“Any book is a Good Book, and wherever they keep the Good Book safe is also the House a the Lord. ”

“No, books. She would have maybe twenty going at a time, lying all over our house--on the kitchen table, by her bed, the bathroom, our car, her bags, a little stack at the edge of each stair. And she'd use anything she could find for a bookmark. My missing sock, an apple core, her reading glasses, another book, a fork.”

“Books?" Ridley looked disgusted. "Carry?”

“You need help, and that's what books are for.”

“Until then, you can do what everyone else your age does. Listen to music. Watch the television. Just keep your nose away from those books.”

“Are you kidding? I'm supposed to put my books in this filthy tin coffin?”

“You couldn't unburn the books. You could only buy new ones.”