May RandomCAT: Spring is all around

We had a long winter in the north of Germany – but now spring has finally arrived and nature is kind of exploding. It's time for fresh greens everywhere, spring flowers, cherry blossoms and all the colours spring brings us.

For this month's RandomCAT read a book with a flower or other plant in the title or on the cover.

Some ideas:
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donelly
The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley
A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers by Hazel Gaynor
The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
All Russians Love Birch Trees by Olga Grjasnowa
The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena
The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo

All too flowery? Think of other spring related things! The first ice cream of the year, the first bike ride, bees and butterflies, birds coming back from the winter domicils, dipping your toes into the still cold ocean – there are many options!

Some more ideas:
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Please remember to update the wiki.

I'm thinking about The Secret Life of Bees, but I also have a Liane Moriarty that has pretty flowers...The Husband's Secret maybe? Love the theme. Should be a fun one to find books for.

>2 virginiahomeschooler: I really loved The Secret Life of Bees when I read it (many years ago).

If I can physically find it (welcome to the reality of my bookshelves, sigh) then I might read The Tulip by Anna Pavord. If not, then I recently bought A Book of Bees which would also work.

I believe I will read Bluebird, Bluebird which I had already earmarked for the ColorCat challenge for May.

We could REALLY do with spring here. We're expecting a messy batch of freezing rain and ice pellets later today and into tomorrow, and it snowed yesterday...

My list of possibles is as follows:

The Heaven Tree, by Edith Pargeter
The Left-Handed Hummingbird, by Kate Orman
The Flight of the Heron, by D.K. Broster
Last Leaves, by Stephen Leacock
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (audio, read by Hugh Laurie)
Tales from Watership Down, by Richard Adams -- the bunnies on the cover make me think of spring :)
The Hanging Tree, by Ben Aaronovitch -- I have this one in the Pool already for MysteryCAT December (futuristic/fantastical mysteries) and ColourCAT July (pink).

I'm leaning toward either The Heaven Tree or The Flight of the Heron, because my historical fiction category is a bit underfilled at the moment.

Or I could prioritize my re-read of Speak Ill of the Dead, by Mary Jane Maffini, which takes place during Ottawa's Tulip Festival and features tulips on the cover.

I have two on my TBR that would fit. Red Azalea and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. I'll see what comes first on Libby.

I'm thinking I might read either The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani or Paths of Desire: The Passions of a Suburban Gardener by Dominique Browning. I also have The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman but I'll probably save that for the Color Cat month of purple.

>5 rabbitprincess: Remind me where you are? Ontario, by any chance? Or nearby?

In Calgary, we're still waiting for spring, as well. Well, it seems to be here this weekend, then it will be gone again. Snow will return the next couple of days. But, apparently, it's trying to make an appearance!

Oh, and I need to check to see what flowery books I might be planning to read...

All right, I have a few options (this was only after going through about half my tbr, mostly looking at titles, but a couple of covers caught my eye):

Shine / Lauren Myracle (cover)
If I Die Before I Wake / Barb Rogers (cover)
Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants / Richard Mabey
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man / Fannie Flagg

I'm leaning toward the "Weeds" book, just for something a tiny bit different! :-) But, I still need to see what's available at the library.

>9 LibraryCin: Ottawa. The bad weather was originally supposed to be coming yesterday/today, but it hasn't materialized yet, most likely because I had already cancelled my plans to avoid travelling :-/

>11 LibraryCin: The Weeds book sounds interesting.

I've been trying to fit in Roses of May, the second book in Dot Hutchison's Collector series, and the title alone makes it perfect for this challenge, so that's my plan!

It's just above freezing (36F) and raining and windy here in Chicago. I am ready to put away the winter parka and read about flowers...which makes it a great opportunity to read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

I'm going to read North on the Wing: Travels With the Songbird Migration of Spring by John T. Anderton. I bought this a few months ago and have been trying to work it in so this is the perfect opportunity!

>11 LibraryCin: If you read the Weeds book I'll be interested to read your comments, it's another one on my shelf!

This is an excellent topic! Just looking at the header pics makes it feel more like spring already!

I have these to choose from:

Pushing up daisies by M.C Beaton
Peony in love by Lisa See
No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase

The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra - swallows, always a sign of spring
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - surely it is spring in the greenwood

And thinking of spring weddings:
Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers
I think I love you by Allison Pearson

Indiana weather cannot make up its mind. We had sun and warm temps yesterday, but dropping temperatures and possible snow/rain tomorrow. Go figure.

