THE BEACON BOOK CLUB
NEXT BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY 26 JUNE
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.
JUNE’S THEME – LET’S BUILD A COMMUNITY
THURSDAY 26 JUNE 2025
JUNE'S TOPIC - LET'S BUILD A COMMUNITY - READING LIST
SUGGESTED READING:
Newhouses revisited: The story of a Whitehaven Mining community, by Colin McCourt
Available in Print at Cumberland Libraries, and from The Beacon Museum Shop.
Written by a notable local historian, this second edition of the Newhouses project tells of how Communities are hard built – but can be easily lost.
Seedfolks, by Paul Fleishman
Audio Book of the Month: available on Amazon, also as eBook
This short but engaging book is set in an immigrant-filled neighbourhood, using thirteen speakers to bring to life the founding of a Community Garden. Each different ‘voice’ offers a different point of view as we see both the Garden and the Community flourish.
Tales from the Parish, by Stefania Hartley
eBook of the Month: Kindle edition, and large and standard print on Amazon
“Father Okoli dreams of owning a flock of hens and studying for a PhD, when his Bishop saddles him with yet another parish to look after.” Just one of thirty-one short, self-contained chapters, a collection of heart-warming, uplifting stories, set in a mythical English village community in which we all wished we lived.
Educated, by Tara Westover
Available in Print at Cumberland Libraries, and as eBook and Audio Book on BorrowBox
Tara Westover grew up preparing for the End of Days, living within a community that believed that when the World of Men failed, her family would continue on, unaffected. According to both State and Federal government, she didn’t exist. She had no birth certificate, had never set foot in a classroom, and had no medical records as her father didn’t believe in doctors. This Memoir shows her discovery of Education when aged 16, revealing its transformative power but, poignantly, also the price she had to pay for it.
The Just City, by Jo Walton
Available as a Kindle or Audio book, or in print on Amazon.
This multi-award winning, super-creative re-working of The Republic, written by Plato around 375 BC, is a great read! The Republic concerned Justice in both the order of a City-state, and man (and woman) in and of themselves. In The Just City, the time-travelling goddess Pallas Athene decides to put Plato to the test and creates a Just City on a Mediterranean island and populates it with over ten thousand children, a few hundred adults from all eras of history . . . and some handy robots from the far human future. Prepare to have to expand your mind as you experience this extraordinary new Community!