May Calendar CAT

“All things seem possible in May”
- Edwin Way Teale



Welcome to our May CalendarCat Thread. In the northern hemisphere, May is considered a late spring or early summer month. While in the southern hemisphere, May is a late autumn or early winter month.

Along with the days that are mentioned in the calendar above, some other special days in May are:

May Day, 1st of May – some use this day to celebrate spring with dances (Maypole), and singing while in many other countries the first of May is International Workers Day

Cinco d’Mayo, May 5th - in North America this date has come to symbolize and celebrate the Latin-American Heritage

Mother’s Day - in North America the second Sunday in May is the day we celebrate Mothers

Memorial Day - the last Monday of May. In the U.S. this is a federal holiday to remember people who died while serving in that country’s armed forces.

Victoria Day - celebrated in Canada and, I believe, Scotland on the weekend closest to the 24th of May and celebrates the birthday of Queen Victoria. Today Canadians look at this holiday as the first long weekend of summer.



Other facts about the month of May:

Flower: Lily of the Valley, representing sweetness and the return of happiness and the Lilac which is said to represent love and innocence

Birthstone: Emerald representing growth, reflection, peace, balance, healing and fertility

Zodiac Signs: Taurus the Bull & Gemini the Twins

As always there are no specific rules as to what book you should read, simply choose a book that makes you think of the month of May in someway. Please let us know what you are going to read. Have fun, be creative and please don’t forget to add your book(s) to: The Wiki

I am planning on reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton in honor of the flower of the month as there is a character called "Lily" in the story. I am also going to read The Devils Star by Jo Nesbo as Norway celebrates it's Constitution Day on May 17th.

I'll be reading The Custodian of Paradise, by Wayne Johnston, for the May CalendarCAT. Johnston's birthday is May 22.

I'm looking at The Lewis Trilogy by Peter MAY

I think I'll be reading The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne for Tourette's Awareness Month.

I have never read anything about Queen Victoria, though I've read about plenty of other monarchs, fiction and nonfiction. I will likely pick up something about her.

Her Little Majesty / Carolly Erickson
Victoria Victorious / Jean Plaidy
The Captive of Kensington Palace / Jean Plady

The first week of the month is nurse's week. I have a couple of books on my shelf relating to nurses during WWII and I'll read one of those.

Mother's Day Mayhem is on my list. Searching for more!

ETA Mother's Day Mayhem hits another - Tourist Appreciation Day since it's part of the Tourist Trap series!

I have chosen The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch for Iris Day!

Love the colourful calendar, Judy!

Although half of May will be spent with my Australian friend who is arriving this weekend, I'm aiming to read Solo Hand by Bill Moody whose mystery novels involve jazz musicians. No one famous in this story, the first of the series, but it will set the scene for others.

ETA That will be for Jazz Day on the 26th.

>10 VivienneR: I had another calendar up but then I found this one and loved how colorful it is, so I switched. :)

I am thinking of reading something about sisters, since my sister's birthday is in May.

I'm planning on reading Devil May Cry.

>2 DeltaQueen50: The House of Mirth is a wonderful book! I've read it several times. Hope you enjoy it too.

I have two ideas so far, Louisa May Alcott, A Long Fatal Love Chase, and Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. Alcott is more likely as I might have already read Mayflower. Plus I want to see what Alcott was like when she wasn't writing books for girls.

Just was reminded by a recent trip to the library that May 4 is Star Wars day, if that gives anyone ideas. "May the Fourth be with you."

ETA: I'm thinking of reading a Daphne Du Maurier book for her birthday on May 13. I have The Parasites.

>14 NinieB: Thanks, I have read a few of her books and liked them all with Ethan Frome being my favorite so far.

>15 sturlington: Stars Wars Day - that opens up all kinds of science fiction possibilities!!

I'm thinking of reading something by May Sinclair or Doris May Lessing.

I have completed my read of The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo which I read for the CalendarCat as May 17th is the Norwegian Constitution Day.

I got 138 pages into Devil May Cry before I simply had to give up on it. This is my first DNF of the year, and there's a rant/review written if you care to read it. In my opinion, this is one of those books that gives romance a bad name--it's just so not good. Nevertheless, unless anyone really objects, I'm going to count it as my May read because this challenge is the only reason I made it as far as I did.

