July RandomCAT- Let's Celebrate!

This month’s Random CAT is about birthday celebrations. Yes, it’s just a bit self serving since I celebrate next month also. Your challenge is to read a book by an author born in the month of July or a book with a title or subject that one would associate with a birthday or birthday celebration.

Here are a few authors to consider:

July 1- Lisa Scottoline, Jo Sinclair, James M. Cain
July 7- Louise Erdrich and Kathy Reichs
July 9- Dean Koontz
July 10- Alice Munro
July 11- Jhumpa Lahiri
July 15- Iris Murdoch, Richard Russo, Clive Cussler
July 18- Jessamyn West
July 20- Cormac McCarthy and Jess Walter
July 21- Michael Connelly, Ernest Hemmingway
July 23- Raymond Chandler
July 24- John D. Macdonald
July 30- Emily Bronte
July 31- J.K. Rowling

A few titles :
Three Wishes
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
The Birthday Present
An Ice Cream War
Layer Cake
A Shilling for Candles
The Post Birthday World
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

I'm sure that there are more authors and titles to choose from. Have fun with it! I have no idea what I will be reading yet, I'm at the point in my challenge where it's difficult to fit things into my categories:)

I'll have to think about this one. I see a couple of authors there who I've already read this year, but I'm not sure if I will read more of. But, a couple others I also know I have on my tbr! Those are likely to be the ones, but I'll take a closer look later.

Ha! Great minds think alike, I was considering a challenge like this for August since that is when my birthday is. On to one of my other ideas now. :)

Now to figure out what to read...

I'll use this challenge to get another Erle Stanley Gardner book read (his birthday is July 17). The Case of the Dangerous Dowager sounds like it would be a fun summertime read.

I was surprised to find I have quite a few books with "cake" in the title which I could choose or I'm still reading the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly so I could read the next in the series.

I must say I like when the new Random comes out each month giving me a chance to root through my list of books.

I will definitely be reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for my book club. I may also read something else.

That's a cool idea, I will have to see what I can find.

Okay, I've decided - I'll be reading one of the many Hemingway books I have on hand, most likely The Sun Also Rises.

I like this theme, since I have Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake on my TBR that's probably what I'll read.

Ok, I am likely to go with either Louise Erdrich:
The Game of Silence or
Tracks

OR Kathy Reichs:
Fatal Voyage or
Code

Funny how the two authors on my tbr even have the same birthday! There may be more on the tbr, but they are the two I picked out right away, so I'll likely go with any of the four titles above.

A whole list of July authors by date:

http://librarybooklists.org/literarybirths/bjuly.htm

Perfect theme! My birthday is July 4.

I am planning a couple of titles containing the word "birthday' for my calendar memos category: Birthday Party by C. H. B. Kitchin and Birthdays for the Dead by Stuart MacBride. I'll use one of them for RandomCAT.

I also considered Canadian authors in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday on July 1.

>12 VivienneR: I also considered Canadian authors in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday on July 1.

Love that idea!

I love this, especially because my birthday is also in July! :) I'll have to root through my books to see what qualifies...although apparently I share a birthday with Raymond Chandler, so maybe I'll just read one of his!

Well, having not at all been impressed with the first Harry Potter book, I've been avoiding reading The Cuckoo's Calling. Maybe I'll give that a try in July.

>15 majkia: I'm not a big fan of Harry Potter either but I loved the Cormoran Strike mystery series by Robert Galbraith. The first one, The Cuckoo's Calling is not my favourite of the series, maybe because I was still getting to know the characters. I was thrilled to hear she plans on six books in the series so now I have to be patient for the fourth to hit the shelves.

I am a July baby as well, so I really like the topic. I always look forward to the new Random themes each month. Thanks for a good topic! I think I will read Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake as I enjoyed this author's other works.

Happy birthday to all the July birthday-ites we have here! I am going to read Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald and, if I don't get to it this month then I also have All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy sitting at the top of my TBR pile.

