The doctors may be mapping out the war games, but it is the nurses who make the conflict bearable.

May I ask you something?" I say. "Why do you read books, when you could be outside, living a million different adventures every day?" "Because you can always count on a book to stay the same. EVerything else changes when you least expect it," she replies, bitter. "Families split apart, and nothing's forever. In books, you always know what's coming next. There are no surprises.

You can fool yourself, you know. You'd think it's impossible, but it turns out it's the easiest thing of all.

You give her all your french fries, even when she won't give you back onion rings,' Sophie says. 'And when you say her name it sounds different.' How?' Sophie thinks. 'Like it's covered with blankets.

A woman isn't all that different from a bonfire. A fire's a beautiful thing, right? Something you can't take your eyes off, when it's burning. If you can keep it contained, it'll throw light and heat for you. It's only when it gets out of control that you have to go on the offensive.

My brother believed in all sorts of mythical creatures: pixies, dragons, werewolves, honest men.

I think I have sort of gravitated toward issues that I don't know the answers to, because that's what's more interesting for me to write.