This summer our country and state both celebrated big birthdays with the United States turning 250 in July and Colorado turning 150 this month. There are classically American rituals for celebrating a birthday: fireworks, picnics and music for the community parties, and smaller traditions like cake and ice cream, blowing out candles, party hats, balloons, gifts and decorations. Whenever and however you observe, birthdays are a time to gather and celebrate. Pick a birthday book or two and continue the party.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell is a psychological thriller about a woman podcaster who unwittingly becomes a subject of her own true crime podcast. Alix Summer celebrates her 45th birthday at her local pub and meets her birthday twin, Josie Fair. Their paths cross again as Josie worms her way into Alix’s life. But the price of Josie’s friendship is higher than Alix could have imagined.

Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss is a joyful celebration of you on your special day. The Great Birthday Bird of Katroo escorts the reader through the fantastical imagination of Dr. Suess.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub takes a new spin on the time travel trope when Alice wakes up on her 40th birthday, transported back to 1996 when she was 16. With the knowledge of being middle aged, Alice views her younger self and others around her with a different perspective and her teenage experiences take on changed meanings, especially for interactions with the younger and healthier version of her dad.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox. Sophie Matthews’s 16th birthday party is the biggest and most lavish event of the year in the Texas Hill Country. Before the cake is cut, a body falls onto the dance floor from the upper balcony.

The Birthday Girl by Melissa de la Cruz. Teenage Ellie’s life in a trailer park leaves her desiring more. Adult Ellie is rich and famous. But her seemingly perfect life has a cost. Ellie has kept a lot of secrets, and everything past and present converges on her birthday party.

The Midlife Birthday Club by Rachel Hanna. Claire, Nina and Harper are lifelong friends whose lives are falling apart in different ways. They make a pact while celebrating their 50th birthdays: this year will be different, with a new adventure every month.

Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish by Beth Ferry is a children’s picture book about the most important elements of the most important day of the year—your birthday. A troop of endearing and comical animals lead the reader through all the elements of the party.

The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery by Graeme Base is a beautifully illustrated picture book. “When Horace the elephant turns 11, he celebrates in style but a mystery is afoot, for someone has eaten the birthday feast,” explains the book blurb. The rhyming text combines with visual clues hidden within the intricate illustrations for the reader to unmask the culprit.

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz is a Newbery Honor-winning middle-grade Victorian gothic novel about the child of a wealthy doctor who disappears the night after her birthday party, casting suspicion on a puppeteer and his orphan assistants.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech is a Newbery Medal winner middle-grade book. Salamanca Tree Hiddle is 13 when she travels from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents. Sal entertains her grandparents with a story about her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. The author weaves in Sal’s own bittersweet story and her wish to be reunited with her mother before her birthday.

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass is a Vermont Golden Dome Book Award winner. Amanda has always shared her birthday with her best friend Leo, but the year they turn 11, their friendship is rocky and the joint birthday celebrations do not happen. After the disappointments of her birthday, Amanda is happy for a good night’s sleep and a new day tomorrow. But when she wakes up, her birthday seems to be happening again and again.

By Celeste McNeil; courtesy photos