Bookstores, like libraries, are the physical manifestation of the wide world's longest, most thrilling conversation.

They stayed, many of them, because staying was easier and less scary than leaving.

Stories worked much the same way . . . A false note at the beginning was much more costly than one nearer the end because early errors were part of the foundation.

A couple years ago, the novelist Russell Banks told me he was reading the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. I asked why. He said, 'Because I've always wanted to and am tired of having my reading assigned.' I thought it was a marvelous declaration of independence.

Whatever you're working on, take small bites. The task will not be overwhelming if you can reduce it to its smallest component.

To his surprise, she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, a kiss so full of affection that it dispelled the awkwardness, even as it caused Miles' heart to plummet, because all kisses are calibrated, and this one revealed the great chasm between affection and love.

People in small towns, much more than in cities, share a destiny.