The Exchange Book Club: Orbital

Join The Exchange Book Club in partnership with Lyza Lawal, founder of Blacklore UK. Together, we’ll celebrate a list of amazing books featuring powerful stories inspired by the arts and sciences behind our exhibition Seeing the Sun.

Expect lively conversation, fresh perspectives, and a welcoming space in the heart of the city.

This month's book

The first book on our TBR (to-be-read) list is Booker-Prize winner Orbital by Samantha Harvey. 

Book synopsis: 

"A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.

Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.

The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?"

Tickets

Tickets for this book club are £5 per person, which includes entry to the session and a drink.

To make our book club as accessible as possible, we are also offering a limited number of free Solidarity tickets. For more information on Solidarity tickets, please visit our ticketing information page.

Buy the book!

Our official bookselling partner is The Heath Bookshop.

The Heath Bookshop is a vibrant, award-winning, independent bookshop in the heart of Kings Heath in Birmingham. The Heath Bookshop is for everyone and anyone, offering a safe community space with a diverse range of books, delicious hot and cold drinks, and a much-loved Kate Bush coffee table. The Heath Bookshop won Independent Bookshop of the Year 2025, which was announced at the British Book Awards in May of this year.

To place an order with The Heath Bookshop, head to Bookshop.org or contact them directly by email at orders@theheathbookshop.co.uk.

Facilities & accessibility

We’re committed to making The Exchange as welcoming and accessible as possible. There’s step-free access and accessible toilets on all floors, plus a Changing Places toilet on the basement level. Guide dogs and assistance animals are always welcome. If you have any questions about access, just drop us an email at engage@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

Presented as part of the UK's National Year of Reading 2026.