March RandomCAT - Celebration

UPDATED:

March is a month of celebrations for me. There's St. Patrick's Day, my wedding anniversary, my birthday, and sometimes Easter all in one month! So my challenge for you for the month of March is to read a book:

with the word celebrate (or any variant thereof) in the title or subtitle
-or- a celebratory occasion (birthday, wedding, anniversary, etc) is used in the title
-or- where a celebration is mentioned in the text.

Some popular books on LT that fit this theme include:
Firefly: A Celebration
Dark Celebration: A Carpathian Reunion
To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking
Mystery!: A Celebration : Stalking Public Television's Greatest Sleuths
Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields

Have fun celebrating!

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2016CC_RandomCAT#March:_Celebrate

Yikes! I've been so busy! And, we're thinking about March already!

I'll have to take a look at my tbr and see what I might have!

"Celebrating" in March, it is!

Oh, this is perfect timing for me. My next book in a favorite series is Celebrations in Burracombe by Lilian Harry. Looks like I will be reading that in March!

Nice theme! And happy birthday, happy anniversary, happy spring, etc etc.

It appears I have only one that fits - Celebrations at Thrush Green by Miss Read. I may have something with a variant of celebration but I'm happy with Miss Read.

>3 DeltaQueen50: >4 VivienneR: I'm glad you have something selected. I have no idea what I will be reading.

I'll use this as a nudge to read the last of the Murder She Wrote books from my grandma's house: Trick or Treachery, which involves a murder at a Halloween party.

I have a March anniversary too so this is a perfect theme. Now to find the perfect book ...

Love the celebration theme as I have an anniversary in March as well. Need to see what I have to read.

At first look, with over 1,000+ books in my TBR, I have nothing that works title-wise. I was thinking of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen about celebrating all aspects of a woman's life, but might keep looking before I decide.

>9 dudes22: Oh- that's a good one. I happen to have that in my TBR pile too.

I'll have to see how I can celebrate!

I may go with Celebrations at Thrush Green as well. The audio is available in the public library's OverDrive collection. My other option is one of the short story audio recordings in the Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story series. There are three books in this series in the OverDrive collection that I haven't listened to yet.

I have a couple of options, but I think I'm going to go with Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade; I'll be celebrating my first book being published, and since that's a poetry collection, it seems appropriate to go with my one poetry option :)

>13 whitewavedarling: Congrats on having your book published! That's huge!

That is monumental! Congratulations!

I don't believe I have anything on my tbr with the word "celebrate" in the title, so I'll have to get a bit more creative...

>14 LoisB: and >15 RidgewayGirl:, thanks :)

And everyone, if you're in the mood for horror or scariness in the celebration month, there's a great Halloween anthology that would fit: October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween

Not sure I have anything that will fit. Perhaps as I read something I'll be surprised!

I have several books with celebration in the title or subtitle. Have not yet decided which ones I will read. This is a fun challenge.

Right now I'm leaning towards using The Shooting Party for this challenge since party and celebration seemed to go hand in hand.

The first thing that popped into my head for this was I'm in Charge of Celebrations, which was a childhood summer reading favorite. My second thought was A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays. For more adult fare, I've also got one of this year's Christmas presents: The Seasons: A Celebration of the English Year.

I've got a ton of Lenten non-fiction reading lined up for March, so we'll see how much I get to. But surely I can manage at least one of picture books.

I have a couple of cookbooks that includes the word, but I think I'll go with the only other book I have that fits: The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them.

Just so I'm clear are book titles with birthday, wedding, or anniversary acceptable ?

I found one more book I might read if I have enough time: In Search of the World's Worst Writers: A Celebration of Triumphantly Bad Literature.

>23 lsh63: They do not qualify for the "word in the title" part of the challenge, but they would qualify if the event is a major plot element.

Nothing to "celebrate" in my list of books. :-(

>26 cyderry: I know just what you mean. I am hoping to stumble upon / crash some celebratory major plot element so I can add SOMETHING to the wiki for March.

I have to keep looking but if I don't find anything, I will read my short story by Neil Gaiman which I have as a Kindle single, How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

I have two books that have the word celebrate, or derivations thereof, in the title - It's a Chick Thing: Celebrating the Wild Side of Women's Friendship, a collection of essays, and Bettmann Moments: Celebrating the Bettmann Archive, a photography coffee table book. So, those will be my easy choices.

