
— Consumption by Ronald Kelly

“A campfire drives the shadows from a clearing, but when you face the light it makes you blind to the darkness. You may feel the heat on your front, but you never feel the eyes on your back.”
— We Bleed Orange & Black by Jeff C. Carter

When he died of food poisoning
(the food was fine, the poisoning wasn’t) 
The kingdom celebrated. 
— Little Book of Tiny Tales by Jeremy Ray

At what point in life did I lose that sense of wonder and imagination? Perhaps it’s something intentionally let go for fear of being perceived as immature… such a shame to lose so much of who we were just to be accepted by those who’ll never accept us anyway.
— Hunger For Death by Joshua Marsella

It’s like a rollercoaster I never wanted to ride, but here I am, and the only way off is to ride it till the end. 
— The Sound of Breaking Glass by Christine Makepeace

There’s less than two seconds to react.
Erika spends both of those two seconds screaming.
— Blind Rage by Nick Clausen

Endings always made her sad. Maybe that was why she always picked up a new book the moment she finished one.
— Shockadelica by Jon O’Bergh

After deep breath, he leaped into the hallway and landed in some kind of made-up kung fu stance. He wasn’t sure what he would do if someone is actually there, but he knew he would do something. Most likely scream and run.
— Firefighter Christmas Carol and Other Stories by Douglas R. Brown

Halloween delivers both trick and treats, but winter knows no such mercy.
— We Bleed Red & Green: 12 Chilling Tales for Christmas by Jeff C. Carter

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Thanks for reading!
Did you have any favorite quotes from the books you read in 2021?