July’s Stories & Poems

As the season is now in full swing, we are celebrating summer days and sunshine in July’s Monthly Stories and Poems pack. We hope that the stories, extracts and poems featured will help to transport readers to sunny climes, no matter where they find themselves.

We’re also taking time to celebrate the summer season at The Reader’s home at the Mansion House at Calderstones, which feature among a packed programme, a Deep Read of Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and the opening of this year’s open air theatre with a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Visit The Reader’s website to find out more about everything that’s there to enjoy this summer.

This month’s stories and extracts are, for the most part, set in summer. Though the days might be sunny, it’s not always a guarantee of easy feelings or happy moods, and these selections will help us to explore the complexities of life against a beautiful backdrop. We’re revisiting our Light and Darkness Reader Bookshelf from with an extract from David Almond’s The Colour of the Sun, one of our hidden gems from the Children and Young Adult Bookshelf of that year.

July’s stories and extracts are:

No sun, the weather’s changed (extract from Wide Sargasso Sea) by Jean Rhys

The Buzzard and the Babe (extract from The Colour of the Sun) by David Almond

That summer (extract from Bonjour Tristesse) by Françoise Sagan

The Tent (extract from The Summer Book) by Tove Jansson

My father had a daughter loved a man (extract from Twelfth Night) by William Shakespeare

Our poetry selections share snapshots of places we might find ourselves in the summer, if we are lucky. The landscapes may also transport us back in time, as well as to different physical places, and also encourage us to take some time to enjoy the moment that we are in – something that feels all the more important to do on a serene summer’s day.

Sea to the West by Norman Nicholson

Cornish Cliffs by John Betjeman

Modern Love by Douglas Dunn

Noon by John Clare

Some Old Photographs by Liz Lochhead

If you're a Reader Leader head to the Online Community Hub to download this month's selection.