“Here’s a book very unlike the others I have written—very much shorter, for one thing, as some readers may notice—but its intention is to share some experiences I’ve had while doing the others, and thoughts I’ve had about what I’ve been trying to do with those books.” Robert A. Caro, Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing.

“I like to think I know what death is.” Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing.

“It was no place for a harbor.” James Tejani, A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles—and America.

“She never called her mother Mom or Mommy or even Mother.” Ruth Reichl, The Paris Novel.

“On March 18, 1990, the city of Boston—and the world—suffered a profound loss when two men dressed as police officers commandeered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and pulled off the greatest art theft in world history.” Stephen Kurkjian, Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World’s Greatest Art Heist.

“Day 1,299 of My Captivity: Darkness suits me.” Shelby van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures.

“As the judge banged the gavel, William Dampier hung his head in disgrace.” Sam Kean, The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science.

“The Old North bell tolls the hour, and I realize that I’ll be late.” Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, The Personal Librarian.

“My family’s story is a particular one, but it is also a story that millions of families tell about their past.” David Leonhardt, Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream.

“The rainy streets of Dublin on a cold winter’s day were no place for a young boy to dawdle, unless that very same boy had his nose pressed up against the window of the most fascinating bookshop.” Evie Woods, The Lost Bookshop.

“The room felt like the bottom of a grave.” Mike Dash, The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia.

“Although I don’t consider myself particularly vain (except perhaps for considering myself more often than I should), I was pleased to have conceived such an expert murder, especially since I had never previously considered committing one.” Rupert Holmes, Murder Your Employer: McMasters Guide to Homicide.

“We tend to think of measurement as something taken from the world: as knowledge extracted from nature by means of scales, gauges, and rulers.” James Vincent, Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants.

“When I was 12, I remember holding hands with this girl—I want to say ‘Patty,’ but I am guessing here—and something about the way she held hands was just . . . wrong.” Paul Reiser, Couplehood.