“Not that she objected to solitude. Quite the contrary. She had books, thank Heaven, quantities of books. All sorts of books.”

“Not being the sort to throw a book, she pounded her fist on her cushion.”

“She would bring you some great book because she was a book matchmaker, because she loved books the way other girls loved clothes.”

“She reads a lot of books. Good things, books.”

“She never said, "No, don't buy that trash," or "Pick a real book." She knew they were all real books. This is how great a librarian she was. And how great a mom.”

“She was the amoureuse of all the novels, the heroine of all the plays, the vague “she” of all the poetry books.”

“She loved the smell of books, the feel of books, the look of them on the shelf.”

“Jane nodded, and she mentally thanked the several-greats-grandmother who had decided she’d rather risk royal displeasure than give up a book.”

“My books must be an absolute nightmare to translate. I wouldn't do it. I had a couple of them in Japanese some years ago and my wife met a Japanese woman who said that she had read the books. And she asked her what the translations were like. This woman said they were the worst translation she had ever read in her life. She said she didn't recognise the books when she finally read them in English.”

“She did not care very much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books she could console herself.”