May CalendarCat

Our 5th month is the merry month of May, a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere or a month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Named after the Roman Goddess of Maia, known to oversee the growth of plants, May is a month to celebrate nature and gardens.

The colours of May are Yellow and Green, the birthstone is the emerald, the flower is the lily-of-the-valley, the astrological signs are Taurus and Gemini.

Some special days in May:

May Day – celebrate the return of spring
Cinco de Mayo – celebrate all things Hispanic
Mother’s Day – North American celebration of Mother’s to be celebrated on the second Sunday of the month
Memorial Day – celebrated in the United States – a day to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving
Victoria Day – celebrated in Canada – Honoring Queen Victoria
Armed Forces Day – some countries celebrate their military at various times during May

A fun fact about May is that it is the “Get Caught Reading Month”.

Enjoy your reading during the month of May and be sure to let us know here what you are going to be reading for the May CalendarCat. Also if you wish to add your books to the Wiki, it can be found here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2024_CalendarCAT#2024_CalendarCAT

I think I am going to go for the military angle and read Sentinels of Fire by P. T. Deutermann.

Looked things up and found in May we have days for Nurse's Day, Astronaut's Day, Tourism Day (and I didn't even get very far in looking, there are so many options!). If I don't find anything for those, I'll probably choose something for Mother's Day.

I'm currently reading Factory Girls for the April PrizeCAT, and think it would fit into this CAT because it's about workers, and May 1st is International Workers' Day.

I'm looking for authors born in May, and am considering reading something by Honore de Balzac.

If other inspiration fails to strike, I could count my book club's choice for May, The People of Platform 5 by Claire Pooley since May is the fifth month.

I'm going to take the easy way and use Kate Quinn's book The Alice Network which I need to reread for my book club in Jun. Her birthday is in May and the book has a military history theme.

My first tentative plan is to read The Nobody by Diane Farr - it has a green cover that definitely gives off spring vibes.

I see that National Biographer's day is May 16th. I've had First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph J. Ellis on my list for awhile so that's probably what I'll choose.

Don't forget StarWars Day! May the 4th be with you!

OH, and Towel Day May 25th, celebrating Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,

In a mini tribute to my mom I think I’m going to read Motherhood because she enjoyed Erma Bombeck, and Mother Daughter Murder Night, because she would think the title sounds fun!

>10 lsh63: my mother loved Erma as well.

Not sure of my May choice, yet.

I have two beautifully illustrated kid books by Tomie de Paola from the library.

I'm planning to read The Stories of John Cheever. May is Short Story Month, and Cheever's birthday is May 27.

This is one of those months that shows up in an author's name on my TBR, so I'm going to be reading The Poet and the Donkey by May Sarton.

>8 clue: I'm having a second thought about my first thought (biographers day). I have two derby day books on the shelf and the bio I was thinking of reading is a library book. The two I have are Under Orders by Dick Frances and Derby Day by D. J. Taylor. Neither is big and I always try to get books off the shelf with CATS. Hopefully I can read both. Kentucky Derby is May 4th.

>15 clue: My hubby and I attended the Kentucky Derby several times, and it is quite an experience. (That event was our first public appearance as husband and wife, since we got married the night before, which was Kentucky Oaks day.) I still have my hats!

Oh what fun! I worked with a couple who had been at the company's Lexington location previously. They had been several times but she refused to go again because of the time it took to get back home, hours of sitting in the car due to slow traffic. I haven't been but I still think it's one of those things everyone should do once.

Racing isn't always a savory business. We had a nice quarter horse racetrack near here and our neighbor, while making a delivery from his feed store was murdered there. His body was found in a stall. The murder wasn't ever solved, police thought he had overheard something he shoudn't have. That was about 30 years ago and it still makes me so sad when I think about it, he was such a nice man.

I've decided against Honore de Balzac in favour of May Sinclair and have downloaded three possibilities from KoboPlus: The Flaw in the Crystal and The Judgement of Eve, which are novellas, and Anne Severn and the Fieldings, which is longer. I've read three of Sinclair's books, including The Life and death of Harriet Frean. Sinclair wrote from the 1880s through to the 1920s and her work is neither wordy nor moralistic, unlike that of many other Victorians.

May Sinclair: the readable modernist

Reminder, author birthday list here:

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/literary-birthday-calendar/

Think I'll choose a Gary Paulsen, I have several of his books on my shelves, not yet read.

I read Lies Come True by Emerald O'Brien since May birthstone is emerald

>15 clue: thank you for the horse idea!
I’d love to read a new Dick Francis for this months challenge. Its been a while, and there are plenty I’ve never read.