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!

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 - Lucy
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

• Winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction

• Winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize

• Winner of the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award

• Named a Best Book of 2024 by Slate, The Guardian, and the New York Public Library

📖 Freshly Bound - Hannah
Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare

• Published 12th June 2025

• Be among the first to read it!

🏅 Now Renowned - Aaron
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

• Shortlisted for the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Novella

• Shortlisted for the 2025 Nebula Award for Best Novella

📚 Been Around - Colin
Mother Naked by Glen James Brown

• Colin’s personal top read of 2024

📅 What’s Coming Up

Our 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?

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

👉 Tap Follow on your favourite platform to stay in the loop and help shape what we read next!