The Hunger Games' isn't for everybody. But neither is 'Anna Karenina.

Books are like blankets, the mere sight of them around the house provides warmth and comfort. They are like mirrors, too, reflecting places I've been, phases I've been through, people I've loved or thought I did.

Chicago is constantly auditioning for the world, determined that one day, on the streets of Barcelona, in Berlin's cabarets, in the coffee shops of Istanbul, people will know and love us in our multidimensional glory, dream of us the way they dream of San Francisco and New York.

Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.

Families are ecosystems. Each life grows in response to the lives around it

Be nice to your siblings. They are your link to the past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young.