For booksellers, librarians, and gift shops
Birthdays Are Best: Fun Facts and Odd Traditions from Every Month of the Year, by Jenn Q. Goddu
A funny, fact-packed birthday book with one chapter per month. Available in paperback and ebook through IngramSpark. The paperback includes an inscription page up front, so it doubles as the card, and it’s fully returnable.
Why it sells
- It sells all year. Every month is somebody’s birthday month, so it isn’t tied to one season.
- It’s the gift and the card. The paperback’s inscription page up front lets shoppers skip the card aisle.
- It’s an easy add-on. Small, funny and priced for a gift. It works next to cards, gift wrap or the register.
- It’s built for browsing. Readers flip to their own month first, then keep going.
How to order
- Distributor: IngramSpark (order through Ingram)
- Returns: Paperback, fully returnable
- Trade discount: 55%
- Bulk and direct orders: jenn@wordthatcounts.com
Book details
- Title: Birthdays Are Best: Fun Facts and Odd Traditions from Every Month of the Year
- Author: Jenn Q. Goddu
- Publisher: Word That Counts LLC
- Publication date: November 6, 2026
- Paperback ISBN: 979-8-234-25157-2
- Trim size: 6×9
- Style: Standard color, matte finish
- Pages: 106
- Paperback list price: $17.99
- Ebook ISBN: 979-8-234-25599-0
- Ebook list price: $4.99
- Categories: HUMOR/General; HUMOR/Trivia; SOCIAL SCIENCE/Customs & Traditions
Catalog description
Birthdays Are Best is a short, funny tour of the birthday calendar, one chapter per month. Readers flip to their birth month for their birthstone, some real science, and the perks and pitfalls of being born that month. Along the way they’ll learn why so many people in Bhutan share a January 1 birthday, who owned “Happy Birthday to You” for 80 years, and which Roman emperor marked his sister’s birthday with 300 bears. Each chapter ends with one small way to spread the birthday love. An inscription page up front makes the paperback a gift and a card in one.
Table of Contents: Birthdays Are Best
- How to Read This Book — 7
- January: New Year, New You, Same Cake — 9
Birthday resolutions, a 78-rep birthday workout, and the country where nearly everyone turns a year older on January 1. - February: Love, Leap Days, and Presidents Who Hated Parties — 17
Couples who share a birthday, twins born 24 days apart, leaplings, and the presidents who would rather have skipped the fuss. - March: Pi Day and Other Cake Math — 25
Proudly ugly homemade cakes, the mathematically correct way to slice one, and why 23 people are enough for a shared birthday. - April: Very Important Pets and Other Party Animals — 33
Eeyore’s party in Austin, cakes for tortoises and gorillas, a queen with two birthdays, and kings who overdid it. - May: Call Your Mother: Birthday Etiquette — 39
Calling versus texting, the restaurant sparkler debate, who owned “Happy Birthday,” and what to write in the card. - June: Summer Babies and Other Science — 45
Half-birthdays, the happiest birthday of the year, what your birth month says about your health, and who picked your birthstone. - July: Around the World in Birthday Rituals — 51
Canada Day and the Fourth, face-first cake in Mexico, fairy bread, and a Klingon birthday party. - August: Back to School, Back to Kids’ Parties — 57
Pass the parcel, a bill for skipping a party, the birthday that police and firefighters saved, and a shelf of birthday picture books. - September: The Most Crowded Month — 65
Why September 9 is so common, the nine-enders, Cheryl’s maddening birthday puzzle, and lottery luck. - October: Spooky Origins and Other Birthday Legends — 73
Why we blow out the candles, the case for the tiara, a party that turned into a riot, and where birthday traditions come from. - November: Gifts, Gratitude, and Kindness — 79
Experiences over things, the power of a birthday hug, the man who gave away his birthday, and one kindness for every year. - December: Milestones, Wishes, and Another Trip Around the Sun — 87
Centenarians, Britain’s oldest birthday twins, flowers that arrive right on time, and one last wish. - Sources — 93
- About the Author — 105
About the author
Jenn Q. Goddu is a journalist and content marketer turned executive ghostwriter. She ran a birthday blog for seven years, takes her birthday off every year, and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Every fact in this book is sourced.