I see Oliver Sacks is on the list in >11 kac522:, so I will read his Awakenings

I do like this theme, and look forward to what everyone ends up reading :) Unfortunately, I'm traveling this month, and though I have about 30 books at hand (I'm at my home away from home for 2 months...), it looks like all of the authors I've got at hand are either born in other months, or 'so' contemporary that they don't have information floating out there that allows me to check... So, I guess I'll sit this one out and just enjoy discovering what everyone else reads :)

I am going on vacation next month, so I will probably take The Postman Always Rings Twice with me to read. James Cain has a July birthday, and I love to read a good thriller by the pool.

I am not having much luck finding authors with July birthdays in my TBRs, but I do have Invitation to Murder. I think that will work since you send and receive invitations to birthday parties.

I think I'll read something by Alexandre Dumas père who was born on 24 July.

>11 kac522: Thanks for the link!

Wow, besides The Birthday Present I've got quite a few books by July babies on my shelves:

12 TBRs by Virago Modern Classics author Elizabeth Taylor
5 TBRs by Robert Heinlein
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, a 1001 book
3 TBRs by Virago Modern Classics author Christina Stead

I'm not sure what I'll be in the mood for yet, but happy to have plenty of choices.

I am currently reading/listening to The Mysteries of Udolpho so I will continue as I'm only 12 chapters in. Should finish this up in July.

>24 LisaMorr: Thanks Lisa for letting me know this one qualifies.

I think I'm going to go with A Fête Worse Than Death by Dolores Gordon-Smith.

>25 luvamystery65: And I'll be joining you!

For July, I'll be reading The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. I'm just guessing that they share J. K. Rowling's birthday of 31 July.

To celebrate Canada Day on July 1st, I read The view from Castle Rock by Alice Munro.

I read All The Pretty Horses by July born Cormac McCarthy.

I just finished A Fête Worse than Death and thoroughly enjoyed it! Recommended for fans of historical mysteries, and I'm excited that there are several more books in the series.

The August thread is up.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/265281

My choice for the July RandomCAT was Nouvelles contemporaines by Alexandre Dumas who was born in July.
This is a slim volume containing the first prose works he ever published, three novellas, Laurette, Blanche de Beaulieu, and Marie, which are all set in the recent past at the time of writing (1825). It also contains six others written later, and two of these are re-writings of Blanche and Marie, which made for an interesting comparison. The introduction by Claude Schopp does a very good job of putting them into the context of Dumas' life and the political situation.

I have finally finished reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (born July 30th). Although I really enjoyed this book when I read it as a teenager many years ago, I found it hard going this time. Although the book was well-written, the story was just too violent and the characters too cruel for my tastes.

Another author born in July is John D. MacDonald and I read his classic, Cape Fear which I really liked but thought that both the movie versions had a better ending than the book.

I was reading Icing on the Cake by Laura Castro but I didn't like it so much that I decided to give up after half the book. Chick lit and not a very good example.

I finished The Postman Always Rings Twice by July birthday boy James M. Cain.

The Game of Silence / Louise Erdrich
3.5 stars

This is a children’s book, a continuation of “The Birchbark House”. It is 1850 and Omakayas is now 9-years old. This book goes through another year in her life, all four seasons. In the spring, Omakayas, her family, and the other Ojibwe discover that they are being told by the white people that they need to leave. They send out four men to find out what happened, why they must leave – did they break the treaty? While the four men are gone, Omakayas learns about medicines from her grandmother, while her cousin, Two Strikes, though a girl, wants to build her own little army made up of the boys. And, there is more day-to-day stuff happening, as well.

I enjoyed this. Not quite as much as “The Birchbark House”, but it was still enjoyable and I will continue the series. There are very nice illustrations, and some well done descriptions of how things are done (similar to the first book).

I picked up the first Travis McGee book by John D. MacDonald: The Deep Blue Good-Bye - I'll sure be back for more!

I did end up reading The Sun Also Rises since Hemingway's birthday was in July. Not my favorite of his but it was enjoyable enough. I must say there was definitely a lot of celebrating going on throughout the book so it fit the category in that way as well.

COMPLETED Awakenings by Oliver Sacks, whose birthday was on 9 July.

I read The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, born July 9, 1764

I finished The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey, born July 25, 1896.

A bit late, but I finished Larry's Party today.

Finished The Mysteries of Udolpho on 30 July, by Ann Radcliffe, born in July.

Ok, a tad late, but I finished Falling Slowly by Anita Brookner, whose birthday was July 16.