“A book is meant not only to be read, but to haunt you, to importune you like a lover or a parent, to be in your teeth like a piece of gristle.”

“There'll be times when the only refuge is books. Then you'll read as if you meant it, as if your life depended on it.”

“You can’t herd the stars. You can only gaze at them, never touch, like love. Yes, you can ‘be’ in love and ‘fall’ in love, but you can never ‘touch’ love. You can only touch things that represent love, like a lover, or a book, or a lover’s book, or lovers in a book.”

“Remember, you're reading for pleasure. If you pick up a book and don't like it, put it down. Never read what you think you should read. Never feel inadequate if you don't like what you're 'supposed' to like. Reading is personal. Yours is the only opinion that matters.”

“The only way to really know whether or not you will like a book, is to read it.”

“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”