This week on Bookies’ Favourite, we’re setting sail with Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson and published by Small Axes. A poignant dive into the conflicted conscience of a woman haunted by guilt after a migrant boat sinks in the English Channel under her watch, Small Boat has us asking: how much of grief can truly be put into words?

We’re joined by special guest Stacey from @whatstaceyreadnext who shares her thoughts on the book, and we also hear from some of our listeners—thank you to everyone who wrote in!

📖 Next week’s episode is a bumper one!
We’ll be discussing Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, a collection of short stories translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi and published by And Other Stories. It’s the final book on the International Booker 2025 shortlist—and with the winner announced Tuesday, May 20th, we’ll also be:

• Ranking all six books in order of our personal favourites

• Predicting the winner with our take on the bookies’ odds

• Reading out your final rankings and reactions!

✨ Get involved:
Send us your shortlist rankings, predictions, or general Booker thoughts—we’d love to include your takes in our final episode of the season.

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📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite
📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub
📧 Email: [email protected]

Thanks for listening — we’re almost at the finish line!

This week on Bookies’ Favourite, we’re tackling the ambitious and reality-bending On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland and published by Faber.

It’s the first book in a septology, and we’re diving deep into its looping timelines, philosophical undercurrents, and quiet emotional resonance. What’s it like to relive the same day again and again—especially when no one else notices? Is this the boldest book on the shortlist so far?

We’re joined by special guest Imie Kent-Muller, aka @mythicreader, who brings her sharp insight to this cerebral and structurally daring novel.

📖 Next week: We’ll be reading Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson and published by Small Axes. A quiet, lyrical novella about grief, music, and drifting through memory, it’s a haunting journey we can’t wait to discuss. New episode lands Monday, May 12th—read along with us!

✨ Join the club:

Have thoughts on Volume, Boat, or the shortlist in general? We love hearing from listeners—send us your takes and we might feature them in future episodes!

📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite
📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite
📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub
📧 Email: [email protected]

Thanks for listening—and don’t worry, this episode only happens once.

This week on Bookies’ Favourite, we’re diving into A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson and published by Lolli Editions.

⚠️ Content Warning:
This episode includes discussions of mental illness and suicide, major themes within the novel. If you’d prefer to skip, feel free to rejoin us next week.

We unpack the book’s exploration of grief, loneliness, and fragile mental states, and we discuss the divisive writing stylethat sparked some strong reactions. We also share thoughts from multiple listeners—including special guest Ashlee (@afewofchifavoritethings)—who weigh in with their perspectives on this moving, elusive story.

📖 Next up:
We’ll be reading On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland and published by Faber. New episode drops Monday, May 5th!

✨ Get involved:
We love hearing your reactions—whether you loved a book, hated it, or felt somewhere in between. Send us your thoughts and we may feature them in a future episode!

📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite
📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite
📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub
📧 Email: [email protected]

Thanks for being part of the club ❤️

This week on Bookies’ Favourite, we’re diving into the second book on the 2025 International Booker Prize shortlist: Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda and published by Granta Books.

In this episode, we share our thoughts on Kawakami’s surreal, poetic, and quietly haunting novel. From its strange dream logic to its tender moments of grief and connection, we unpack what worked for us—and what left us scratching our heads. As always, we pitch alternative titles and imagine how this unique story could be adapted into other media (animated series?).

📖 Aaron only made it halfway through, so while he’s got some thoughts, the others carry most of the conversation this time around.

Next week, we’ll be reading A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson and published by Lolli Editions. That episode lands Monday, April 28—grab a copy and read along!

✨ We want your opinions!
If you’ve read this book—or any of the shortlist—send us your reactions, reviews, or rants! We’d love to include listener thoughts in future episodes.

📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite
📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite
📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub
📧 Email: [email protected]

From unfinished reads to full-on literary obsessions, we’re all about honest book chat.

This week on Bookies’ Favourite, we dive into the first book on the 2025 International Booker Prize shortlist: Perfectionby Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes and published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.

We break down our reactions to this cool, clinical novella about art, lifestyle, and the pursuit of aesthetic control—was it minimalist mastery or just emotionally cold? The group also pitches alternative titles, debates how it could be adapted into film or TV (hello, A24?), and tries to get to the heart of what Perfection is really about.

🎙️ Bonus: Due to some pesky tech issues, Hannah’s full thoughts come in at the end of the episode—don’t miss them!

Next up? We're heading to Japan (literarily speaking) to read Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda and published by Granta Books. That episode drops Monday, April 21st—plenty of time to grab a copy and read along!

✨ Join the conversation:
📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite
📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite
📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub
📧 Email: [email protected]

We want to hear your thoughts—on Perfection, the shortlist, or anything bookish you’re burning to share. Send us your takes, and we might read them out on a future episode!

The International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist has officially landed—and we’ve got thoughts.

In this episode of Bookies’ Favourite, we react to the shortlist reveal and dish out our gut feelings, wild hopes, and bold predictions. Which books are we thrilled made the cut? Which ones broke Lucy’s heart by missing out? And who do we think should take home the prize?

We’re also laying out our official reading schedule—one book a week, one episode every Monday, starting April 14th. Read along with us and get involved in the conversation!

📚 Reading & Episode Schedule:
🔹 Perfection – April 14
🔹 Under the Eye of the Big Bird – April 21
🔹 A Leopard-Skin Hat – April 28
🔹 On the Calculation of Volume I – May 5
🔹 Small Boat – May 12
🔹 Heart Lamp – May 19

We want you to be part of the club! Send us your thoughts, reviews, rants, and raves on each week’s book—whether you read it or rage-quit it. We’ll be sharing listener takes throughout the series.

✨ Get involved:
📘 Facebook: Bookies’ Favourite
📸 Instagram: @bookiesfavouritebookclub
🐦 Twitter/X: @BookiesFavorite
📚 Goodreads: Bookies’ Favourite Bookclub
📧 Email: [email protected]

Whether you’re a Booker newbie or a seasoned lit prize fiend, we’re glad you’re here. Let’s read some weird and wonderful books together!

Welcome to the very first episode of Bookies’ Favourite, the book club podcast where four friends with very different reading habits come together to talk about big prize lists, bold opinions, and maybe even read a few books along the way.

Meet your hosts:

📻 Aaron Rice – radio journalist, pop culture guy, and proud non-reader (he’s working on it).
📚 Colin Rice – Aaron’s twin, book-a-week reader, creative writing and publishing grad, and aspiring novelist.
📖 Hannah – a passionate reader who knows her way around a good plot twist.
🏆 Lucy – International Booker Prize devotee and the only one among us to have read 11 out of 13 books on the 2025 longlist (yes, she’s our MVP).

In this debut episode, Lucy breaks down the International Booker Prize 2025 longlist and shares her predictions for the soon-to-be-announced shortlist (dropping Tuesday, April 8th). Hannah’s read one book and adds her thoughts too. The rest of us… are just here for the ride, vibes, and occasional chaos.

We’ll be back tomorrow with a bonus episode reacting to the shortlist reveal and mapping out our reading schedule for the six shortlisted titles. After that, new episodes drop every Monday as we make our way through the shortlist—one book a week.

✨ Read along with us! ✨ 
Got thoughts? Hot takes? Wildly different opinions? We want to hear them. Join the conversation and follow us on:

Whether you're a literary prize nerd or just trying to finish one book a year, you're in the right place.