If summer was a sandwich, then July would be the juicy middle! Our big summer event is of course the Summer Reading Challenge, where we challenge children to read six books over the holidays. Over the summer, libraries have 3D printing and animation workshops. But it’s not just fun for the younger generation, this July for the grown-ups we have writing workshops and menopause talks!
This month our Library team have surpassed themselves with books to thrill and chill. Memoirs of 70s suburbia and surviving a brutal care system. After that you’ll need to cheer yourself with a peculiarly British sixties psychedelia and fox spotting!
Chosen by Jason
A modern classic, a total vision of a secret world, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy begins George Smiley’s chess match of wills and wits with Karla, his Soviet counterpart.
This is a secretive world of espionage; you’ll be looking for spooks everywhere!
“I didn’t understand half of what I just read, and yet I loved it all the same!”
Chosen by Ann
This is the book that has never been written! How To Survive Menopause Without Losing Your Mind is a guide every woman needs. Kathryn Colas is a well-known and respected media commentator and menopause expert. She tells all about her ten years of hell, near suicide and how she overcame her difficulties, so you can circumvent complications and misdiagnoses commonly experienced by women.
This Menopause Awareness Day we are hosting Kathryn Colas – the first lay person to be appointed to the medical advisory committee of the British Menopause Society – at Crowborough library; where she will discuss her book How to survive the menopause without losing your mind.
Read our interview with Kathryn Colas.
Chosen by Kylie
Cloudstreet is Tim Winton’s sprawling, comic epic about luck and love, fortitude and forgiveness, and the magic of the everyday.
From separate catastrophes, two rural families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering house called Cloudstreet, where they begin their lives again from scratch. For 20 years they roister and rankle, laugh and curse until the roof over their heads becomes a home for their hearts.
At the very end, I wanted to bawl my eyes out. Shell-shocked. Overwhelmed.
Chosen by Emma
A classic of LGBTQ+ literature now in graphic novel form for the first time! A young secretary forsakes Cleveland for San Francisco, tumbling headlong into a brave new world of laundromat Lotharios, cutthroat debutantes, and Jockey Shorts dance contests. The saga that ensues is manic, romantic, and outrageous. the story grips you so strongly that you just rattle through the book and the dialogue is sparkling!
Not a fan of comics? The eAudio is read by none other than three time Oscar winner Frances McDormand!
Chosen by Cassie
When a strange-looking animal arrives pulling a big suitcase, the other animals are curious. What on earth could be inside that suitcase? A teacup? Maybe. A table and chair? Perhaps. A whole home and hillside with trees? This stranger must be fibbing! But when the animals break into the suitcase and discover a very special photograph, they begin to understand what the strange creature has been through, and together they create a very special welcome present . . .
At a time when that a record number of people have been forced from their homes due to war and persecution, this beautifully illustrated and wise, gentle tale of tolerance and kindness for fellow humans resonates deeply. A simple, powerful way to introduce the idea of kindness to strangers to young children. Be warned, this will make you burst into tears!
Chosen by Isaac
Horsewyse is for the young and young at heart horse lover. It contains educational articles, fun articles, how to’s, young rider profiles, competitions, activities, reader photos, posters and much more!
Libraries have lots and lots of eMagazines for all ages and interests on our Libby app!
Have you read any of the books featured this month? If so, we’d love to hear what you thought! Leave your reviews in the comments below.
You can find out more about libraries in East Sussex by visiting the East Sussex County Council website.
