March didn't bode so well for Julius Caesar, but there are lots of other reasons to celebrate this month. If nothing else, March tends to be our snowiest month and what better excuse to hunker down with a few good books? Here are a few reading suggestions that highlight some March holidays, both the familiar and the not-so-well known.

March is Women's History Month and while it's nearly impossible to select just one or two books on the topic, here are a couple to get you started. In a college paper written in 1976, author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich first theorized that, "Well behaved women seldom make history." She went on to explore this topic in depth in her book by the same name, published in 2007. She looks at three prominent female figures in history: Christine de Pizan, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Virginia Woolf, then branches out from there. For a look at the lives of women from this neck of the woods, try Into a New Country: Eight Remarkable Women of the Old West by Liza Ketchum. In this book for younger readers, she brings to life the first woman physician in the Pacific Northwest, the Omaha Indian sisters who fought for their people's rights and the Canadian woman who explored the Klondike, among others.

March 11 is Johnny Appleseed Day and Hugh Nissenson has captured the essence of the eccentric John Chapman in his book, The Tree of Life. Told in diary form, it's the compelling story of the hardships and heartaches faced by settlers in Ohio around 1812.

According to the Bizarre, Wacky and Unique Holidays web site(www.holidayinsights.com), March 14 is Learn About Butterflies Day. Taking a break from his coverage of topics such as neo-Nazism, vigilantes on the Mexican-American border and the suffering of soldiers returning from Iraq, journalist Peter Laufer takes on the "lighter" topic of butterflies in his book, The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists. He describes the controversy over the staged release of butterflies at public events, the nefarious world of butterfly collecting that threatens species worldwide, and the still unsolved mystery of metamorphosis, in which every cell of the caterpillar's body liquefies before reconstituting itself into a butterfly. For a fictional look at the world of turn-of-the-20th century butterfly collecting, try Rachel King's The Sound of Butterflies.

When I read that March 31 is National Clam on the Half Shell Day, I was reminded of the science fiction favorite Venus on the Half-Shell by Kilgore Trout (aka Philip Jose Farmer). It's the story of Simon Wagstaff, Space Wanderer, who travels from planet to planet in search of an answer to that eternal question: "Why did God create man just to suffer and die?" It's fun, fast paced and a little silly, but a good read nonetheless.

You can check out these titles and many more at any Jefferson County Public Library location. Talk to your librarian for more recommendations.