I read a lot of 'The Canterbury Tales' on my phone last year, because I was cycling between three different editions, and I needed to have a middle-of-the-night edition for the insomniac reading.

There’s something really rich and powerful in not talking about what you need to talk about sometimes.

It's also true, however, that having conquered the regional writer ghetto, I am now intent on conquering the nationalist writer ghetto and moving out into the world more.

Tangled in one another's arms and nine times out of ten the things you think about a person make it impossible to touch them.

I judged about a zillion awards this year so Ive been reading a lot of books that just came out.

I don't know exactly how long the book as we know it will exist, but I fully expect to make it to my death without having to give up on books.

I believe in choosing the hardest book imaginable. I believe in reading up on what others have to say about this difficult book, and then making up my own mind.