I feel better already with this topic though.

I got tons of books with swords on the cover. Tons with space ships. None with flowers. Hmmm.

>12 rabbitprincess: Well, of course it would happen that way! I haven't double check, but just caught a headline on f/b that we apparently have a snowfall warning. And today is so sunny and nice, but back to winter it is!

>13 virginiahomeschooler: It does, doesn't it!? My library does have, so that's likely the one I'll read.

The most spring-like titles (though perhaps more summery?) on my TBR shelves are

Gardens of Delight by Ian Watson and
Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

I am planning on reading Flowers for the Judge in April, but if I don't get to it, I will read it for May's RandomCat. If I do read it then I will read House of Flowers by Charlotte Bingham for this RandomCat.

Right now I'm leaning toward City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn.

I didn't get to Flowers for the Judge this month, so I will read it in May.

Chose Lilac Girls. Lilacs are my favorite flower, and mine are about ready to bloom. I think this will be a hard read, given the subject matter (concentration camps and the Holocaust) but it has great reviews.

I have changed my mind already. I did read Flowers For the Judge in April and now, instead of House of Flowers, I have picked up Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson.

> Oh, I'm reading Lilac Girls right now and won't finish it before the end of the month. I didn't even think about it.

Just finished The Enchanted April and would highly recommend for this May challenge as well. Flowers abound!

I'm glad you like this month's topic, I can see lots of great choices.

I myself will probably read Das Maikäfermädchen next. No flowers, but the European "May bug" is a perfect fit.

Happy May reading!

I couldn't find the tulip book on my shelves, so was back to the trusty kobo for Sue Hubbell's A Book of Bees which was lovely. The beekeeping year, observations on bee behaviour and hive life, advice for would-be beekeepers, and an overall respect and appreciation for these amazing creatures. It was great.

I have completed my read of Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson, this is a historical romance set during World War II in Egypt and Turkey.

I read Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella - a chick-lit romance with a flowery cover.

I finally got round to reading Frühlings Erwachen, the seminal play by Frank Wedekind. Unlike spring, this is rather depressing, and I'm glad I didn't have to read this in school. This was an ebook, so no cover.
I think I need a book with a flower on the cover now to clear the palate.

ETA

Starting Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

I read The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Part Two by Michael Dante DiMartino. Highly recommend this to any other fans of the animated series.

Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants / Richard Mabey
3 stars

This is mostly a history of plants that may be considered weeds – basically, plants that are somewhere where a human doesn’t want it to be. It looks at how they travel, plants that were used medicinally, how they (re)populate decimated areas. He looks at how they’ve been viewed in history, including in literature, and more.

It was ok. Some parts were interesting, and others were dry. I probably tuned out a lot when he was looking at literature (except “In Flanders Fields”, which has more meaning). I still love the idea of the book, though!

I picked up Three act tragedy by Agatha Christie, a Hercule Poirot mystery with Poirot pretty much on the sideline as the case is investigated by an actor and his friend. There's nicotine poisoning, and I assume the flower on the cover is from the tobacco family.

edited for touchstone

I read this one:

COMPLETED Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

I guess I can use The Bees by Laline Paull for this CAT. The Bees is a story of life in a bee hive and spring and flowers play a major role in the life of bees.

>41 Kristelh: Sounds like a good spring book to me!

>42 LibraryCin: To me too!

Found one, and read it!

The Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton

(the cover has a horse running over a hill of flowers)

Since I'm already reading Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn for AlphaKIT this month, I have to pick something else for next month!

Unless I come up with an alternate, I will likely read A Dog's Purpose by Bruce Cameron.

I've read Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside by Andrea di Robilant.

I read Unraveled for this one (there's a flower arrangement on the cover).

I always imagine the green wood in spring, with new green leaves. I read The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. If you can get past the archaic language, this is a fun read, although somewhat repetitive.

Full of lines like: "I will baste thy hide right merrily, my good fellow".

>48 VivienneR: if people can "talk like a pirate", I think they can handle a little "forsooth" stuff! :)

I am reading Wildflower by Drew Barrymore for this month's theme. It's a collection of stories about her life. There's the obvious title that fits, but it also seems like plants and flowers are important to her from the little bit I've read so far.

Finished The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison a few days ago, and I've just gotten around to writing a review. Marking it on the Wiki now!

Took a couple of months, but finally finished In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker. These are essays, mostly from the 1970s, when Walker was in her late 20s-30s.