The book that made me decide to go into Russian literature was 'Anna Karenina,' which I first read in high school. The thing that appealed to me and constituted its Russianness for me was that it was simultaneously incredibly funny and sad.

I've developed this love of trashy Russian literature. There's a women's detective series that I was obsessed with for a while, written by Aleksandra Marinina, the former chief of police.

The dominant question for us with regard to literature has become, 'What does this have to do with me, with life as I know it?' That's the question answered by all these books about how Proust was actually a neuroscientist or how Proust can teach you emotional intelligence.

Imagination is really dependent on memory and observation, these things that we think of as part of nonfiction writing, actually.

You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.

There are very few things that I have any patience for that are not at least a little bit humorous.

It's kind of an embarrassing story - that's why it's called 'The Idiot.' But looking back at your past self, you see that this person had reasons for everything she did. There's a whole lot of awkwardness, but really, what should one be embarrassed about?

It's so embarrassing and painful to be young.

People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.

There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we were beyond history and we were all citizens of the world that now seems so naive.

When you walk around, you have all this stuff rattling around in your head, things that have happened to you, things you have read. Life is just life, and you get what you get out of it.

When you started looking at the life of Tolstoy, there was so much passion and anger and drama surrounding him.

To think of Tolstoy eating a sandwich is intrinsically kind of funny.

You base your actions on a projected ending, which you actually don't know. However, when you reach the crucial point, and the pinnacle event doesn't occur, you just need to go on, and something else will happen.

I find something very appealing about taking literature very literally.

As a novelist, you write about social mores, but not everything can be explained.

Being in a heterosexual relationship for a woman is always implicitly a little bit humiliating.

A lot of what I write is very personal.

My family is not only not religious, but my parents are both - they're secularists. My father is actually an atheist and feels very strongly about it.

I think it is true that when we're older, we realize the way that people act is... you know, everyone's kind of talking off the cuff, and everyone's, you know, spitballing sometimes.

Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an English language university, where the students were native Turkish speakers, but they were writing their essays in English, and they were very interesting - even the sense of structure, the conventions of writing, the different styles of writing.

From an early age, my favorite thing to read was novels. For years, when I was writing only nonfiction, still I was reading almost exclusively novels. It's weird to be producing something that you don't consume. It feels really alienating.

The first thing I tried to write was a novel, when I took that time off in grad school. Then I didn't finish it. I went back to school, and then I started writing nonfiction kind of by accident.

One of the most painful parts of a breakup is having the feeling that your life is a story, and then the other person leaves and takes the story with them. And you're left there without it. You're left in this version of life that's basically a succession of events and interactions that don't seem to be going anywhere.

I do think of 'The Idiot,' in a way, as a self-standing book about a certain struggle to make meaning, the struggle for a girl to find meaning outside of the romance plot.

In reality, victims of human trafficking are often left voiceless and completely unseen by society.

Thank you to our farmers for all you do to keep food on our tables.

Standing beside each one of our brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines is a loving, supportive, and dedicated family whose sacrifice is a true service to our great nation.

We must continue to ensure that the legacy of the Greatest Generation is preserved and protected so that all Americans can work to embody the ideals and values of those that came before them.

There is still much work to be done to help our students secure good-paying jobs and achieve their ultimate goals, and in Congress, I'll continue to support Career and Technical Education programs.

Zebra mussels like to hitch a ride on boats when they're transferred from one body of water to another. It's important to make sure to thoroughly clean your boat each time it leaves the water to ensure these invasive mussels are removed and that you are not spreading them to your next location.

Nothing replaces hard work.

Our most important job in Congress is to provide for our national defense, and therefore, every year, Congress allocates funds and determines defense priorities in a bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.

Standing beside each brave servicemember is a spouse with their own unique professional dreams and career goals that shouldn't be stifled by the constant transitions that our military families are subjected to.

Technology is the foundation of the empowerment economy.

When our natural habitats become overrun by species that are not native to these areas, they can damage the environment, pose health risks, and even hurt our local economy.

Military families are resilient through countless relocations, leaving friends, networks and transitioning to new schools and new jobs while fitting in to new communities.

I am committed to helping our farmers in any way that I can.

As a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, I'm committed to finding consensus on legislation to address our environmental and energy challenges.

I was rowing the boat alone against a tide, running against an incumbent in 2013.

I think the more women we have in leadership positions, the more women will see examples, can see themselves in those roles.

President Obama has piled on more taxes, more regulations, more debt for future generations and higher health care costs - hurting our Main Street economy.

When I travel throughout the district speaking with families and educators, I frequently hear of concerns with our K-12 education system.

It is imperative that Congress provides adequately funded and stable budgets which allow us to support Afghan personnel and ensure that Afghanistan does not become a breeding ground for terrorists again.

One of my key issues is economic empowerment.

Things won't change unless we have new types of candidates.

Luck favors the brave.

I first decided to run for Congress when I was 29 - and became a Representative at the age of 30.

In a 21st-century economy, it is critical that we equip our nation's children with the tools they need to compete in a global marketplace.

I'm an avid Instagram user, and I do it myself.