Celebrate this month’s literary holidays with Open Book Chocolates!
Jewish American Heritage Month
“Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is an annual recognition and celebration of Jewish American’s achievements and contributions to the United States of America during the month of May.”
Here’s a selection of books written by Jewish-American authors:
Joseph Heller’s Birthday | May 1st, 1923
“Major Major had been born too late and too mediorcre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three.” —Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Purchase Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (an additional title for Jewish American Heritage Month) while supporting independent bookstores.
J. M. Barrie’s Birthday | May 9th, 1860
“I'm youth, I'm joy, I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.” —Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Purchase Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie while supporting independent bookstores.
L. Frank Baum’s Birthday | May 15th, 1856
“It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.“ —The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Purchase The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum while supporting independent bookstores.
Honoré de Balzac’s Birthday | May 20th, 1799
“Unfortunately her portrait will cure no one of the addiction to loving sweetly smiling angels with dreamy looks, innocent faces, and a strong-box for a heart.“ —Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac
Purchase Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac while supporting independent bookstores.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Birthday | May 22nd, 1859
Sherlock Holmes Day | May 22nd
“His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.” —A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Purchase The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle while supporting independent bookstores.
World Dracula Day | May 26th
“He seemed so confident that I, remembering my own confidence two nights before and with the baneful result, felt awe and vague terror. It must have been my weakness that made me hesitate to tell it to my friend, but I felt it all the more, like unshed tears.‘“ —Dracula by Bram Stoker