I may take a moment to look around and see what else might fit the bill.

I'm thinking about The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones, or maybe Vor dem Fest, the second book by Sasa Stanisic, but nothing decided yet...

Finally, I think I've found something! Digging to America by Anne Tyler which (so a review tells me) has at its core the lovely idea of an annual "arrival party" celebrated by two couples who happen upon each other at the airport while waiting to meet their infant adoptive Korean daughters.

>31 jeanned: That's a unique celebration - sounds interesting.

>31 jeanned: I've read it and it definitely will fit. I liked the book,too!

Like a few others, I have nothing with "celebrate" in the title, but I'm hoping to come across (or I may seek out) something to do with parties or holidays instead.

Ok, i might have a couple of options. Using the tag 'parties', paper towns came up. Something to do with the prom, but im not sure if the entire book fits.

Or the christmas cat is another option, though its really not xmas season, but so be it!

>35 LibraryCin: It always Christmas! I still have some of my "winter" decorations up. It's hard to remember winter when you live in Florida.

I don't find anything on my shelf that works but I see the library has The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty so I may read that.

So far nothing for me.

Ok - I have learned a lesson: Make sure you have a book that fits your own challenge before you post it.

I have spent a good deal of time over the past 2 days trying to find a book for my Celebration theme and have finally resorted to one of those free ebooks that come my way constantly. I am revising the challenge to allow any celebratory word in the title and relaxing the rule that the celebration be a major plot point. Any mention of a celebration will do.

>39 LoisB: LOL! That almost happened for me last year. I did have one book I really wanted to get to, but didn't realize till after I'd posted the theme that my library didn't have it! ILLs vary on how quickly they arrive. Luckily I did find something else, but I didn't have nearly as much on my tbr as I'd thought to fit my chosen theme!

>39 LoisB: lol! I just finished searching my library & found "Celebrations" an audiobook of Maya Angelou reading some of her poems.

I'm planning to read/examine two books, both of which are mainly photographs. At the Rim: a Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball was published in 1991 around the time I began to regularly attend the women's basketball games at the University of Virginia. I "read" the book back then, but want to "reread" it, looking at the pictures of former players, and particularly coaches which were active then. The verso of the title page shows a picture of a very young Muffat McGraw with her team. I think that probably many of the coaches pictured have retired.

Portraits USA 1776-1976: an Exhibition Celebrating the Nation's Bicentennial selected by Harold E. Dickson shows and describes over 50 portraits by American painters which were on exhibition at Penn State during the Bicentennial (Apr. 18-June 6, 1976). Dr. Dickson was a Professor Emeritus at that time and a former colleague of my Father, who was also retired (and no longer living). The University was much, much smaller when both men were teaching there, and they knew each other although they taught in different departments.

>42 sallylou61: Both sound perfect!

I'm a bit behind in just about every challenge, but if I get to this one, I'll be reading Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden...only book I have that's got something "celebratory" in it.

Ended up reading Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks which is a Jeeves/Wooster story by billed as an homage to P.G. Wodehouse. Faulk did a nice job of capturing the Wodehouse humor.

>45 LittleTaiko: A perfect fit!

I've not yet found my read for this category. I wish we had a Wiki, so I could see what others are reading...

>47 fuzzi:.
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2016CC_RandomCAT#March:_Celebrate.21

>47 fuzzi: Thank you for pointing out that I had neglected to include the wiki above.

>48 sturlington: Thank you for posting it.

I have added it to the initial post.

>48 sturlington: >49 LoisB: thank you, both!

Sometimes it helps to find a read by seeing the Wiki entries...

I have read and examined the pictures in the coffee table book, At the Rim: a Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball with an introduction by Patsy Neal. This book was published in 1991, around the time I started attending the women's basketball games at the University of Virginia. The introduction giving a brief history of college women's basketball was interesting; it is amazing how much has changed in the last quarter of a century.
Although it was fun to see pictures of women who were coaches or played in the game in the 1990-1991 season, the pictures and their captions were somewhat disappointing. Players were identified in some pictures but not in others, and the dates of the photographs were not given. (I had to look on the flap of the book jacket to discover what period the photographs covered.) Some of the photographs were of spectators or nearly empty gyms.
The book ended with photos and very short biographies of 14 former players. Some of these women are quite well-known for their continuing participation in the games; others I'm not at all familiar with.

