diff --git a/notes.org b/notes.org
index 8813f59..a00857a 100644
--- a/notes.org
+++ b/notes.org
@@ -212,13 +212,22 @@ i will use rustyline, since it seems like the most feature-complete
 
 * DONE remove uneeded error variants
 
-* STRT parse integers
+* DONE parse integers
 
-** TODO Function to get a token until condition is false
+** DONE Function to get a token until condition is false
 
-** TODO Parse the integer
+** DONE Parse the integer
 
-* TODO parse strings
+* DONE parse strings
+
+* TODO better error message display for unclosed " in string
+
+* TODO parse insert statements in the form
+insert <id:int> <username:string> <email:string>
+** TODO Row struct
+** TODO parse row insert
+** TODO serialize/deserialize row to/from raw bytes
+*** TODO look for best practices for creating binary formats
 
 * WAIT cli tests using insta-cmd
 https://insta.rs/docs/cmd/
diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index 4aa33d0..b2fc3bc 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
-use rustyline::{history::FileHistory, Editor};
+use rustyline::{Editor, history::FileHistory};
 
 fn xdg_state_dir() -> Option<PathBuf> {
     if let Ok(dir) = std::env::var("XDG_STATE_DIR") {
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ pub fn history_file() -> Option<std::path::PathBuf> {
         Some(state.join("cli_history"))
     } else {
         eprintln!("Warning: failed to find or create XDG_STATE_DIR for osdb.");
-        eprintln!("Warning: either set XDG_STATE_DIR or HOME, and ensure osdb has write permissions to that directory.");
+        eprintln!(
+            "Warning: either set XDG_STATE_DIR or HOME, and ensure osdb has write permissions to that directory."
+        );
         None
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/parser.rs b/src/parser.rs
index e97d474..7cff3b0 100644
--- a/src/parser.rs
+++ b/src/parser.rs
@@ -23,14 +23,14 @@ pub fn parse(file: String, input: String) -> Result<Vec<Command>, Vec<CommandPar
                 token,
                 &["statement", "meta command", "eof"],
             )),
+            crate::tokens::TokenData::String(_) => errs.push(CommandParseError::UnexpectedToken(
+                token,
+                &["statement", "meta command", "eof"],
+            )),
             crate::tokens::TokenData::EndOfFile => (),
         }
     }
-    if errs.is_empty() {
-        Ok(cmds)
-    } else {
-        Err(errs)
-    }
+    if errs.is_empty() { Ok(cmds) } else { Err(errs) }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/src/tokens.rs b/src/tokens.rs
index 7c44906..b810d17 100644
--- a/src/tokens.rs
+++ b/src/tokens.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ pub enum TokenData {
     MetaCommand(MetaCommand),
     EndOfFile,
     Int(i64),
+    String(String),
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for Token {
             TokenData::MetaCommand(x) => write!(f, "meta-command {x}"),
             TokenData::EndOfFile => write!(f, "end of file"),
             TokenData::Int(x) => write!(f, "integer {x}"),
+            TokenData::String(x) => write!(f, "string {x:?}"),
         }?;
         let lexeme = &self.lexeme;
         write!(f, " {lexeme:?}")
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ pub enum ScanErrorKind {
     UnknownKeyword(String),
     UnknownMetaCommand(String),
     ParseIntError(std::num::ParseIntError),
+    UnexpectedEndOfInputWhileLookingForMatching(char, Location),
 }
 
 impl std::fmt::Display for ScanErrorKind {
@@ -93,6 +96,10 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for ScanErrorKind {
             ScanErrorKind::UnknownKeyword(x) => write!(f, "unknown keyword: {x:?}"),
             ScanErrorKind::UnknownMetaCommand(x) => write!(f, "unknown meta-command: {x:?}"),
             ScanErrorKind::ParseIntError(x) => write!(f, "failed to parse integer: {x}"),
+            ScanErrorKind::UnexpectedEndOfInputWhileLookingForMatching(c, _) => write!(
+                f,
+                "unexpected end of input while looking for matching {c:?}"
+            ),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -124,6 +131,10 @@ impl Tokenizer {
         Location::new(self.file.clone(), self.offset, length)
     }
 
+    fn previous_location(&self, length: usize) -> Location {
+        Location::new(self.file.clone(), self.offset - 1, length)
+    }
+
     fn is_at_end(&self) -> bool {
         self.offset >= self.input.len()
     }
@@ -257,6 +268,43 @@ impl Tokenizer {
         }
     }
 
+    fn scan_string(&mut self) -> Result<Token, ScanError> {
+        let start_offset = self.offset;
+        let mut word = String::new();
+        let mut lexeme = String::new();
+        let mut length = 0;
+        let mut valid = false;
+        if let Some(c) = self.advance() {
+            lexeme.push(c);
+            length += 1;
+        }
+        while let Some(c) = self.advance() {
+            lexeme.push(c);
+            length += 1;
+            if c == '"' {
+                valid = true;
+                break;
+            } else {
+                word.push(c);
+            }
+        }
+        if valid {
+            Ok(Token {
+                location: Location::new(self.file.clone(), start_offset, length),
+                data: TokenData::String(word),
+                lexeme,
+            })
+        } else {
+            Err(ScanError {
+                location: self.previous_location(0),
+                kind: ScanErrorKind::UnexpectedEndOfInputWhileLookingForMatching(
+                    '"',
+                    Location::new(self.file.clone(), start_offset, 1),
+                ),
+            })
+        }
+    }
+
     fn scan_token(&mut self) -> Result<Option<Token>, ScanError> {
         loop {
             if let Some(c) = self.peek() {
@@ -266,6 +314,8 @@ impl Tokenizer {
                     return self.scan_meta_command().map(Some);
                 } else if Self::digit(c) {
                     return self.scan_integer().map(Some);
+                } else if c == '"' {
+                    return self.scan_string().map(Some);
                 } else if c.is_whitespace() {
                     self.advance();
                 } else {