Our Books of the Month – JUNE

1589. Scottish housemaid Geillis and Danish courtier Margareta lead opposite lives, but they both know one thing: when a man cries “witch”, no woman is safe.

Yet when the marriage of King James VI and Princess Anna of Denmark brings Geillis and Margareta together, everything they supposed about good, evil, men, and women, is cast in a strange and brilliant new light. For the first time in history, could black magic – or rumours of it – be a very real tool for women’s political gain? As the North Berwick witch trials whip Scotland – and her king – into a frenzy of paranoia, the clock is ticking. Can Margareta and Geillis keep each other safe? And once the burnings are over, in whose hands will power truly lie? Inspired by the incredible true story that set 16th-century Scotland and Denmark alight, The Burnings is 2023’s most bewitching debut novel, by a multi-award winning new star of historical fiction.

Paperback of the Month

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

So to mortal men, we are monsters.

Because of our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters’Medusa is the sole mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt.

When Poseidon commits an unforgiveable act against Medusa in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can: on his victim. Medusa is changed forever – writhing snakes for hair and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone. She can look at nothing without destroying it.

Desperate to protect her beloved sisters, Medusa condemns herself to a life of shadows. Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . .

Children’s Book of the Month

Luna and the Sky Dragon by Bethan Woollvin

An inspiring story perfect for little stargazers. Luna loves the sky and finding out about all the wonders she can see above her. But the villagers can’t stop worrying about the mythical Sky Dragon – a fearsome creature who is said to dwell in the sky.

Can Luna share her love of the sky and show the villagers that the Sky Dragon is nothing to be afraid of?Featuring real constellations as well as facts about the milky way, eclipses, comets and other astronomical delights. Luna and the Sky Dragon is a warm and playful story with lots to learn and talk about from Bethan Woollvin, the New York Times-bestselling creator of Little Red, I Can Catch a Monster and Three Little Vikings, and illustrator of Meet the Planets written by Caryl Hart.