My Commonplace Book: July 2026

A selection of quotes and pictures to represent July’s reading: commonplace book noun a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use. ~ Put one foot in front of the other, and she would get to the other side. Now she knew there was no other side to grief, no other place to get to. You never got through it, not in the way you might get through an illness or a wild storm or an examination. It never went away. Instead, it became a part of you. The Lost Château by Dinah Jefferies (2026) ~ You can’t win when you’re fighting someone who doesn’t know there is a fight. The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott (1948) ~ Aphrodite and Adonis c. 410 BC If Ares saw this, I think, if he were made to confront the consequences of his wars, would it stir any flicker of regret in his iron soul? He can fly away from the carnage, his chariot pulled by fire-breathing, bronze-hooved horses, and never have to think about it. It’s goddesses who hear the prayers of the…