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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.
FEBRUARY’S THEME – ART AND ARTISTS!
27 February 2025
FEBRUARY'S TOPIC -ART AND ARTISTS - READING LIST
The Man who Couldn’t stop Drawing – the extraordinary life of Percy Kelly by Chris Wadsworth.
Fully illustrated, includes personal photographs and other archive material. Available from Cumberland Libraries.
Celebrating the Spring Exhibition of Kelly’s Industrial works at the Beacon Museum. “Drawing is as natural as walking. A piece of charcoal or chalk is like an extension of my forefinger.” To read the story of how he was celebrated by some of the highest in the land and ended up lonely and confused in a cottage in Norfolk surrounded by his beloved collection of work is to open up the mystery of the man.
Sunlight on the River: Poems About Paintings, Paintings About Poems Hardcover – Illustrated by Scott Gutterman
Available to borrow from Beacon Book Club, or through Internet Book Re-selling sites.
Poets and the Artists share a special kind of vision – an ability to see and penetrate the very essence of their subjects. This book features poems by writers that looked to well-known paintings for their inspiration, along with paintings by artists who based their works on poems.
Take your time and immerse yourself in the poetry, set alongside glowing illustrations of the paintings, and notice details you had never spotted before, and deepen your understanding of the picture before you.
Leonora by Elena Poniatowski
Available on BorrowBox as eBook and in print from Amazon,
as are many of her short stories and novels.
The most famous Lancastrian-born Artist in the World – and the one you have probably never heard of – Leonora Carrington. One of her works recently sold for $23million making her the highest selling female artist to date, out-selling her contemporaries Percy Kelly and L S Lowry many times over. The extraordinary story of her early life, her escape from Europe during WW2 and eventual re-settlement in Mexico, rubbing elbows with fellow Surrealists Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, André Breton and Pablo Picasso along the way.
NB: Some descriptions of her mental health struggles are a hard read.
The Pinecone – the story of Sarah Losh, forgotten Romantic heroine, architect and visionary, by Jenny Uglow
Available from Cumberland Libraries.
In the village of Wreay, near Carlisle, stands the strangest and most magical church in Victorian England. This vivid, original book tells the story of its builder, Sarah Losh. Born into an old Cumbrian family, heiress to an industrial fortune, and unusual in every way.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Available in Print from Cumberland Libraries and as eBook from BorrowBox
A wonderful novel, steeped in atmosphere and yet firmly rooted in the drudgery and denial of a servant’s life. Deeply revealing about the process of painting, best read with a volume of Vermeer’s paintings open beside you.
MARCH’S THEME – WHAT DAY IS IT?
27 March 2025
MARCH'S TOPIC -WHAT DAY IS IT? - READING LIST
This month it is over to you! Every one of the 31 days of March has been Globally or Nationally allocated to some theme or event – so we would like YOU to pick a day that takes your interest, and bring along a book related to it!
Easy, right? The hardest part will be choosing your special day… so here is the list:
1st St David’s Day
2nd Match Day
3rd World Wildlife Day
4th International Pancake Day
5th St. Piran’s Day
6th World Book Day
7th World Disconnect Day
8th International Women’s Day
9th World DJ Day
10th International Day of Awesomeness
11th World Kidney Day
12th No Smoking Day
13th International Reisling Day
14th Day of Action for Rivers, Water and Life
15th World Contact Day
16th Holi
17th Saint Patrick’s Day
18th Global Recycling Day
19th National Doctor’s Day
20th International Day of Happiness
21st World Poetry Day
22nd World Water Day
23rd World Meteorological Day
24th Dietician’s Day
25th International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery
and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
26th National Spinach Day
27th World Theatre Day
28th National Black Forest Cake Day
29th World Day for the End of Fishing
30th Mother’s Day
31st World Back-up Day
Not sure what they all mean? Try this Website: https://dayspedia.com/uk/calendar/march/
APRIL’S THEME – PURE IMAGINATION
24 APRIL 2025