The Breaker - series. Books 1 - 3:

 

The Breaker

ISBN: 9781656281517

Description:

How do you know the one you love won’t hurt you?

Or even try to kill you?
In many cases … you don’t.

How do we choose our path and purpose in life?

What makes us who we are?
When Seth Egan starts working as a private detective, he knows he’ll make enemies.
It goes with the territory.
As Seth works on a murder case and hunts down the killers, he becomes the target.
Some people have no conscience, shame, empathy, or remorse.
To get their own way, to get what they want, to take everything, they will do anything.
Even murder.
In the end, they will drag you down to hell with them.
Sometimes, our enemies are those closest to us.

Amazon link:

https://t.co/eKFZ03giKR?amp=1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bad Blood

ISBN: 9798682203192

Description:

No one is paying Seth Egan for his latest case.

He keeps this one unofficial.

Pro bono publico.

Off the books.

For him, this one is personal.

A matter of bad blood.

A woman with a grudge of her own leads Seth to a place where people vanish without trace.

Money is the motive.

Greed is the motivator.

Scores that can only be settled in blood.

A dark underworld of illegal gambling, prostitution, drugs, violence and murder.

Amazon link:

 

https://t.co/e0XiS8crAr?amp=1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mall Maze

ISBN: 9798729917235

Description:

Friday the 13th.

Unlucky for many.

What should have been a routine adultery case ends with Seth Egan fighting for his life.

Cut off from the world.

With no way to call for help.

Trapped in a place where the walls are coming down around him.

Seth is running out of places to hide.

As chaos reigns and the city burns … the hunters close in.

Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09244XVYW/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Themes:

Abuse by proxy, Adultery, C-PTSD, crime, detective, domestic abuse, enabler, flying monkey, gaslighting, hardboiled, heist, infidelity, murder, narcissism, narcissist, narcissistic abuse, neo-noir, personality disorder, psychopath, sociopath, suspense, thriller, vigilante, violence.

Books available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle.

A percentage from sales of my books is donated to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.

What’s On?

What’s On?

A Guide to Movies and TV Shows

Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9798342696098

Paperback

ISBN-13: 9798341177307

Kindle

ASIN: B0DJTZ8T58

Back cover description:

What’s On? … is the timeless question we have all asked ourselves almost every day of our lives, as we reach for the remote control and settle in front of the TV screen.

Jack Kost, a life-long movie buff and coffee addict, offers his choice of favorite movie and television masterpieces.

Providing possible answers to the question of What’s On? with over 1,900 titles, from golden oldies and timeless classics, to more recent releases, all meticulously logged and summarized.

An invaluable and collectable go-to source for discovering new favorites and revisiting old ones.

Perfect for film enthusiasts and casual viewers alike, this guide will spark conversations, bring back memories, and help you navigate the ever-evolving world of screen entertainment.

A wealth of recommendations and insights from a passionate movie buff to enrich your viewing experience, complete with personal reminiscences and nostalgic reflections, told with a world-wise critical eye, sardonic dry wit, a healthy dose of cynicism, biting observations, and a well-founded rant here and there.

Just don’t challenge or get him started on his personal favorites, like The Shining, Point Blank, Jaws, The Exorcist, The Duellists, Romeo Is Bleeding, or The Ninth Configuration. His opinions on these and other iconic titles are as intense and unyielding as the movies themselves.

All compiled by an author who not only watched the movies, but also read the books on which they were based, did his research, drank a lot of coffee in the process, and advocates for the importance and value of reading.

A glimpse into the over-caffeinated mind of a writer with a passion for great stories.

What’s On? is a celebration of the intersection between page and screen, and a reminder that great on-screen adaptations often start with a great book and a strong cup of coffee.

Kick back, grab your coffee, and enjoy the show!

As author Jack Kost says:

“Happy viewing … and do yourself a favor … read the books.”

Slipped Masks:

Slipped Masks

ISBN: 9781719330640

Description:

I can’t call you because if he hears me talking on the phone he’ll hit me again. He scares me. I know sooner or later he’s going to kill me. I’ll text you again when I can. I love you, Casey. I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving to you how much I love you. Please come. Please save me …

With only text messages to guide him, Casey Byrne is on the hunt, racing across five states to save his ex-girlfriend, Madison.

Casey loves Madison deeply and wants desperately to save her life and rekindle their relationship.

But the closer he gets to her, the more surreal his journey becomes as the dead bodies pile up in his wake.

Clinical Lycanthropy: the delusion that a human can physically transform into a wolf.

