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THE BEACON BOOK CLUB
Last Thursday of every month | 7.00pm – 8.30pm
FREE ENTRY
A book club with a difference! Each month we set a theme that compliments the museum’s changing exhibitions.
The Beacon Book club is an informal, friendly group of likeminded people who want to share their passion for reading and to discover new favourite books and make new friends.
Most of the suggested reading can be found at or ordered through the Cumberland Library Service as print books, e-books or audiobooks, but we also encourage you to take the theme and browse through the library shelves, charity shops and independent booksellers to find something unexpected. You can find a copy of each month’s suggested reading list below, or ask at the museum reception for a printed copy.
Everyone is welcome! Tea and cake will be provided.
JANUARY’S THEME – INSPIRE ME
30 January 2025
JANUARY'S TOPIC - INSPIRE ME - READING LIST
Make it Count: 9 Lessons for Living a Life to be Proud of, by Benjamin Ferencz, with Nadia Khomami. (Also titled Parting Words)
Available on Amazon and Kindle as eBook and (recommended as) AudioBook
What 103 years of life experience can teach us about how to make the most of the lives we’ve been given. A truly Inspirational handbook for a good life from a man that grew up as a poor immigrant in America during the Great Depression, yet worked his way up to prosecuting Nazis at the Nuremberg trials and later fought to establish the International Criminal Court to hold war criminals to account the world over. Nine humbling, compelling and life-affirming lessons we would all do well to read or listen to.
Endurance, by Alfred Lansing.
Available from Cumberland Libraries.
NOTE: Many different versions by other authors also available.
An authentic record of how Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew tackled their incredible fight against adversity arising from their voyage to the Antarctic, begun in 1914. This version, first published in 1959, includes many fascinating details that may have been filtered out of more recent studies. An engaging page-turner, an Inspiration to the Survivor in every one of us.
Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandella.
Large Illustrated version available from Cumberland Libraries, also as Audiobook on BorrowBox
Mandela’s riveting memoir, first published in 1994, is a compelling record of his lifelong struggle to achieve fairness, freedom and prosperity for his fellow citizens, and remains an Inspiration to those throughout the world striving for human rights and racial equality to the present day. The Print edition contains dozens of full colour photos, helping anchor the text in both time and place.
Growing Brave, by Donna Ashworth.
Available from Cumberland Libraries.
A powerful new collection of wisdom and poetry, helping us to find strength and courage on the days we feel lost.
Open the Book. Read. Think. Breathe. Be Inspired.
The Lady in the Van, by Alan Bennett.
Available from Cumberland Libraries, as eBook from BorrowBox and AudioBook on Kindle. (All contain some Profanities.)
The story of the itinerant Miss Shepherd, who lived in a van on Alan Bennett’s driveway from the early 1970s until her death in 1989, provokes us to reflect on two things: Can you be Inspired to stick to your strongly held principles as did Miss Shepherd, despite the hardship it brought to her life, or is the enduring compassion for her by Alan Bennett himself an Inspiration to you? Read it and see!
FEBRUARY’S THEME – ART!
27 February 2025
FEBRUARY'S TOPIC -ART! - READING LIST
The reading list will be announced soon.
MARCH’S THEME – WHAT DAY IS IT?
27 March 2025
MARCH'S TOPIC -WHAT DAY IS IT? - READING LIST
The reading list will be announced soon.