I don't think ministering requires a religious context. The number one thing is that every parent is extremely worried about their kid. Of course, when a chaplain shows up, that can exacerbate this worry rather than calm it.

You cannot invent an algorithm that is as good at recommending books as a good bookseller, and that's the secret weapon of the bookstore - is that no algorithm will ever understand readers the way that other readers can understand readers.

It is very sad to me that some people are so intent on leaving their mark on the world that they don’t care if that mark is a scar.

... I didn't know whether to feel angry at her for making me part of her suicide or just to feel angry at myself for letting her go.

I know what happens a the end of falling-landing.

"I think forever is an incorrect concept," I answered. He smirked. "You're an incorrect concept." "I know. That's why I'm being taken out of the rotation".

Reading forces you to be quiet in a world that no longer makes place for that.