If you were insane, would you know it?

How would you see the world if you were convinced you could transform into a wolf?

The hunter … and the hunted.

Slipped Masks is a dark neo-noir thriller about how the need for love and companionship becomes twisted into obsession, possession, jealousy, violence and murder.

A horrifying portrait of Clinical Lycanthropy.

Amazon link:

https://t.co/2Gwb135V3m

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Themes:

Sociopathy, narcissistic abuse, personality disorder, Clinical Lycanthropy, crime, murder.

Book available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle.

A percentage from sales of this book is donated to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.

Work in progress:

My next books are Triangulation and Stinger.

Books 4 and 5 in The Breaker series.

Set in the year 2001, the story continues from Mall Maze.

Themes:

Crime, detective, hardboiled, heist, murder, narcissism, narcissistic abuse, neo-noir, psychopath, sociopath, thriller, vigilante.

 

A percentage from book sales is donated to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Breaker is an on-going series.

I’m outlining other stand-alone thriller novels.

Several coffee table books on my photography and my wife’s artwork.

A humorous book, based on the antics of our crazy pet Ragdoll cat, entitled: It’s That F****** Cat Again!

Here’s a GIF I made of our cat, settling down for another of his daily naps:

On this day in movie history - Get Low (2010):

Get Low

directed by Aaron Schneider,

written by Chris Provenzano, C. Gaby Mitchell and Scott Seeke,

was released in the United States on July 30, 2010.
Music by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek.
Inspired by the true story of Felix Bushaloo Breazeale.

Cast:

Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray, Lucas Black, Gerald McRaney, Bill Cobbs, Scott Cooper, Lori Beth Sikes, Linds Edwards, Andrea Powell, Chandler Riggs, Danny Vinson, Blerim Destani, Tomasz Karolak, Andy Stahl, Marc Gowan, Arin Logan.

On this day in movie history - Roadblock (1951):

Roadblock

directed by Harold Daniels,

written by George Bricker and Steve Fisher,

based on a story by Richard H. Landau and Daniel Mainwaring,

was released in the United States on July 30, 1951.
Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, Lowell Gilmore, Louis Jean Heydt, Milburn Stone.

Born on this day – Peter Bogdanovich:

Peter Bogdanovich

Director

Writer

Actor

Producer

Critic

Film historian

July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022

Credits:

Books:

A Moment with Miss Gish; A Year and a Day Engagement Calendar 1992: A Desk Diary Adapted From the Works of Robert Graves; All I Wanna Do is Direct: My First Picture Shows 1965–1971; Fritz Lang in America; John Ford; Peter Bogdanovich's Movie of the Week; Pieces of Time: Peter Bogdanovich on the Movies; The Cinema of Alfred Hitchcock; The Cinema of Howard Hawks; The Cinema of Orson Welles; The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten 1960–1980; This is Orson Welles; Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors; Who the Hell's in It: Conversations with Hollywood's Legendary Actors.

Movies and television:

