Bookies' Favourite

• Bonus Episode: The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine. Review

  In this special bonus episode, Lucy is joined by Stacey from @whatstaceyreadnext to discuss The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine—a sharp, moving, and freshly released novel set in Belfast.⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault as it relates to the themes in the book.‼️ As we discuss the full book there are spoilersBoth Lucy and Stacey bring local insight to the conversation, exploring the novel’s themes, setting, and characters with care and excitement. With its powerful storytelling and distinct voice, they share why they’re hopeful this book will make the Booker longlist.Lucy also reports back from a recent event with Wendy Erskine at the Belfast Book Festival, where Wendy shared details about The Benefactors.📊 Help Pick Our Next Book!Head to our socials and vote in this week’s polls to help us choose our next book club read:📸 Instagram post & story polls🎧 Poll on this Spotify episodeThe more places you vote, the more power your vote has!📅 What’s NextOur next full episode drops Monday, and we’ll be reviewing Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon—the book YOU voted for!🌊 Then in two weeks, we kick off our Eden’s Shore mini-series, starting with Chapter One: Sea.💬 Connect With UsWe want to hear what you think of The Benefactors, Glorious Exploits, or the Eden’s Shore mini-series.📩 [email protected]📒 Goodreads📸 Instagram🐦 Twitter/X📘 FacebookFollow us, share your thoughts, and stay tuned for the next chapters!

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• Eden's Shore by Oisín Fagan Review

  In this episode, we dive into Eden’s Shore—a dense, experimental, and rewarding read that left us wanting more. With Hannah away traveling, we’re joined by our Bookie of the Week, Graeme (@graeme_c on Instagram), who shares his take on this powerful and unusual novel.📚 Eden’s Shore is divided into four main chapters—Sea, Land, Colony, Play—plus a final chapter titled World. We all agreed: we’ve barely scratched the surface. So, we’re launching a mini-series between our regular episodes to unpack each chapter in its own dedicated discussion. If you're reading along, we’d love to hear your thoughts for inclusion in future episodes!🎧 Bonus: The audiobook is free on Spotify for anyone with a subscription—perfect for those catching up!🏆 Poll Results Are In!The next book we’ll be reading together is Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon! Start reading now and send us your thoughts—our next full review episode drops Monday in two weeks.📊 New Book Club Poll – Vote Now!Help us choose what to read after Glorious Exploits! You can vote on:🟢 Spotify poll (on this episode)📸 Instagram post poll📸 Instagram Story pollThe more places you vote, the more influence you have!This week’s picks:👑 Has Been Crowned – The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Aaron’s pick)→ Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025📖 Freshly Bound – The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis (Colin’s pick)→ Recently released and gaining momentum🏅 Now Renowned – Confessions by Catherine Airey (Lucy’s pick)→ Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize💬 Share Your ThoughtsWe want to hear what you think of Eden’s Shore, Glorious Exploits, or the books in this week’s poll!📩 [email protected]📘 Goodreads📸 Instagram🐦 Twitter/X📘 FacebookTap Follow wherever you’re listening so you don’t miss the mini-series or our next review!

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• Season 2: Heart Lamp Wins, Eden’s Shore Begins & the Book Club Vote Opens

  We’re back! In this season premiere, we react to Heart Lamp’s big win at the 2025 International Booker Prize, reveal our next book club read—Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan—and launch our Book Club Vote to decide what we’ll read after that.🎧 We also catch you up on what we’ve been reading and planning behind the scenes. Come join the conversation!📊 Book Club Poll – Vote Now!You can vote in four places—Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, and right here on this episode.📌 Voting closes Midnight GMT on Friday.📌 The more places you vote, the more your vote counts!This Week’s Categories & Picks:👑 Has Been Crowned - LucyGlorious Exploits by Ferdia LennonWinner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic FictionWinner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction PrizeWinner of the Authors’ Club Best First Novel AwardNamed a Best Book of 2024 by Slate, The Guardian, and the New York Public Library📖 Freshly Bound - HannahThirst Trap by Gráinne O’HarePublished 12th June 2025Be among the first to read it!🏅 Now Renowned - AaronThe Tusks of Extinction by Ray NaylerShortlisted for the 2025 Hugo Award for Best NovellaShortlisted for the 2025 Nebula Award for Best Novella📚 Been Around - ColinMother Naked by Glen James BrownColin’s personal top read of 2024📅 What’s Coming UpOur next episode drops Monday 16th June, where we’ll review Eden’s Shore and reveal the winner of the vote.From then on, we’ll be releasing new episodes every two weeks this season.💬 We Want to Hear From You!Tell us what you thought of Eden’s Shore, vote in the poll, or recommend our next book!Which book would you suggest for each category?📩 [email protected]📘 Goodreads📸 Instagram🐦 Twitter/X📘 Facebook👉 Tap Follow on your favourite platform to stay in the loop and help shape what we read next!

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• International Booker Prize 2025: Shortlist Rankings & Winner Predictions

  The shortlist has been read, the opinions have been aired, and now it’s time... to rank them.In this special bonus episode of Bookies’ Favourite, we each reveal our final rankings of the six International Booker Prize 2025 shortlisted books—complete with laughs, debates, and a little chaos, especially as Lucy goes head-to-head with the Bookies' Favourite hivemind 👀📚We also:Discuss our aggregate podcast rating based on all previous reviewsBreak down the bookies’ odds and what they might tell us about tonight’s winnerShare a few last-minute hopes and predictions before the announcement drops this evening🎉 Stay tuned:We’ll be back later this week with a reaction episode once the winner is announced, and to share our plans for what we’ll read next—whether that’s more awards, future shortlists, or award-winning books.💬 We want to hear from you!Let us know what prize lists, books, or themes you’d like us to cover going forward. This podcast is a book club, after all—and we want your voice in the conversation.📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub📧 Email: [email protected] for joining us on this International Booker journey—see you soon for the winner reveal!

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• Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq. Review

  In this final instalment of our International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist read-through, we’re diving into Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi and published by And Other Stories.A powerful collection of short stories that explore gender, class, and quiet resistance, Heart Lamp left us with a lot to reflect on—and no shortage of opinions. We also hear the thoughtful response of guest @sazloureads on Instagram, whose take adds another layer to our discussion.This is the last book on the shortlist—but we’re not done yet...📢 Coming up tomorrow:We’ll be releasing a bonus episode with our final rankings, Booker predictions, and some final reflections before the winner is announced on Tuesday evening.🎉 Later this week:We’ll be back once more with a reaction episode to the big announcement—did our predictions hit the mark, or did the judges surprise us?✨ Get involved:Now’s the time to send in your final rankings, predictions, or thoughts on the shortlist—we’d love to feature your opinions in our wrap-up coverage!📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub📧 Email: [email protected] for reading along with us—we’ll see you tomorrow for the final countdown!

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