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.

>15 clue: oh, and I just remembered that I have some unread stories about Kentucky Derby runners/winners. Thanks!

Spectacular Bid: Racing's Horse of Steel by Timothy T Capps
Affirmed and Alydar: Thoroughbred Legends by Timothy T Capps
Native Dancer: The Grey Ghost Hero of a Golden Age by John Eisenberg (the forerunner of most of today's racehorses)

I think I've just started to scratch the surface for May potentials, and I'm still looking at my bookshelves and everyone's ideas here, but here are some easy choices, authors named May:

The Man with No Face by Peter May
Mary Olivier: A Life by May Sinclair
The Three Sisters by May Sinclair

I read Francis: the Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie dePaola which contained beautiful illustrations and tales of this saint of the earth and wildlife.

I will read The First Ladies, a book about the friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. Mary McLeod Bethune died on 18th May 1955.

In honour of Victoria Day (Canada) on May 20th, I read The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope.

I had planned this for the Historical fiction challenge until I realized it didn't qualify.

I read La place des bonnes, a non-fiction book about female servants in France, which works for International Labour Day on 1 May.

I read The Judgement of Eve by May Sinclair, which is a novella, and will probably read another of Sinclair's books.

Schleswig-Holstein celebrates Weltfischbrötchentag (World Fish-in-a-bun Day) on the first Saturday in May, and for this I read Mörder mögen keine Matjes where the said fish-filled bun play an important role.

I have completed Sentinels of Fire by P. T. Deutermann which is part of his WW II series. I read this for Military Appreciation Day.

I think I have given up on a Felix Francis novel No reserve, which would have fit the derby theme suggested earlier. I liked Dick Francis, but the writing here is just not good enough, although the milieu is still horse inspired.
I might instead use my current read The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, as it seems to fit with Labour day/International Workers' Day. Set in a dystopic future where corporations has taken over completely, leaving citizens as fodder for their machinations, the main character starts out as literal cannon fodder in a corp-war, but ends up trying to ascend capitalism.

I have completed Under Orders by Dick Francis. It primarily revolves around a Derby in England. I had planned to read a second book, Derby Day by D. J. Taylor but it has gone into hiding. I'll read it if I find it this month.

I read The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates.

Finished The Poet and the Donkey by May Sarton, which was a sweet, simple tale. Full review written!

>31 amberwitch: I agree. Felix Francis just doesn't measure up to his father.

I've decided to read Sisters Under The Rising Sun for International Tiara Day on May 24th. It is about a group of women imprisoned by the Japanese during WWII who formed a choir or, as they called it, a vocal orchestra as they had no instruments. Based on the story of Norah Chambers, an Englishwoman who was on the ship Vyner Brooke with the Australian nurses captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore.
I am thinking it is time for a rewatch of Tenko and Paradise Road as well.
Amazing women.

Tiara Day is an international holiday that is celebrated on May 24 every year. It is a holiday used to empower women and celebrate them for their amazing contributions to the home and society. A tiara is a piece of jewelry worn on the head of a woman that represents intelligence and strength. Every woman deserves a crown for the work that they do every day, and that is why Tiara Day was set aside to remind women to celebrate themselves and for others to appreciate all their hard work. Giving power to women benefits society as a whole, as women are responsible for the continuation and raising of future generations.

I have finished Die Erlebnisse des Polizeiagenten Schipow bei der Verfolgung des Schriftstellers Tolstoj. The author Bulat Okudschawa had his 100th birthday on 9 May.

June thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360826#n8535030

I read The Nobody by Diane Farr, which I chose because of its green cover (= color of May) and because the cover depicts a garden in spring. I discovered that most of the story is set in May, so that makes it an even better fit!

It was apparently Nurse's day sometime in May. I believe one of the characters (based on the summary) is a nurser.

The Sandcastle Girls / Chris Bohjalian
1.5 stars

Current day – an author (?) is investigating some family history of her grandparents that included the Armenian genocide in 1915.
1915 – a couple of storylines. Elizabeth and Armen in Syria. Also a little orphan girl and someone who tries to help her.

Sad summary, I know. I just never got interested, so I really didn’t care or pay attention to what was happening in the book. The author’s note tells me he is Armenian.

I read J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World Movie Magic: Curious Creatures by Ramin Zahed for International Harry Potter Day on May 2nd. This date commerates the Battle of Hogwarts.

I read City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter for Jewish American Heritage Month in May.

75 years ago today, the Basic Law of Germany came into effect. So I picked up Wolfszeit, a history of the years between the end of the War and the founding of the Federal Republic. There were a few things I didn't know, mostly about people who were household names then and mostly forgotten now.

COMPLETED Around the World in Seventy-Two Days and Other Writings by Nellie Bly, a May baby

I've finished The Alice Network by Kate Quinn who has a birthday in May.

I read The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor. Though the book covers several months, I'm counting it because VE Day was in May.