What’s on in York: The Big City Read Annual Walk

York Explore Library :

Thu 21 Sep :

11.00am – 12.00pm :

Free

BCR This will be an hour’s walk through the streets and snickleways of central York based on this year’s Big City Read novel. It will take in the places referred to in the book with a running commentary from the walk leader on the places and how they tie in with the novel.

Meet in the foyer at York Explore

This is a free event and no booking is needed.

This walk will not be accessible to pushchairs and wheelchair users as some steps will be included. Please wear suitable clothes and footwear for walking.

2017 York Big City read book announced

York Libraries have announced that their Big City Read book for 2017 will be Helen Cadbury’s “To Catch a Rabbit”.

“Helen lives in York and is very involved in the cultural and literary life of the city and we are absolutely delighted that she has accepted our invitation to be our Big City Read author.

Helen Cadbury

We are working hard on a fantastic programme of events and can already share some key dates with you.

The Big City Read 2017 brochure and event booking will be available from 1 August.
There will be a drop in day at York Explore on Saturday 5 August where you can pick up a brochure, book events and chat with some of the people responsible for creating the programme.
We will be launching the Big City Read on Thursday 14 September and distributing 5000 free copies of To Catch a Rabbit from 15 September.

Our programme of events across the city will run from 14 September to 10 November and we are already booking some fantastic authors and activities to involve, entertain and inform you. Watch this space for more details soon”.

To catch a rabbit is a crime thriller.

A dead woman sits slumped against the door of a grubby trailer. She’s on Sean Denton’s patch, but who is she, how did she get there and why doesn’t CID want to investigate?

As Doncaster’s youngest PCSO, Denton takes the case into his own hands, but he’s way out of his depth.

When people are reported missing, Denton must work backwards – facing corruption from outside and inside the force – before anyone else falls victim to South Yorkshire’s deadly underworld of migrants and the sex trade.

What’s on in York: Acomb Explore Big City Read Family Day

Acomb Explore Library :

Thu 27 Oct :

9.00am – 4.00pm :

Free

Oct 27Acomb Free drop in day for all the family to enjoy.

Drop in for 10 minutes or stay a couple of hours while you try some of the activities we have on offer.

Make a poppy out of children’s books and we will decorate the library.

Drop in between 9am and 12 noon to learn Morse Code and be the ultimate Spy! Then become an even better spy by creating your own Espionage code wheels.

Between 1.00pm and 3.00pm build a World War 1 bunker using Minecraft. We’ll give you 15 minutes to complete your creation and the best designs will be displayed in the library throughout November. Or you can even get creative and make your own trenches out of Lego!

Tickets can be booked

In person: call in at any library in York
By phone: 01904 552828 or 01904 552651
Email: york@exploreyork.org.uk

What’s on in York: Pop up Regeneration Book Group, with Local Mental Health Experts

York Explore Library :

Sat 15 Oct :

11.00am – 1.00pm :

Free

Oct 8_regenaration Book Cover Discuss this year’s Big City Read book, Regeneration by Pat Barker, in this one of a kind pop-up book group. Local mental health experts from the Tuke Centre, part of The Retreat, York, will be in attendance to lend their opinion on the themes too.

For more information click here.

What’s on in York: Big City Read 2016 launched today

Programme launch and event booking from 1st September

Events from 5 October to 1 December

In July 1917, Siegfried Sassoon wrote an open letter to the Times protesting about the conduct of the war. What happened next is the subject of Pat Barker’s book Regeneration which will be our Big City Read for this year.

York Libraries are giving away 5,000 free copies of Regeneration over October and November and asking readers to immerse themselves in the world of 100 years ago.

click for summary

“We have put together a fantastic programme of events, together with our partners in the city, which offers something for everyone.

We are delighted to be welcoming Pat Barker to both launch and conclude the Big City Read at York Explore.

You can download the programme here Big City Read 2016 Events, and find details of Big City Read events in our What’s On listing. Copies of the programme will be available from 6 September at all York Libraries and other outlets in York.

You can collect your free copy of Regeneration from any Explore Library from 6 October while stocks last.

Events can be booked from 1 September either in person at any library in York or by phone, (01904) 552828 or (01904) 552651.

We advise booking in advance for all of our events, if applicable, to make sure of a place.

Read, Enjoy, Discuss, Share”

2016 “Big City Read” announced by York libraries

York libraries have announced that the Big City Read for 2016 will be “Regeneration” by Pat Barker. The book was first published in 1991 and is set in the First World War.

It was subsequently turned into a film.

Pat Barker was born not far from York in Thornaby-on-Tees.

The Big City Read highlights one exceptional book and encourages hundreds of people across York to read it.

“Regeneration” plot summary

Regeneration begins with Siegfried Sassoon’s open letter, dated July 1917, protesting the conduct and insincerities of the First World War. The letter has been published in the London Times and has received much attention in England, as many people are upset over the length and toll of the war thus far. The army is not sure what to do with Sassoon, as his letter clearly threatens to undermine the strength of the war effort at home.

With the string-pulling and guidance of Robert Graves, a fellow poet and friend of Sassoon, the Board agrees to send Sassoon to Craiglockhart War Hospital—a mental facility in Scotland—rather than court-marshaling him. Sassoon is at first hesitant to agree to this, since he (rightly) fears that being committed to a mental hospital will undermine his cause; however, convinced by Graves that there is no other option, Sassoon agrees.

At Craiglockhart, Sassoon meets with Dr. W.H.R. Rivers, a former anthropologist turned psychiatrist who encourages his patients to express their war memories so that they can heal their “nerves.” Though Rivers can sympathize with the strong dislike of the horrors of war, he believes it is his duty to encourage Sassoon to return to France to fight.
(more…)

This years Big City Read – The Orpheus Descent by Tom Harper

The Orpheus Descent will be available free from all libraries from Thursday 10 July. Look out for copies when out and about across the city.

Visit your local library today to get your Big City Read brochure which details all of the activities and events happening across the City over the summer

cover I have never written down the answers to the deepest mysteries, nor will I ever…

The philosopher Plato wrote these words more than two thousand years ago, following a perilous voyage to Italy — an experience about which he never spoke again, but from which he emerged the greatest thinker in all of human history.

Today, twelve golden tablets sit in museums around the world, each created by unknown hands and buried in ancient times, and each providing the dead with the route to the afterlife. Archaeologist Lily Barnes, working on a dig in southern Italy, has just found another. But the thirteenth tablet is different. This tablet names the location to the mouth of hell itself. And then Lily vanishes.

Has she walked out on her job, her marriage, and her life — or has something more sinister happened? Her husband, Jonah, is desperate to find her. But no one can help him: not the police; not the secretive foundation that sponsored her dig; not even a circle of university friends who seem to know more than they’re saying. All Jonah has is belief, and a determination to do whatever it takes to get Lily back.

But like Plato before him, Jonah will discover the journey ahead is mysterious and dark and fraught with danger. And not everyone who travels to the hidden place where Lily has gone can return.

NB. While the York central library is closed for refurbishment (until the Autumn) books can be returned to a “drop box” located in the foyer of the Council HQ at West Offices or to any other library.