''Fiction books give the reader a chance to step away from their own reality and into the shoes of the characters, and they show you a world that isn't the one you already know. And sometimes the story's not so different from your own, and it lets you get closer to your own feelings. So when you close a book you've just finished reading and return to reality, all the pain and sadness you couldn't put into words before are still there on those pages. And that can be comforting. Nice people can be happy with just that.''