Guest post by Henry Young
In the deepening spring of May – there is so much to read! And it is just getting warm enough to sit outside in a shady spot and enjoy an engrossing read.
As you’d expect there is lots happening at your local library, to celebrate Creativity and Wellbeing Month we are hosting events for adults and young people. We have knit and natter groups, sociable board game afternoons and Reading Friends.
Libraries are looking forward to Pride next month with a very special evening of information and sharing at Eastbourne Library! Local LGBTQ+ organisations will speak about the work they do and members of the community will be sharing stories and writing.
Isaac and the egg
Top Fiction chosen by Nick
Isaac and the egg / Bobby Palmer
This book tells the story of Isaac, a man broken by grief. In the depths of a cold winter he drives himself to a lonely wood where he unexpectedly finds an unusual creature. Fearing for its wellbeing, he decides to take it home.
A modern-day fairy tale full of charm, innocence, pain and humour that is deeply satisfying and wonderfully surprising, capturing everything that’s funny and sad about real life. A moving but never cloying read.
We are very excited to host Bobby at a special In Conversation Event as part of Creativity and Wellbeing Month.
The Unexpected Truth About Animals
Top Non-Fiction chosen by Mavis
The unexpected truth about animals / Lucy Cooke
We are celebrating Science week with this amazing book!
An astonishing, illuminating and laugh-out-loud funny book that will ensure you never look at the animal kingdom in the same way again. Scientists have been misunderstanding animals for centuries. We view the animal kingdom through the prism of our own rather narrow existence.
European scientists contended that frogs hatch from wet clay, caterpillars from cabbage and eels from drops of dew. Others theorized that migrating swallows spend winters underwater or on the moon.
What it feels like for a girl
Top Audio – chosen by Magda
What It Feels Like for a Girl by Paris Lees
This coming of age / coming out story set in a small town in the UK will terrify any parent! Paris is simultaneously modest and narcissistic as she describes her difficulties coming to terms with her identity in an unforgiving parochial town with unforgiving / violent parents. She captures the teenage – don’t give a damn / extremely delicate voice so well, as she experiments with sex, drugs and armed robbery!
What sets this memoir apart is the humour, honesty and vernacular it is written in (her best friend Samantha is written Smanfa throughout!)
I have to recommend the Borrowbox experience – read by Paris herself! She is brilliant!
Planet of the Apes Visionaries
Top comic – chosen by Elizabeth
Planet of the Apes Visionaries by Rod Sterling, Dana Gould, Chad Lewis and David Wilson
Experience the Planet of the Apes as it was first envisioned by Rod Serling. This graphic novel presents an alternate vision of the classic film. A testament to what comics can do so well. We all know that Pierre Boulle’s original story is different, and that the only reason they are agrarian in the film is due to budget constraints. Ape City isn’t a crude, primitive grouping of huts, it’s a bustling and urbane metropolis filled with cars and skyscrapers and a vibrant ape culture. Apes wear modern clothes and drive modern cars, they have talk shows and nightclubs and alcohol.
For serious nerds this is the Chimpanzee! Taylor is much closer to James Stewart or Paul Newman than Heston’s misanthrope.
Looking for Emily
Top children’s fiction chosen by Jim
Looking for Emily by Fiona Longmuir
When twelve-year-old Lily moves to the sleepy seaside town of Edge, she’s sure that nothing exciting is ever going to happen to her again. But when she stumbles upon a secret museum hidden in the middle of town, she realises that there might be more to her new home than meets the eye.
The Museum of Emily is filled with the belongings of one seemingly ordinary girl – a girl who, many years ago, disappeared from the town without a trace. With the help of her new friends Sam and Jay, Lily is determined to solve the mystery and find out who Emily was, why she disappeared and who has created the strange, hidden museum.
Cruel Kings and Mean Queens
Top children’s non-fiction chosen by Isaac
Cruel kings and mean queens : read all about the nasty bits! By Terry Deary illustrated by Kate Sheppard.
To mark the Coronation of the King, read about all his offensive antecedents! This work gives the reader the horrible historical facts on all our shocking sovereigns, from William the Conker right up to Lizzie the Last. It includes foul but fascinating facts on horrible habits, ghastly palace ghosts and the dreadful royal doctors of days gone by.
