Sophie Kinsella

“I've taken over the guest room wardrobe too- plus, I've arranged all my shoes on the bookshelves on the landing. (I put the books in boxes. No one ever read them. anyway.)”

“Spoiled?" Mum cuts her off with a laugh. "Nonsense! There's nothing wrong with Minnie, is there, my precious? She knows her own mind!" She strokes Minnie's hair fondly, then looks up again. "Becky, love, you were exactly the same at her age. Exactly the same.”

“Becky . . .” Luke looks at me carefully. “Have you ever been on a horse in your life?”“Yes! Of course I have!”Once. When I was ten. And I fell off.But I probably wasn’t concentrating or something.“Just be careful, won’t you?” he says. “I’m not quite ready to become a widower.”

“And we spend the rest of the evening getting very pissed and eating ice cream, as we always do when something good or bad happens to either one of us.”

“So I buy it. The most perfect little cardigan in the world. People will call me the Girl in the Gray Cardigan. I’ll be able to live in it. Really, it’s an investment.”

“That moment. That instant when your fingers curl round the handles of a shiny, uncreased bag—and all the gorgeous new things inside it become yours. What’s it like? It’s like going hungry for days, then cramming your mouth full of warm buttered toast. It’s like waking up and realizing it’s the weekend. It’s like the better moments of sex. Everything else is blocked out of your mind. It’s pure, selfish pleasure.”

“I've never felt so bereft and panicky. What do I do without my phone? How do I function? My hand keeps automatically reaching for my phone in its usual place in my pocket. Every instinct in me wants to text someone, 'OMG, I've lost my phone!' but how can do that without a bloody phone?”

“Life is like an escalator. You see, it carries you on regardless. And you might as well enjoy the view and seize every opportunity while you're passing. Otherwise, it'll be too late.”

“The thing about lying to your parents is, you have to do it to protect them.It’s for their own good.”

“Women need chocolate. It's a scientific fact.”

“Life's too short for minimalism.”

“A party like this isn't about the surprise factor. It's about someone going to so much trouble that it just... overwhelms you.”

“When I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better, but then it's not, and I need to do it again.(Confessions of a Shopaholic-the movie)”

“They said I was a valued customer, now they send me hate mail.”

“Oh, this shouldn't be allowed. There should be a rule which says that people you've met in the gym should never meet you in real life.”

“It's a big step, moving to a new city, especially a city as extreme as New York. It's not the same as London...""I know," I nod. "You have to get your nails done.”

“A cold dismay creeps over me. Oh okay, maybe I did once kind of pretend I had a stalker. Which I shouldn't have done. But I mean, just because you invent one tiny stalker - that doesn't make you a complete nut case, does it?”

“You know, this always happens. Whenever I go away, I always think I'll come back to mountains of exciting posts, with parcels and telegrams and letters full of scintillating news - and I'm always disappointed. In fact, I really think someone should set up a company called holidaypost.com which you would pay to write you loads of exciting letters, just so you had something to look forward to when you got home.”

“Maybe I could... secretly fix a trailer onto the car when Luke ins't looking? Ot maybe I could wear all my clothes, on top of each other, and say I'm feeling a bit chilly...”

“Everyone knows the first rule of business is "Look good during confrontations." Or if it isn't, it should be.”

“We both gaze down at my swollen tummy for a while. I still can't quite get my head round the fact that there's a baby inside my body. Which has got to come out... somehow.OK, let's not go there. There's still time for them to invent something.”

“This is the last time I ever get a private detective off the internet.”

“Becky! Love!" Mum has pushed her way through her dancing guests to reach me. "What's wrong? Has labor started?"Honestly. My family has no idea about contemporary urban street dance trends.”

“Why can't parents dance? Is it some universal law of physics or something?”

“These corners are getting a bit bulky." Mum looks consideringly at the catalog. "Maybe we should fold down if we're not interested in the page.”

“I feel a bit apprehensive as I see that he's looking directly at me. But I'm not doing anything wrong, am I? I mean, it's not like stalking is against the law.Oh. Well, OK, maybe stalking is against the law. But I've only been doing it for five minutes. Surely that doesn't count. And anyway, how does he know I'm stalking anyone? I might just be sitting here for my pleasure.”

