As a May baby myself, I am excited to share this month’s author birthday read-alouds. You can find our Author Birthday Read Aloud series on Instagram, where we read a portion of an author’s work during their birth month. This list highlights some other authors who also have birthdays in the month of May. By the way, May is a very popular birth month for the library staff with 5 team members having birthdays. With so many May birthdays, we are also including our May babies’ favorite books on the list too. Happy reading!
Library May Birthday Recommendations:
Beth (Collection Development Coordinator) said her favorite book is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.
Stephen’s (Systems Librarian) favorite book is The Great Gatsby.
Sara (Administrative Assistant and Circulation Associate) gave her favorite classic, Gone with the Wind, and her new favorite, the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy by Stephanie Garber.
My favorite (Amber, Instruction Librarian) books are Little House on the Prairie or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Both books were read by my elementary school teachers and have special memories for me.
Darius (Evening Circulation Manager) doesn’t have a favorite book besides the Bible, but he did recommend The 100 Cupboards series by N. D. Wilson as one of his favorites.
Author Birthdays:
May 5, 1813, brought the birth of Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian, poet, and social critic. Many also say he was the first existentialist philosopher. Kierkegaard is known by many for his philosophy, but you might want to check out some of his written works like Fear and Trembling, Either/Or, and Repetition.
You can celebrate Christopher Paul Curtis on May 10 by reading one of his beloved children’s novels like the award-winning Bud, Not Buddy or The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Curtis continues to write today, so you might want to try one of his newer books like The Journey of Little Charlie, which is part of the Buxton series.
Sara highlighted Daphne du Maurier who was born on May 13, 1907, on our Instagram. She is well known for her novel, Rebecca, which has been the basis for a few movies. Other works by du Maurier include Jamaica Inn and The House on Strand.
Eoin Colfer was born on May 14, 1965. This Irish author is best known for his Artemis Fowl series. And in case you were curious, his first name is pronounced like Owen.
Although best known for The Wizard of Oz, children’s author L. Frank Baum wrote fifty-five children’s books and celebrated his birthday on May 15.
Gary Paulsen was born on May 17, 1939, and shares a birthday with Beth, our Collection Development Coordinator. Paulsen has written more than 200 books; some of his best-known books are Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room.
Max Brooks was born on May 22, 1972, and is most known for helping to bring zombies into mainstream culture. Brooks is best known for his books World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide.
Finishing up our list of May Author Birthdays is Andrew Clements. Clements was born on May 29, 1949. He is known for Frindle, a book I remember reading in school. He also wrote popular novels like About Average, Things Not Seen, and Lunch Money.
I hope you enjoyed this month’s May birthday recommendations. Tune in next month as we celebrate more author birthdays in June.
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