“So I had nothing to distract me from my books and their other worlds that swallowed me whole, from Narnia to the Wisconsin woods, from a small town in Sweden to the red earth of Prince Edward Island. Nothing and no one interested me as much as my books.”

“I couldn't will my beloved Berlin streets across the world or make the people I loved appear when I needed them, but by summoning the flavors of Berlin and the foods of my loved ones, my kitchen became my sanctuary, the stove my anchor.Distance means nothing when your kitchen smells like home.”

“The baker has to have not only strength and fortitude, but patience too.”

“I know that we have nothing to fear from the flag burners. We have a great deal to fear from those who have lost faith in the Constitution.”

“When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.”

“Wooded islands foregrounded the mainland darkly.”

“In a world of beings who don't exist, who self-destruct and erase themselves, perhaps one should make a valiant effort to at least draw oneself. Maybe that's where all the sex comes from- to feel real.”