100 Jahre Hollywood - Die Carl Laemmle Story (2011); 20 Most Horrifying Hollywood Murders (2006); 20/20 (2019); 3D: A Brief History (2004); 54 (1998); 78/52 (2017); 8 Simple Rules (2004); A Constant Forge (2000); A Decade Under the Influence (2003); A Film of Firsts: Peter Bogdanovitch on Red River (2014); A Final Cut for Orson: 40 Years in the Making (2018); Abandoned (2010); Above Suspicion (2019); AFI Life Achievement Award (1973–1975); AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition (2007); AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions: America's Greatest Love Stories (2002); Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Spymaster (2008); All About 'the Birds' (2000); Allen Ludden's Gallery (1969); America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (2010); America This Morning (1988); American Experience (1996–2013); American Masters (1990–2011); Anatomy of a Scene (2001–2004); Apropos Film (1973); Are You Here (2013); Arena (1982); Argentina, 1985 (2022); Asking for the Moon (2003); Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm (2006); At Long Last Love (1975); Backstory (2000–2001); Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow! (1996); Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018); Be Water / 30 for 30 (2023); Before the Fact: Suspicious Hitchcock (2004); Behind Closed Doors (2018); Bella Mafia (1997); Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right (1996); Between Us (2016); Beyond Doubt: The Making of Hitchcock's Favorite Film (2000); Biography (1987–2005); Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters (2006); Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017); Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster (2021); Bret Easton Ellis Podcast (2016); Broken English (2007); Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005); Budd Boetticher: An American Original (2005); By Bogdanovich (2011); Camera Three (1971–1976); Carl Laemmle (2019); Casting By (2012); CBS Mornings (1988); CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley (2022); Century of Cinema (1995); Charlie Rose (1997–2006); Cinema (1975); Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave (1992); CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion (2012); Claire Makes It Big (1998); Cold Turkey (2013); Coming Soon (1999); Commemoration: Howard Hawks' 'Rio Bravo' (2007); Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011); Culture Shock (2000); Cybill (1995); Daisy Miller (1974); Daisy Miller: An Introduction by Peter Bogdanovich (2003); Dedication (2007); Dinah! (1975); Dinner for Five (2003); Directed by John Ford (1971); Dirty Sexy Money (2007); Documentary Now! (2016); Dogtown (1997); Don't Let Me Go (2013); Dorothy Stratten: The Untold Story (1985); Dreaming the Quiet Man (2010); Dreaming with Scissors: Hitchcock, Surrealism & Salvador Dali (2008); Durant's Never Closes (2016); E! Mysteries & Scandals (1999–2001); E! True Hollywood Story (2000–2006); Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003); Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen (2004); Edge of Outside (2006); F for Fake (1973); Fade (2011); Fallen Angels (1995); Festival in Cannes (2001); Film '72 (1972); Film Genre (2002); Five Easy Pieces: BBStory (2010); Fragments of Paradise (2022); Get Shorty (2017–2019); Getting the Moon (2003); Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast (2016); Glanz und Elend in Hollywood: Natalie Wood (2009); Godard Made in USA (2010); Great Performances (1987–1988); Guilt by Association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound (2008); Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'the Wrong Man' (2004); HARDtalk Extra (2005); HDVD Extra (2004); Highball (1997); Hitchcock and Dial M (2004); Hitchcock and 'Stage Fright' (2004); Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015); Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (1999); Hitchcock's Confession: A Look at 'I Confess' (2004); Hollywood Beat (1997); Hollywood Gangster (2008); Hollywood Greats (1999); Hollywood Insider (2021); Hollywood Legenden (2004); Hollywood Mavericks (1990); Hollywood Scandals (2011); Hollywood's Master Storytellers: Paper Moon (2016); How Far Would You Go for Love? (2010); How I Met Your Mother (2010); Howard Hawks on the Front Page and His Girl Friday (2017); Howard Hawks: American Artist (1997); Humboldt County (2008); Hustle (2004); I Am Burt Reynolds (2020); I Love New York (2002); Il était une fois... (2009); Il falso bugiardo (2008); Illegally Yours (1988); Independent Lens (2009); Infamous (2006); Insights (2021); Intimate Portrait (1999–2000); It Chapter Two (2019); It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures (2001); It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein (1994); Jackie Brown (1997); Jamais sur vos écrans (2016); Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II (1993); Jean Renoir: Part Two - Hollywood and Beyond (1993); Jenseits von Hollywood - Das Kino des Otto Preminger (2006); Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten (2006); Joanne Carson's VIPs (1973); John Cassavetes: A Discussion (2000); John Ford Goes to War (2002); John Wayne Standing Tall (1989); Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast (1977); Josef von Sternberg, the Man Who Made Dietrich (1994); Karloff and Me (2006); Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003); Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004); King of Cool (2021); Kraft Theatre (1958); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2005–2007); L'homme qui a vu l'homme qui a vu l'ours (1990); Lick the Star (1998); Liebe in Hollywood (1995); Lions Love (... and Lies) (1969); Los Angeles Overnight (2018); Love Hollywood Style (2004); Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition (2016); Magacine (1999); Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014); Marilyn Monroe - Ich möchte geliebt werden (2010); Mask (1985); 'Mask' Revealed: A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich (2004); Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood (2010); Moonlighting (1987); Moving Pictures (1990); Mr. Hitchcock Meets the Smiths (2004); Mr. Jealousy (1997); My First Time (2006); My Left Hand Man (2011); Naked City: A Killer Christmas (1998); Never Say Goodbye AIDS Benefit by Yoko Ono (1995); New York at the Movies (2002); Nickelodeon (1976); Nightwalkers (2021); No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (2008); Noises Off... (1992); Northern Exposure (1993); One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich & the Lost American Film (2014); One Handshake Away: Peter Bogdanovich and the Icons of Cinema (2024); One Lucky Moon (2024); Opening Night (1977); Orson Welles en el país de Don Quijote (2000); Orson Welles: What Went Wrong? (1992); Our Friend River (2006); Out of Order (2003); Out of the Blue and into the Black (1987); Palmer (2021); Paper Moon (1973); Passion and Romance: The Wings of the Dove (1999); Pearly Gates (2015); Personal History: Foreign Hitchcock (2004); Peter Bogdanovich in conversation with Jesse Hawthorne Ficks (2017); Phantom Halo (2014); Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas (1991); Picture Windows (1994); Pieces of Time: Bogdanovich on the Movies (1987); Pollywood (2020); Pop Culture Beast's Halloween Horror Picks (2014); Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991); Produced and Directed by Otto Preminger: An Appreciation by Peter Bogdanovich (2018); Prowler (1995); Pure Cinema: Birth of the Hitchcock Style (2007); Queen of the Lot (2010); Rated X (2000); 'Rear Window' Ethics: Remembering and Restoring a Hitchcock Classic (2001); Reborn (2018); Reinventando Hollywood (2008); Reputations (1999); Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women (1997); Revisiting Mr. Jealousy (2021); Rizzoli & Isles (2011); Roger Corman, le pape du pop cinéma (2021); Saint Jack (1979); Saturday Night at the Movies (1974–2013); Scene Stealers (2004); Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001); Screwball Comedies... Remember Them? (1972); Searching for Orson (2006); Secret Identity (2011); She's Funny That Way (2014); Shootout (2005–2006); Sightings (1995); Silent Hollywood: Cult, Stars, Scandals (2005); Siskel & Ebert (2000); Six LA Love Stories (2016); Skeeter Hammond: Handles, Hops and the Fourth Dimension (2003); Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020); Smiling Through the Apocalypse (2013); Srbi u Holivudu (2012); Stagecoach: A Story of Redemption (2006); Stardust Hollywood - Sternenstaub und Götterwelten (2013); Starlight (2014); Still Cher (2002); Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic (2004); Sunday AM (2007); Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso (2019); Talking Pictures (1979 / 1988); Talking Sopranos (2021); Tangiers by Friday (2024); Targets (1968); 'Targets': An Introduction by Peter Bogdanovich (2003); TCM Remembers 2022 (2022); TCM Remembers Peter Bogdanovich (2022); TCM: Twenty Classic Moments (2014); Tesla Nation (2018); Texas Monthly Talks (2004); Texasville (1990); That Was Orson Welles (2016); The 11th IFP/West Annual Independent Spirit Awards (1996); The 16th Annual Satellite Awards (2011); The 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2022); The 31st Annual Golden Globe Awards (1974); The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972); The 50 Greatest Television Dramas (2007); The 51st State (1972); The Carson Podcast (2017); The Cat's Meow (2001); The Century / Segment: Picture This (1999); The City Girl (1984); The Clive James Interview (1991); The Cole Porter Project (2024); The Complete Citizen Kane (1991); The Creatress (2019); The David Frost Show (1972); The Definition of Insanity (2004); The Dick Cavett Show (1972); The Doorman (2007); The Dukes (2007); The Essentials (2001); The Fabulous Allan Carr (2017); The Fifth Patient (2007); The Good Wife (2014); The Great Buster (2018); The Great Professional: Howard Hawks (1967); The Independent (2000); The Informer: Out of the Fog (2006); The Irv Kupcinet Show (1975); The Lady from Shanghai: A Discussion with Peter Bogdanovich (2000); The Last of the Old Masters: Peter Bogdanovich on Allan Dwan (2009); The Last Picture Show (1971); The Last Picture Show Re-Release Promo (1971); The Last Picture Show: A Look Back (1999); The Look of Frances Ha (2013); The Look of the Film (2006); The Lost Print (2022); The Making of Highball (date?); The Making of 'Rebecca' (2008); The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird (2006); The Merv Griffin Show (1972); The Mike Douglas Show (1971–1973); The Moviemakers (1984); The Movies (2019); The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004); The Next Picture Show (2003); The Old Man: Peter Bogdanovich Remembers John Ford (2016); The Oprah Winfrey Show (2004); The Oscars (2022); The Other Side of the Wind (2018); The Price of Heaven (1997); The Prime Gig (2000); The Private Life of a Masterpiece (2004); The Rabbit Will Die (2024); The Racket (1928); The Roy Leonard Show (1972); The Seventh Art (2012); The Shoe Store (1999); The Simpsons (2007); The Sopranos (2000–2007); The Sound of Silence: The Making of 'The Lodger' (2008); The Squid and the Whale (2005); The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011); The Story of 'Frenzy' (2001); The Tell-Tale Heart (2016); The Thing Called Love (1993); The Thing Called Love: A Look Back (2006); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1972–1975); The Trip (1967); The Trouble with Marnie (2000); The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh (2014); The Ultimate Romance: The Making of 'Notorious' (2008); The Watch (2011); The Wild Angels (1966); The Wild One (2022); The Wonderful World of Disney (1999); The Working Man (2011); They All Laughed (1981); They All Laughed 25 Years Later: Director to Director - A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich and Wes Anderson (2006); They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018); This Is Orson Welles (2015); This Morning (2004); Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time, Parts 1-3 (2020); 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris (2006); To Sir, with Love II (1996); Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream (2007); Tomorrow Coast to Coast (1974); Tomorrow, Yesterday, and Today (2010); Twelve (2008); U.S.A. Today: The Television Series (1988); Un jour, une histoire (2011); Unexplained Mysteries / Segment: The Curse of a Hollywood Icon (2003); Vittorio D. (2009); Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968); Wanderlust (2006); Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary: No Guts, No Glory (1998); We Blew It (2017); What Is Cinema? (2013); What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018); What's Up, Doc? (1972); While We're Young (2014); Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1995); Willie and Me (2023); With Orson Welles: Stories of A Life in Film (1990); Working with Orson Welles (1993); WTF with Marc Maron (2015); y usted... de qué se ríe? / and you... what are you laughing at? (2000).

