In the 1960s, my grammar school (grades 1-8) encouraged us to buy cheap kids books; they had lists and we checked off what we wanted and paid for them. They were cheap; these were not new releases, and they were paperbacks (a bit taller and wider, and thinner, than standard paperbacks). Not a lot...

I would like to know what "a force of their own, agents of relief and consolation" means in the following sentences: ‘I’m a—’ My voice almost steady. ‘I’m a homosexual.’ The world did not tumble. Her face remained calm. The white winter light still streamed into the room as if into a church, ill...

A Guardian article from summer 2020, "The Covid novels are arriving. And they'll be a warning to future generations" by Laura Spinney, includes some discussion of the (apparently minimal) impact of the 1918 "Spanish flu" pandemic on European and North American literature. It says, however, that: ...

Reading an old story, I am trying to figure out the meaning of "air"in the following sentence: But ‘mother’ listened the whole time—not to me. Her thoughts were all elsewhere. And her air of intently, secretly listening, bordered, I felt, upon the uncanny. I read the dictionary entries but stil...

I am sorry for the possibly unclear title, I could not find a better one. I understand the sentence below: Into the little room, however, in that moment there came between us this uncomfortable sense that the night held other purposes than our own— and that my companion was aware of them. Howev...

I was enjoying a song "Butterflies" by Kacey Musgraves and in the lyrics there is "Stealing my heart 'stead of stealing my crown". What does "steal my crown" mean? I am not a native English speaker, and I think that not anybody has a crown to steal, unless he is a king. So why does it say "steal ...

I would like to know what "My back reached for soreness" means in the following sentences: I saw you and Hania slung together, dancing, oblivious to me on the other side of the window. My stomach began to burn, secreting pain like arrowheads, and then the two of you as a four-legged creature, st...

I would like to know what "A moment pulled into its smallest parts" means in the following sentences: At first, there was emptiness. Thoughts flew through space, trying to ignite. A sky readied for fireworks, a stage cleared for decisions. But where do decisions come from? I saw you and Hania sl...

I first read C. S. Forester’s Beat to Quarters as a teenager in the mid-1970s. I remember it as having been included in a Readers’ Digest Condensed Book, but the wikipedia listing of these books doesn’t seem to back that up. Could the list on wikipedia be incomplete? (Does’t seem likely.) Does...

I would like to know what "accelerated, but still" means in the following sentences: ‘I’m a …’ I tried and failed under her gaze. It was the same feeling, the same pulling to and fro, that one feels when standing on the edge of a diving board. ‘I’m a—’ My voice almost steady. ‘I’m a homosexual.’...

Sorry if this is off-topic. When I was a child (around 10 so early 90's), my grandparents gave me a book about the history of Santa Clause/Saint Nicholas/other alternate names. What I recall about the book It was mostly black, red and white It was illustrated inside, with Scandanavian-style artw...