I've read and reviewed I'm in Charge of Celebrations and A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays. Both were good, but I liked the second one with its oodles of ridiculously adorable corgis slightly better.

>51 sallylou61: >52 inge87: I'm glad you were able to find something with Celebrations in the title. Good job!

I realized that besides Celebrations at Thrush Green by Miss Read, I have two more titles that would fit the theme: Larry's Party by Carol Shields and The Féte at Coqueville by Émile Zola.

>54 VivienneR: Lots of choices! I'm reading Birthday Letters.

I found an interesting sounding book at the library that will fit this challenge and the Dewey challenge, Holy Holidays!: the Catholic origins of celebration by Greg Tobin.

>56 luvamystery65: Interesting!

I finished my book Birthday Letters which is more a "Celebration of Life" than anything else. It is a collection of poems by Ted Hughes, the estranged husband of Sylvia Plath, written over a long period after her suicide. I had to stop about halfway thru and read her Wikipedia entry which helped me understand the poetry. It has added at least one Book Bullet to my reading list: Plath's novel The Bell Jar. I may also read her biography.

I have finished Celebrations in Burracombe by Lilian Harry. This was the ninth book in the series about a small English village during the 1950's. Sheer comfort read!

I finished The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones, a fun historical-supernatural-mystery story set in Edwardian England around Emerald's 20th birthday. Entertaining read!

>59 DeltaQueen50: Don't you just love comfort read every now and then?

I've finished The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty, my first by her.

>61 LoisB: Comfort reads are a necessary part of life! :)

>59 DeltaQueen50: I thought Celebrations at Thrush Green would have been a comfort read too, but I didn't care for it much. I might read another one because it was so disappointing.

>64 VivienneR: Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your visit to Thrush Green, Vivienne. I adore that series as but I am trying to read it in order and I haven't quite reached that one yet. I have seen where many consider Celebrations at Thrush Green to be the weakest book of the series so I hope if you read another it will be more enjoyable.

Thanks Judy, I believe I still have another Miss Read on the shelf. I'll try it sometime.

I finished The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them. I'm not sure it was that much of a celebration, but an interesting batch of books, some of which ended up on my wishlist.

>67 -Eva-: - It doesn't matter how much celebration was involved. The word was in the title and that's what counts.

I didn't jump on my choice (The Christmas Cat) soon enough and now someone else has it checked out! I've put a hold on it, but it's hard to say when it went out or when it will come back. Not sure if I will actually get to it this month.

I checked my tbr for others that might fit, and I found a couple with "marriage" in the title, but those books are also checked out of the library, currently. I'm still going to wait on my first choice and hope it comes in in time. If not, I'll read it anyway, and probably report back in April.

ETA: Who the heck has checked out a book about Christmas in March, anyway! LOL! ;-)

hmmm, I see I was at one point also thinking of Paper Towns (I think there is a prom in the book or something). I have it as an audio, though, and I've just started a different audio, so I might not get to Paper Towns in time, either.

Hmmm, forgot about the email folder I have with tbr books (that I haven't added to any of my online sites!).

I did find a couple of options there that might work instead:
A Christmas Home / Greg Kincaid
Wedding Night / Sophie Kinsella

I found a short novella to fit the theme, by accident, on the German Gutenberg site today: Der Vorabend des Weihnachtsfestes by Rosalia Müller. A tale about women suffering nobly and dutifully as befits their station in God's scheme and lovers reunited on Christmas Eve. Unbelievably sentimental and turgid.

The April RandomCAT is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/220160

I'll be working the polls here in Florida from 6am to 8pm or so on the 15th, so figured I'd better post this now!

I just finished The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver for this RandomCAT. I chose it because "birthday" is in the title. But there are celebratory plot elements because a lot of what happens hinges on the celebration of this one character's birthday early in the novel. This yearly birthday celebration between the characters becomes a major plot point as the book moves forward and there are other celebratory dinners and what not throughout the book. If it wasn't for this RandomCAT, I am not sure I would have ever gotten around to reading this, but I am glad I did because I really enjoyed it. My review is on my thread here https://www.librarything.com/topic/204813#5513147.

