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This past Friday was the National Day of Listening and as far as unofficial holidays go, this is one we can all get behind. Created to celebrate the rich histories of our friends and families, National Day of Listening encourages participants to swap stories with those we love most. Here at Quirk Books, we don’t want the fun to stop when you run out of words. We’ve gathered monologues from some of our favorite playwrights to keep the party going. Because the only family drama we want is a tiff over who gets to play the ingénue.

Editor’s Note: In an effort to keep Quirk E. Cat from napping at his desk, we have assigned him to Advice Column duty. We apologize in advance.

[All movie still from Little Women 1994, Columbia Pictures]

Happy almost birthday, Louisa May Alcott! If she were alive today, this beloved American novelist would be turning 184: she was born on November 29^th in 1832. In honor of her special day, and in honor of the way that Little Women sometimes feels like a book-shaped piece of advice about how to live the life that makes you happy, we’ve rounded up some advice the characters from Little Women might give today.

Warning, though: the characters aren’t always perfect, so you might want to take some of their advice with a grain of salt. Or a teaspoon.

Look, just take the whole canister of salt.

Books, in and of themselves, are magical doorways. Opening a book is as simple as opening a door in the real world, but often much more rewarding! Doorways within books are something special. A character who passes through a magical doorway into a world of adventure mirrors the adventure of the reader themselves. They charm and intrigue us as readers. They tempt us into imagining that it’s possible to open an ordinary door one day and find ourselves in a real-life adventure.

Your Thanksgiving guests have all gone home, but your fridge is still packed with food. It’s a never-ending food coma waiting to happen. Classic Thanksgiving conundrum, right? Well this year we’ve decided to do something about it. Here at Quirk Books, we’ve rounded up our favorite comics to keep your mind active and your eyes entertained as you scarf down your seventeenth turkey sandwich. Go ahead. Laugh in the face of that mid-afternoon nap.

Did your mom ever tell you to stop playing video games and read a book instead? Mom, why the dichotomy between books and games? You can have both! But we real humans aren’t the only people who like to hit the Xbox or gaming PC after a long day of work. Fictional characters would enjoy gaming, too! In an effort to combine the two worlds of the written word and the animated graphic, here are some video game recommendations to our favorite characters.