With the official Booker Prize 2025 longlist announcement just around the corner, Aaron, Lucy, and Colin sit down to pitch their top 12 books they’d love to see make the list.

⚡ Plus, Lucy takes us through a speed round of eligible books she’s already read and whether she thinks they’ll appear on the list.

📚 Previous Booker-Eligible Episodes

Want to catch up on some eligible books we’ve already covered? Check out our past reviews:

• Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan

• The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine

And stay tuned—in September, we’ll be reviewing Confessions by Catherine Airey, another eligible title. If you're reading it too, send us your thoughts!

👀 What’s Coming Next
🎧 Wednesday – We’ll be uploading a longlist reaction episode, breaking down the official picks revealed in tomorrow's announcement and seeing which of our predictions made it.

🏺 Next week listen out for our review of Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

🪼 Aaron & Lucy will also be launching a read-along mini-series soon, going chapter-by-chapter through Eden’s Shore. Read along and join the discussion!

📚 And once the shortlist is announced in September, we’re planning to read and discuss every book on it.

💬 Share Your Predictions & Hopes!

What books do you want to see on the longlist?
Send us your predictions and hot takes on:
📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
📩 bookiesfavouritebookclub@gmail.com

Follow along and be part of the Booker conversation!

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 spoilers

Both 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 Next

Our 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 Us

We want to hear what you think of The Benefactors, Glorious Exploits, or the Eden’s Shore mini-series.📩 bookiesfavouritebookclub@gmail.com📒 Goodreads📸 Instagram🐦 Twitter/X📘 Facebook

Follow us, share your thoughts, and stay tuned for the next chapters!

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 poll

The 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 Thoughts

We want to hear what you think of Eden’s Shore, Glorious Exploits, or the books in this week’s poll!

📩 bookiesfavouritebookclub@gmail.com
📘 Goodreads
📸 Instagram
🐦 Twitter/X
📘 Facebook

Tap Follow wherever you’re listening so you don’t miss the mini-series or our next review!