Born on this day – Anne Ridler:

Anne Ridler

Writer

July 30, 1912 – October 15, 2001

Credits:

Book:

Collected Poems (1997).

Born on this day – Emily Brontë:

Emily Brontë

Writer

July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848

Credits:

Books:

Collected Poems (2019); Emily Bronte: Poems (1996); Gondal's Queen (1973); No Coward Soul Is Mine (1993); The Complete Poems of Emily Bronte (1941); The Darker Sex (2009); The Seventeenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1981); Women Who Wrote (2020); Writers: Their Lives and Works (2018); Wuthering Heights (1847).

Movies and television:

Bad Music Video Theatre (2021); BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1953); Broadway Television Theatre (1953); Cime tempestose (1956); Cumbres borrascosas (1963 / 1964 / 1976 / 1978 / 1979); De woeste hoogte (1966); El gharib (1956); Encounter (1957); Grande Teatro Tupi (1952–1963); Guiding Light (1982); Heathcliff (1997); Hun gui li hen tian (1957); Hun Gui Lihentian (1940); I riassuntini (2018); I Will Wait for You in Heaven (1991); Kraft Theatre (1948); La Hora Fate (1960–1962); Las grandes novellas (1971); Les hauts de Hurlevent (1968); Mastura (1998); Matinee Theatre (1955–1957); Monodrama Theater (1953); Novela (1974); O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes (1967); Ocho estrellas en busca del amor (1964); Ölmeyen ask (1966); One Man's Story (1953); Sparkhouse (2002); Spellbound (2021); Spotlight (1954); Studio One (1950); The DuPont Show of the Month (1958); The Promise (2007); The Wrong Boyfriend (2015); Vendaval (1973); Wichrowe Wzgórza / audioplay (2022); Wuthering Heights (1920 / 1939 / 1948 / 1954 / 1959 / 1962 / 1967 / 1970 / 1978 / 1985 / 1988 / 1992 / 1998 / 2003 / 2004 / 2009 / 2011 / 2018 / 2020 / 2022); Zoe and the Astronaut (2018).

Recommended reading - The Bee Book (2016):

The Bee Book

The Wonder of Bees. How to Protect Them. Beekeeping know-how.

Authors: Fergus Chadwick, Steve Alton, Emma Sarah Tennant, Bill Fitzmaurice, Judy Earl.

Published by DK.
Published 2016.

Hardcover.

First Edition.

ISBN-13: 9781465443830

Back cover description:

Bees are vital to the future of the planet, yet they are under threat and in decline.
The Bee Book offers remarkable insights into their world and shows how we can support and enjoy them in our daily lives.
What makes bees such perfect pollinators?
How can we adapt our outdoor spaces to feed and attract the widest variety of bees?
How is honey harvested?
Find answers to these questions and so much more in this beautiful celebration of bees.

Ann Patchett, on reading fiction:

Reading fiction is important.

It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own,

which in turn makes us more empathetic beings.

Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking,

and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone,

two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps.

- Ann Patchett.