Most scholarly books we read for the information or insight they contain. But some we return to simply for the pleasure of the author's company.

In classic noir fiction and film, it is always hot. Fans whirr in sweltering hotel rooms, sweat forms on a stranger's brow, the muggy air stifles - one can hardly breathe. Come nightfall, there is no relief, only the darkness that allows illicit lovers to meet, the trusted to betray, and murderers to act.

The savagery and power of Edith Wharton's ghost stories surprised me.

Many people know that Shakespeare's dramatic 'canon' was established in 1623 by the publication of the so-called First Folio. That hefty volume contained thirty-six plays.

While Napoleon believed his fortunes to be governed by destiny, his real genius lay in self-control and martial daring coupled with an indomitable will to power.

From the late 19th to the early 20th century, the December issue of almost any general-interest magazine regularly featured a holiday horror or two.

Not all of E. Nesbit's children's books are fantasies, but even the most realistic somehow seem magical. In her holiday world, nobody ever goes to school, though all the kids know their English history, Greek myths, and classic tales of derring-do.

My urge at Christmas time or Hanukkah-time or Kwanzaa-time is that people go to bookstores: that they walk around bookstores and look at the shelves. Go to look for authors that they've loved in the past and see what else those authors have written.

I'm an appreciator. I love all kinds of books, and I want others to love them, too.

Books can be a source of solace, but I see them mainly as a source of pleasure, personal as well as esthetic.

I think of my own work as part of a decades-long conversation about books and reading with people I will mainly never meet.

People who've read my reviews know my tastes, know how I approach a book, know my background. I can write with believable authority. It doesn't mean I'm always right.

Critics for established venues are vetted by editors; they usually demonstrate a certain objectivity; and they come with known backgrounds and specialized knowledge.

Writers keep writing and publishers publishing - it never grows boring.

I do think digital media encourages speed-reading, which can be fine if one is simply seeking information. But a serious novel or work of history or volume of poetry is an experience one should savor, take time over.

Adventurous reading allows one to escape a little from the provincialities of one's home culture and the blinders of one's narrow self.

In my own case, my folks didn't actually object to comics, as many parents did, but they pretty much felt the things were a waste of time.

Since I make my living as a literary journalist, not a book scout, I spend inordinate amounts of time either reading or writing.

A reviewer's lot is not always an easy one. I can remember flogging myself to finish Harold Brodkey's 'The Runaway Soul' despite the novel's consummate, unmitigated tedium.

Books don't only furnish a room: they also make the best holiday gifts.

I once read that there are more biographical works about Napoleon Bonaparte than any other man in history.

I'm nothing if not a literary hedonist.

Young people looking for adventure fiction now generally turn to fantasy, but for those of a certain age, the spy thriller has long been the escape reading of choice.

Carl Barks was born in Merrill, Oregon, in 1901, grew up in a farming family, and eventually held a number of blue-collar jobs. He knew what it was to be poor and to work hard for a living.