A Very Vengeful Valentine

Monsters are not keen on Valentine’s day. Sure, they fall in love, but they’re not big fans of human celebrations. They’d like not to have them pushed on. This might be the reason why the cafeteria is a mess of paper hearts, flowers and confetti when my shift begins. It might also explain why Charon …

Max and the Spice Thieves – John Peragine

When I was 5, I had my little address book where I'd written down all the people I needed to call in case of emergency. A couple of years later, I had to cook and shop for groceries on my own. At 10, I was obsessed with translating into Italian all the Latin sentences in The Name of the Rose, and I enjoyed doing my best friend's trigonometry homework. If I try to recall memories of me as a teen, I don't think I ever acted like one. I've never been able to be my own age back then, but I sure did love kids and teen literature. Even now that I'm a grownup --sort of--, I still have a soft spot for this kind of stories, so when John Peragine asked me to read Max and the Spice Thieves, I was more than happy to accept.

5 Books I Need under my Christmas Tree

Since I can't count on Santa Claus to bring me all the goodies I want, this year I'm taking the bull by the horns and wrap my own presents -- yes, let's pretend it's not something I do every year--. Here is small list of five books I would like to find in a pretty half-eaten, chewed-upon package under my barely holding Christmas tree.