Read with the Queen

By Audrey Estebo, Library Committee

Looking for a quick break during this busy season? Here’s a suggestion of a fun literary website that you can explore whether you have fifteen minutes or a long, snowy afternoon. The Queen’s Reading Room is a charity and book club of Her Majesty Queen Camilla that was launched in 2021 during Covid.
 
The site is a mash up of book recommendations from the royal family and from friends ranging from Hilary Mantel to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. There are video readings and roundtables. Listen to Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth discuss why reading is important. Go in-depth about an author. Check out the Interludes section where you can listen to Sir Derek Jacobi read an excerpt of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.
 
In the Treasures from the Library, watch video clips highlighting the original manuscript of Frankenstein from The Bodleian Library or the first illustrated volume of Tennyson’s Poems from Windsor Castle Library.

A fun entry for the many Coffman readers who have enjoyed Miss Benson’s Beetles includes six short (2-5 minutes) video clips featuring the author. Another visit-worthy entry is Pride and Prejudice, where the video clips range from Jane Austen’s Reading List to HM Queen Camilla Visits Jane Austen House.
 
The website isn’t perfect. Now and then a link doesn’t work, and it can be somewhat of a maze to navigate. However, you might find that to be one of its charms. Let it lead you down the rabbit hole and provide a mental break from our hectic lives.
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