>74 Tara1Reads: Yay! It's always nice to find that a book you "had" to read is a book you are "glad" to have read!

The ebook I checked out for this challenge was The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith. Alas, it was reclaimed by the library for the next patron before I finished. So, I just quickly found another one from their shelves: The Party Dress by Alexandra Black. Lovely photographs of party dresses - formals, bridals, red-carpet, cocktail, garden party - don't even remember what all, but definitely clothing for celebrations! Also a little about the wearers and the designers.

I finished my selection for this month - It's a Chick Thing: Celebrating the Wild Side of Women's Friendship. I'm not sure why I picked this book up - it's not really my kind of book. Probably a character flaw on my part, but I don't have lots of female friends and I don't hang out with large groups of women, and the essays in this book focus quite a lot on those subjects. Some of the essays were by famous folks, for example Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Sarah Ferguson, but most were not. I found the essays to be uneven.

Anyway, another book off my shelves read, and that's always a good thing!

>76 countrylife: >77 LisaMorr: Interesting selections - I think I'd share your opinions.

I found a book off my shelves: Georgia Women: A Celebration. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it!

I may get to another with a celebration theme by the end of the month - you never know.

>79 Dejah_Thoris: It always nice to get a book off the TBR pile!

I ended up reading Celebrations at Thrush Green by Miss Read since it was available at the library.

I was hit with a BB from VivienneR for La fête à Coqueville which fits perfectly here. Very funny.

The Christmas Cat / Melody Carlson
3.5 stars

When Garrison's grandmother (who raised him after his parents died), dies, he is tasked with finding homes for Gran's 6 cats – but Gran left specific instructions on exactly what kinds of homes her cats should go to. While looking for homes for the cats, Garrison meets a new woman in the neighbourhood, Cara.

It was a short cute novella. I liked the story and loved all the different cats' personalities, but could have done without the occasional religious reference thrown in.

I'm glad you guys are finding enjoyable reads!

>84 LoisB: This was the one I thought wasn't going to come in for me. I do have another I checked out, assuming that to be the case, but I may or may not get to that one. :-)

I just finished Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade. Honestly, some of my favorite poets are included in this collection, so I don't know why it took me so long to get around to it! In any case, I'm glad this month's challenge pushed me toward it, and I've written a full review if you're interested. Posting it to the wiki now :)

I ended up ditching the Holy Holidays book because it took too long to get in from the library. I finished Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman. It has the story How to Talk to Girls at Parties in it.

Thanks to all who participated in my challenge this month!

I still have a review coming, but I won't likely get time to write and post it till the weekend. Finished the book yesterday, though!

>89 LibraryCin: Good going!

Wedding Night / Sophie Kinsella
4 stars

Lottie thinks her boyfriend Richard is about to propose. When he doesn't and they break up instead, Lottie rebounds with her ex from when she was 18 years old, Ben. They immediately decide to get married, but when Lottie's sister finds out, she plans to do everything she can to make sure Lottie doesn't ruin her life by marrying Ben.

I really enjoyed this. Silly, humourous fluff, but fun and entertaining! And quick to read.

>91 LibraryCin: Fluff is sometimes needed.

>92 LoisB: Yes, I think so. And it was a good thing for me now (slightly stressed with buying a new house (well, duplex); I've always rented till now, so it's kind of scary!).

>93 LibraryCin: Congratulations on becoming a home owner!

>94 sturlington: Thank you! It's very scary to suddenly lose most of my savings and to be responsible for everything! Of course, I'm not quite there, yet. Lots to do before then!

I choose Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales by Ray Bradbury for this Cat without paying attention to its length! However, I did read 25% of its 889 pages (according to the Kindle app) and will finish it a few stories at a time over the rest of the year.

>96 hailelib: Good for you for tackling it! I try to avoid anything over 500 pages.

>93 LibraryCin: Congratulations on your new home!

>93 LibraryCin: Buying a new home is a reason to celebrate!

>98 VivienneR: and >99 LoisB: Thank you both!