“But that's what happens in life. People find new friends and new sisters. It's called natural selection.”

“Me too." I agree fervently. "Every film should definitely have a message."Which is true. I mean... take the Lord of the Rings movies- they've got loads of messages. Like "Don't lose your ring.”

“Ciao," I say casually, and flick my hair back. "Si. Ciao."I could so be Italian. Except I might have to learn a few more words.”

“I know this is our honeymoon. But just sometimes, I wish Luke was a girl.”

“Material possessions aren't important to me," I say breathlessly. "All that matters to me is yoga.”

“Do you respond to every e-mail you get, Becky?” Luke turns, incredulous. “Do you have a fine selection of Viagra substitutes too?”

“Honestly, it’s so easy to get what you want from people if they think you’re a psycho.”

“I can do this, I tell myself firmly. I can be attracted to him. It's just a matter of self control and possibly also getting very drunk. So I lift my glass and take several huge gulps. I can feel the bubbles surging into my head, singing happily "I'm going to be a millionaire's wife! I'm going to be a millionaire's wife!" And when I look back at Tarquin, he already looks a bit more attractive. Alcohol is obviously going to be the key to our marital status.”

“Christmas shopping! I can do all my Christmas shopping here! I know March is a bit early, but why not be organized? And then when Christmas arrives I won't have to go near the horrible Christmas crowds.”

“Thinking back, perhaps it took me longer than it should have to guess that he wasn't playing ball, so to speak. In fact, he actually had to punch me in the face get me off him - although he was very apologetic about it afterward.”

“I mean, when I think about it, what's more important? Clothes - or the miracle of new life?”

“she doesn’t really have a sense of humor. I think she’d like to have one—it’s just that she doesn’t quite understand what jokes are for.”

“If it's in the bin, it's public property.”

“Sam doesn't hesitate for a minute.'You say, "Mr and Mrs Tavish, you're making me feel inferior. Do you really think I'm inferior or is it just in my mind?”

“I'll have to admit, he really does have quite a smile. Kind of heart-stopping, especially as it comes out of nowhere.I mean... you know. If your heart was in the kind of place to be stopped.”

“Except...I do. Of course I do. Because as his hands gently cup my waist, I don't make a sound. As he swivels me around to face him, I don't make a sound. I don't need to. We're still talking. Every touch he makes, every imprint of his skin is like another word, another thought, a continuation of our conversation. And we're not done yet. Not yet.”

“There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.”

“There are some things I don't understand about Jess and never will. No wedding dress. No flowers. No photo album. No champagne. The only thing she got out of her wedding was a husband. (I mean, obviously the husband is the main point when you get married. Absolutely. That goes without saying. But still, not even a new pair of shoes?)”

“A mistake isn’t a mistake unless it can’t be put right.”

“If your life's at a juncture and you need to think about things, there's nowhere better than home. However old you are.”

“I often wonder what she's thinking," says Ed, still gazing up at her. "That's quite an intriguing expression she has.""I often wonder that myself," chimes in Malcolm Gledhill eagerly. "She seems to have such a look of serenity and happiness...Obviously, from what you've said, she has a certain emotional connection with the painter Malory...I often wonder if he was reading her poetry as he painted...""What an idiot this man is," says Sadie scathingly in my ear. "It's obvious I what I'm thinking. I'm looking at Stephan and I'm thinking, I want to jump his bones.""She wanted to jump his bones," I say to Malcolm Gledhill. Ed shoots me a disbelieving look, then bursts into laughter.”

“We're playing Scrabble. It's a nightmare.""Scrabble?" He sounds surprised. "Scrabble's great.""Not when you're playing with a family of geniuses, it's not. They all put words like 'iridiums'. And I put 'pig'.”

“I don't speak Japanese, I don't know anything about Japanese business or Japanese culture. Apart from sushi. But I can't exactly go up to him and say "Sushi!" out of the blue. It would be like going up to a top American businessman and saying, "T-bone steak!”

“Lover? I don't know. I don't know if she loves me. I don't know if I love her. All I can say is, she's the one I think about. All the time. She's the voice I want to hear. She's the face I hope to see.”