Reading List: Authors with May Birthdays

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.

March Book (& Movie) Madness 2023: Week 4

Union University’s Library at the Logos is back with our second presentation of March Book Madness! On Fridays in February, you will be introduced to the books competing in March Book Madness in 2023. A difference this year is that each book has also been made into a movie. We hope that this will help you with the selection process. Each week will feature our titles from two different genres. By the end, you will have been introduced to 8 genres and 16 books. Then, during the month of March, stay tuned to our social media channels to vote on your favorites. Our 2022 Champion was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Will a familiar favorite win again or will a new contender reach the top of the shelf? You, our readers, will determine the winner. We hope that you journey with us as we make our way through the Final Four and crown our second March Book (& Movie) Madness Champion!    

Rachel: Welcome.  I’m Rachel Bloomingburg, and I’ll be one of your commentators again this week, alongside Darius Mullin. I hope you’re ready because we’ve made it to the homestretch and will be introducing you to our final competitors for this year! Darius, could you tell us about our last two categories?

Darius: Sure! Our last two categories for March Book Madness 2023 are Mystery and Children’s literature! Mystery novels focus on some sort of puzzle, crime, or predicament that must be solved. The protagonist is often—but not always—a detective, such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin. Children’s literature is a broad category including, quite simply, books that are written with children as the intended primary audience. Children’s books often include accompanying illustrations and are sometimes quite enjoyable for adult audiences as well.

Rachel: They sound like vastly different categories. Would you tell us about our first entry in the Mystery genre?

Darius: The first Mystery entrant is, of course, Sherlock Holmes. There are a lot of different collections and adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but for our purposes we’ve selected The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the 2009 Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Guy Ritchie. Sherlock Holmes himself is a “consulting detective” whose skills of observation and deduction are almost fantastical. His companion is Dr. John Watson, who is the narrator of Doyle’s stories. Holmes has captured the imaginations of generations of readers by navigating numerous exciting cases and adventures; the 2009 film is not based on any particular Sherlock Holmes story.

Rachel: Great choice. I’m not as familiar with this genre; however, Sherlock Holmes is a classic that I believe most will have some knowledge about. Could you tell us about the second selection?

Darius: Our second Mystery story is Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and its 2017 movie adaptation directed by Kenneth Branagh. In this classic Hercule Poirot adventure, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by an unexpected snowdrift. The next day, one of the train’s passengers, a millionaire, is found stabbed to death in their locked cabin. Surely the murderer is still on board, but who is it? Read or watch to find out!

Rachel: Oh, wow! That sounds interesting. I may give this one a try. Who do you think will advance to the next round?

Darius: Well, these are two very strong competitors, with both the novel and movie versions of each giving us a good showing. Nonetheless, I suspect Sherlock Holmes will win out in the end, as few literary characters are more iconic. Rachel, how about we go ahead and move on to our last category, Children’s literature. Who’s up first?

Rachel: Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! You will likely notice this line from The Wizard of Oz. The book written by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by Michael Hague, as well as the movie with the same title released in 1939, follows a young girl named Dorothy as she is transported in her home from Kansas to the land of Munchkins by way of a tornado. Her only hope is to return to her home, so the munchkins encourage her to follow the yellow brick road and make her way to the City of Emeralds and meet with the Great Wizard of Oz. As she begins her journey, she will meet a host of memorable characters including the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and The Cowardly Lion. You will later meet the Wicked Witch of the West. She is rather unhappy with Dorothy because the house she traveled in landed on top of the Wicked Witch of the East and killed her. Will Dorothy make her way back home with the help of her friends or will the Wicked Witch of the West succeed with her plan of revenge? Only time will tell.

Darius: Such a classic fantasy story! What is it facing in the sweet sixteen?

Rachel: The Chronicles of Narnia is a beloved series. While there’s debate on which is the proper order to read it, the story it tells is what matters most. For our purposes today, we will focus on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Four siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—are sent from their home in London during the war to escape the air raids. Life is simpler in the country until the day that Lucy discovers a certain wardrobe. While it appears to be full of coats, as Lucy discovers, another world awaits her. A magical world trapped within an eternal winter and under the rule of the wicked White Witch. Lucy is a character that portrays goodness, and her arrival helps to spread the feeling of hope. Will she, along with Aslan and others on the side of good, be able to defeat the White Witch once and for all? You’ll have to read to find out.

Darius: Wow, two beloved stories going head-to-head here! And I have to weigh in on the debate—The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe comes first, at least the first time you read it. But you’re right, the important thing is to read them. Which of the two do you think is most likely to move on to the next round?

Rachel: These stories have similar elements, and I believe they both have a strong chance to advance. I think the popularity of The Chronicles of Narnia series will give it a slight edge. I’m excited to see who comes out on top!

Darius: Well, everyone, those are our last four entrants for March Madness 2023! Which of these do you think has the best chance of making it to the Final Four? Which of our sixteen competitors will take home the crown? Keep an eye on the library Instagram for voting in the days to come, and catch up on the first three entries of this series here.