Hi hi! I’m Monika (she/her) the new Marketing Specialist! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و
I’ve been with Penguin Random House for a little over a year and have found a home here with Tundra. I love words and stories (I know loving words sounds weird, but have you ever just heard a word and gone, woah…. That’s a good word. Like “mellifluous” how pretty is that)
When I’m not working there’s many MANY things I could be doing as my hobby is having hobbies. Just some things: Listening to music, watching the same comfort shows over and over again, reading obvs, baking, writing, taking photos or finding weird and niche movies to make my whole personality until the next one comes around.
5 Random Facts About Me
- I speak Polish.
- I bake a sourdough loaf every other day.
- My dog is named after the drummer in my favourite band, Ringo Starr.
- Letterboxd is my most used social media platform.
- I’m team Jess.
Favorite Penguin Random House Titles
A Garden of Creatures
By Sheila Heti
Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735268814 | Tundra Books
Two bunnies and a cat live happily together in a beautiful garden. But when the big bunny passes away, the little bunny is unsure how to fill the void she left behind. A strange dream prompts her to begin asking questions: Why do the creatures we love have to die, and where do we go when we die? How come life works this way? With the wisdom of the cat to guide her, the little bunny learns that missing someone is a way of keeping them close. And together they discover that the big bunny is a part of everything around them – the grass, the air, the leaves – for the world is a garden of creatures. With its meditative text, endearing illustrations and life-affirming message, A Garden of Creatures reveals how the interconnectedness of nature and the sweetness of friendship can be a warm embrace even in the darkest times.
How to Make Friends with a Ghost
By Rebecca Green
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Paperback
ISBN 9781774880401 | Tundra Books
What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren’t looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you’ll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you. A whimsical story about ghost care, Rebecca Green’s debut picture book is a perfect combination of offbeat humor, quirky and sweet illustrations, and the timeless theme of friendship.
Marshmallow Clouds: Two Poets at Play among Figures of Speech
By Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek
Illustrated by Richard Jones
72 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781536203035 | Candlewick
A freewheeling romp through the world of imagery and metaphor, this quietly startling collection of thirty poems, framed by the four elements, is about art and reality, fact and fancy. Look around: what do you see? A clown balancing a pie in a tree, or an empty nest perched on a leafless branch? As poet Connie Wanek alludes to in her afterword – a lively dialogue with former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser—sometimes the simplest sights and sounds “summon our imaginations” and cry out to be clothed in the alchemical language of poetry. This compendium of the fleeting and unexpected turns the everyday – turtles, trees, and tadpoles; cow pies, lazy afternoons, and pillowy white marshmallows – into poetic gold. A brilliant and timeless collaboration that evokes both the mystery and grandeur of the natural world and the cozy, mundane moments of daily life, this exquisitely illustrated collection is the go-to gift book of the season for poetry fans of all ages.
Normal People
By Sally Rooney
304 Pages | Ages 18+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780735276499 | Vintage Canada
Connell Waldron is one of the most popular boys in his small-town high school–he is a star of the football team, an excellent student, and never wanting for attention from girls. The one thing he doesn’t have is money. Marianne Sheridan, a classmate of Connell’s, has the opposite problem. Marianne is plain-looking, odd, and stubborn, and while her family is well-off, she has no friends to speak of. There is, however, a deep and undeniable connection between the two teenagers, one that develops into a secret relationship. Everything changes when both Connell and Marianne are accepted to Trinity College. Suddenly Marianne is well-liked and elegant, holding court with her intellectual friends while Connell hangs at the sidelines, not quite as fluent in language of the elite. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle each other, falling in and out of romance but never straying far from where they started. And as Marianne experiments with an increasingly dangerous string of boyfriends, Connell must decide how far he is willing to go to save his oldest friend.
The Secret History
By Donna Tartt
576 Pages | Ages 18+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781400031702 | Vintage
Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.
Favorite Non Penguin Random House Titles
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman
- The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Six of Crows by Leah Bardugo
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Anticipated Penguin Random House Titles
- Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door by Cary Fagan and Chelsea O’Byrne
- The Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy
- Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
- The Only Way to Make Bread by Cristina Quintero and Sarah Gonzales