You are a total stranger and you want to take my library book.

And how could anyone consent to give up the smell of open books, old or new?

As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws.

I love to cook and I've cooked a lot of Bulgarian food over the years.

There is nothing harder, at moments, than talking to someone who has all the power of silence.

It was strange, I reflected.. that even in the weirdest circumstances, the most troubling episodes of one's life, the greatest divides from home and familiarity, there were these moments of undeniable joy.

You are a total stranger and you want to take my library book.