It’s all very well for such a person to whine and moan and criticize other family members, but they won’t let anyone else do it. That’s when you get your back up and show loyalty.

A small but noteworthy note. I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.

The book thief has struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career.

Outside is dark. The kitchen light is loud. It deafens me as I walk towards it.

All told, she owned fourteen books, but she saw her story as being made up predominantly of ten of them. Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden Jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon.

I'm not the messenger at all. I'm the message.

Yes, the sky was now a devastating, home-cooked red. The small German town had been flung apart one more time. Snowflakes of ash fell so lovelily you were tempted to stretch out your tongue to catch them, taste them. Only, they would have scorched your lips. They would have cooked your mouth.