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There are a few tear-jerkers set to come out in the near future (chief among them, the cinematic debut of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars). Never fear, these simple steps will help you prepare mentally and strategically for tears and help keep your emotional outbursts as private as possible!

Love them or hate them, brothers and sisters are here to stay—at least in books. They can be the source of conflict, competition, or comfort but, more often than not, when siblings team up they’re pretty much unstoppable. They’re peppered pretty liberally across genres and you doubtlessly have your favorites, but here are my personal top ten families:

The spice must flow.

I remember reading “how people lived in the Middle Ages” books growing up and aside from wanting pretty desperately to be a knight, I remember thinking how bland the food must have been. I mean, it was only the nobility who got those cute little salt dishes. (You pick up the salt with your pinky! We should bring that back!) Everyone else just got boring vegetable stew. And it really didn’t seem fair.

All of this to say that anything that can make food flavorful, from turmeric to thyme, cinnamon to cilantro, is a good thing in my book. Literature is peppered (ha) with these plant-based substances, and since tNational Herbs and Spices Day [June 10] is approaching (what, it's a thing!) let’s take a look at some of the standouts that do so much more than season:

Oh, hello—I didn't see you there.

As if your status of Book Nerd wasn’t high enough – what with your endless bookshelves, strange priorities to buy books over groceries, and constant chatter about what this character did in that book – bring your new pet into the fold with a deeply literary or historical name. Pick a perfectly bookish name in honor of your favorite character!

Some of the world’s most well-known fairy tales were written by Hans Christian Andersen. It’s no wonder his beloved short stories have survived since the early 1800s and have been told and re-told in countless different formats. However, some of the most memorable versions of these stories have come from Disney. With major adaptations such as The Little Mermaid and Frozen (a loose adaptation of The Snow Queen), Disney brought these stories to life for children everywhere. But what other Andersen tales should Disney bring to life? We've got a few suggestions.

Back when we wrote Signing Their Rights Away, a Quirk book about the signers of the U.S. Constitution, we visited Philadelphia’s famous Christ Church Burial Ground, the final resting place of some Declaration and Constitution signers. Tourists typically make a beeline for Ben Franklin’s grave. Most never think to check out the stone of Major William Jackson—even if they’d know where to find it.

Jackson was the official secretary to the Constitutional Convention back in 1787, and served as George Washington’s “writing-aide” during that summer-long session to craft the U.S. Constitution. Jackson’s signature appears in the bottom-left corner of the U.S. Constitution. Since he was not a delegate from a particular state, historians don’t regard him as an official signer of the document. But people sometimes call him the “40^th signer”—in quotes.

Jackson has laid in the Christ Church’s Burial Ground since his death in 1828, but the stone on his grave (and that of his wife Elizabeth) has, over time, suffered damage and erosion. (See photo here.) Historians at the church recently did some detective work among their records to identify the precise location of the Jacksons’ grave. They then donated their own money to commission a new plaque, which will be installed and dedicated this weekend, Sunday, May 18.

The event is open to the public, so come check it out: 1:00 pm at

Christ Church Burial Ground, 5^th and Arch Streets, in Quirk’s hometown of Philadelphia, PA.