No objection here! I think you deserve it after giving it a try.

COMPLETED The Lewis Trilogy by Peter May

Victoria Day, Mother's Day

The Captive of Kensington Palace / Jean Plaidy
3.75 stars

This is the first in a series by the author focusing on Queen Victoria. This one opens when Victoria is still a child, living with her mother (the Duchess of Kent), older sister, and her mother’s suspected lover (Sir John) in Kensington Palace. Her mother and Sir John are very ambitious, and knowing that Victoria is next in line to the throne once the childless King (no legitimate children), the Duchess is all for using her daughter to her advantage and hoping that her brother, King William, will die before Victoria turns “of age” (18 years), which would mean the Duchess would be Regent.

I’ve not read anything about Queen Victoria until now, nor do I really know anything about her or the Monarchy in England before and leading up to her rule, so this was interesting. Have to admit, because there were so many names/people I didn’t know at the start of the book, I was a bit lost initially, but it didn’t take long before I was able to figure most of it out. The book did get better and better as it went on, as Victoria grew older and was able to (sometimes) stand up to her mother. I definitely want to continue the series, and hope I am able to before too much time passes, so I remember what lead up to everything to this point.

I finished Le joli mois de mai (The lovely month of May) which is difficult to describe without spoiling it. There are deaths and family secrets.

June thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/306996

I read The Other by Thomas Tryon. It is psychological horror, achieved without use of the supernatural. It also offers a fully evoked summer of 1935, in small-town Connecticut. And twins. While I had intended some other "May" reading for CalendarCAT, and I still might, for now I'm also using this for May, in reference to Gemini, which is the astrological sign for May 21 to June 21, and is represented by the twins Castor and Pollux.

>25 NinieB:, I hope you enjoy it! We read that in a horror literature class I took and I was really enthralled!

I read Mother's Day Mayhem

>26 whitewavedarling: I did enjoy it! I was really surprised by the twist in the story!

I had a specific book planned to read about nurses in WWII but it's apparently in hiding, I can't find it in the bookcases. So, I read The Martian by Andy Weir for space day.

I've finished The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne for Tourette's Awareness Month.

I've finished The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair. First published in 1917, this story of an English family begins in the 1890s and ends during WWI.

May is Women's Health Care month, and I read My Body My Choice about the fight for reproductive rights.

Finished Solo Hand by Bill Moody the first in the Evan Horne series about jazz musicians. This one begins with Horne's injury to his "solo hand" leaving him unable to play piano.

I finished Pilgrimage I yesterday and since the author, Dorothy Richardson, was born in May, it fits for the May CalendarCAT.

For Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month, I read the graphic memoir I Was Their American Dream

I've completed my read of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton for May's CalendarCat. The main character's name in this book is Lily and Lily-of-the-Valley is May's Flower.

I've read Linked Lives: Adult Daughters and Their Mothers by Lucy Rose Fischer to commemorate Mothers' Day (U.S.)

Celebrating Mother's Day and Apple Pie Day I am reading Mom, Apple Pie and Murder edited by Nancy Pickard

I finished The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier in honor of her May birthday. This is the fourth of her novels I've read, and although it was quite readable, I liked it a bit less than the others. It lacks the gothic style she is known for.

I am using The Ghost Fields my latest read in the Ruth Galloway series. This decades long family mystery focuses on empty air fields in Norfolk England leftover from World War II. It works well for May 8th, VE Day.

Finished Six Moon Dance for May Day.

Mother's Day

The Valley of Amazement / Amy Tan
4 stars

It’s 1912. Violet is half-American, half-Chinese and growing up with only her American mother, Lulu, in Shainghai. Lulu runs a courtesan house, but is tricked when Violet is 14-years old; Violet is kidnapped while her mother heads to San Francisco to find her son.

I really liked this. A warning that there are some graphic scenes, though – sex, violence. The book certainly kept me wanting to read to find out what happened. It was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster with ups and downs. A small portion of the book told Lulu’s story; admittedly, at first, I didn’t think this was necessary, but it got more interesting as it went on, and it was nice to see the pieces come together as it continued.