Lauren Oliver:
(born Laura Suzanne Schechter; November 8, 1982).
American author of numerous young adult novels including Panic; the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem; and Before I Fall, which became a major motion picture in 2017.
The windows are open, admitting the September breeze―a month that smells like notepaper and pencil shavings, autumn leaves, and car oil. A month that smells like progress and moving on.
The passage presents ‘September as a month of transition and new beginnings’:
– ‘Notebook paper and pencil shavings’ evoke returning to school, fresh starts, and learning.
– ‘Autumn leaves’ suggest seasonal change and the passing of time.
– ‘Car oil’ conveys movement, machinery, travel, and perhaps independence.
– “Progress” and “moving on” connect these physical smells to emotional change—leaving the past behind and entering a new stage of life.
Oliver uses ‘olfactory imagery’ and a form of ‘synesthesia’, describing an abstract period of time through its imagined smells. The mood is both nostalgic and hopeful: September marks an ending, but also the possibility of forward movement.
📖 Author and origin:
The quotation is by Lauren Oliver, from her 2015 young-adult novel “Vanishing Girls”.
It is commonly printed as:
> “The windows are open, admitting the September breeze: a month that smells like notebook paper and pencil shavings, autumn leaves and car oil. A month that smells like progress, like moving on.”
> — Lauren Oliver, “Vanishing Girls”
Wording and punctuation may vary slightly among editions and online quotation sites; “notebook paper” is the version most often cited.
August still stretched before us long and golden and reassuring, like an endless period of delicious sleep.
This quote captures the ‘lazy, boundless quality of late summer’ —specifically the month of August. It conveys:
– 🕰️ Endless time:
– The month feels infinite, like a dream you never want to wake from.
– ☀️ Comfort & safety:
“Golden” and “reassuring” evoke warmth, nostalgia, and peace.
– 😴 Restorative escape:
The simile of “delicious sleep” suggests August as a respite from life’s pressures.
The phrase is often used to describe the bittersweet, suspended feeling of summer’s final stretch before autumn’s responsibilities return.
✍️ Author & Origin:
It’s by Lauren Oliver, from her 2010 young adult novel “Before I Fall”.
– Book context:
The protagonist, Samantha Kingston, repeats her last day (February 12) over and over, but this line appears in a ‘flashback to the previous summer’, contrasting the golden August with her current frozen February.
– Themes:
The quote underscores the novel’s meditation on memory, time, and appreciating ordinary moments.
🔍 Why It Resonates
– Universal nostalgia:
Almost everyone remembers a summer that felt “endless” in childhood or youth.
– Poetic imagery:
The blend of sensory words (“golden”, “delicious”) makes the abstract idea of time feel tangible.
– Cultural echo:
Similar sentiments appear in works like “The Great Gatsby'”(“a fresh, green breast of the new world”) or L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables”, but Oliver’s phrasing is uniquely tactile and dreamy.
💬 Common Usage:
People quote this line in:
– 📝 ‘Personal essays’ about summer memories
– 📸 ‘Instagram captions’ for August sunset photos
– 🎓 ‘Graduation speeches’ (as a metaphor for youth’s perceived endlessness)
⚠️ Quick Correction:
While some attribute similar quotes to F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ray Bradbury, this exact sentence is ‘solely Lauren Oliver’s’. 🎯
I used to think that’s what love was: Knowing someone so well he was like a part of you.
– ‘Love can feel like deep familiarity’ — knowing someone’s habits, thoughts, moods, and inner world so well that they feel inseparable from you.
– “Like a part of you” suggests emotional closeness, attachment, and intimacy.
– But the phrase “I used to think…” is important:
it implies the speaker may be realizing that love is ‘more complicated’ than simply knowing someone well.
In short:
It’s about the idea that love feels like another person becoming part of your own identity — while also hinting that this idea may be incomplete.
Origin 📖:
– The quote is from “Before I Fall”.
– It is a young adult novel first published in 2010.
Author ✍️: Lauren Oliver.
– Lauren Oliver is the pen name of Laura Suzanne Schechter.
