The Bookish Drop 📚 Thursday 5 June 2025
Celine Saintclare reads from her latest novel🩰 Catherine goes to Hay Festival🎉Would you read the world's longest novel?🧾
📚 Hey, book lovers! It’s officially June now, and we’re making way for all our summer reads, although the weather doesn’t seem to be cooperating! Last week, Catherine made her way to the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, to enjoy four days of book signings, readings, and talks. It was an incredible event and really highlighted how the joy of reading can build such a connection with strangers. Catherine attended talks by Robert Harris, Shon Faye, Jesse Armstrong, Miranda Hart, and more. Of course she also brought back an obscene amount of books with her thanks to the seemingly never-ending range of independent bookshops in the town. The standout bookstore had to be Gay-on-Wye, an independent bookstore stocking LGBTQ+ authors and books!
❤️ What we’re reading this week…
Catherine: Mrs S. by K. Patrick - Mrs S. was released in 2023 and has been on my radar since then, especially after Patrick was featured on Granta’s best young novelists list in 2023. I’ve only just got round to reading it but I’m loving it so far. It follows a butch woman who works in a prestigious British school and begins an affair with the headteacher’s wife, Mrs S.
Danielle: Beach Birdie by Amber Fawn - I can’t lie, I fell for this book hook, line and sinker thanks to an ad on Instagram (damn you, targeted ads) and I knew I needed to buy it. I mean, there’s literal character art on the pages of the book, so I was sold. Despite its cutesy exterior, though, I do really feel like this book is going to be packed with substance from the indie author.
Talya: Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad - With last week’s newsletter featuring more non-fiction recs, I felt inspired to pick up my first non-fic of the year. I have never been to Japan (one day!), but I’ve been very much enjoying living vicariously through the author.
Zoe: The Crew by Michael Mohr - This YA novel, currently available on Kindle Unlimited, follows Jack Donnigan—a naïve but smart rich kid at a private school - who falls into a new world when he befriends some punk rock kids and falls in love with the leader’s girlfriend. I actually came across this book via a subscriber - the author of the book, no less. We’d love more recommendations from readers so never be shy to send us your work!
Did you miss last week’s edition? Catch up below.
⏰ What’s trending…
🩰Author of Sugar Baby, Celine Saintclare, has read an excerpt from her book due in 2025, The Feminine Art of Revenge, and we’re seriously hooked. We loved Sugar Baby lots, so we can’t wait to get our hands on a copy of this.
🔪 The first trailer of Netflix’s adaptation The Thursday Murder Club is here. Starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie, the movie version of Richard Osman’s unavoidable book lands on the streaming platform on 28 August.
♊ Looking for your next read but not sure what you’re feeling? The stars have spoken and this bookish horoscope might just have the answer.
📢 The weekly review: Audition by Katie Kitamura ⭐⭐/5
Catherine: Kitamura’s fifth novel, Audition, was released in April this year with a lot of anticipation leading up to it. I had read the premise and was immediately drawn in, with the novel opening on an accomplished actress and young man meeting in a restaurant. As the story progresses you begin to learn who they are to one another as the novel explores themes of family, relationships, and art.
I was really excited to finally read this release but finished the book feeling frustrated and underwhelmed. Kitamura uses the main character’s voice to ask a lot of questions, a device that when used effectively can prompt the reader to seriously engage and think about the novel and its topics, but it began to feel as though Kitamura was writing half-formed thoughts and moving on. Whilst Kitamura’s writing is certainly intelligent and beautiful, this was overshadowed by what read as a very chaotic, throw-everything-at-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks ending. Personally, it felt as though this short novel wasn’t fully fleshed out, and whilst I am an admirer of abstract fiction, Audition unfortunately missed the mark for me.
📖Bookish news
📝 More than 400 writers and literary organisations, including Zadie Smith, Jeanette Winterson, Irvine Welsh, Kate Mosse and Ian McEwan, have signed an open letter condemning Israel’s actions in Palestine and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
😥 The collapse of UK crowdfunding publisher Unbound has left hundreds of authors out of pocket and still chasing unpaid royalties. As writers vent their frustrations on social media, Unbound’s successor company faces an uphill battle to regain trust (and pay off its debts).
🕵️ True crime isn’t just dominating the world of podcasts and Netflix series - interest in whodunits and grisly horrors is on the up in the literary industry. With 74% of readers admitting they enjoy indulging in books about brutal murders or accounts from real-life serial killers, a criminal psychologist explains just why we’re all suddenly so intrigued by criminal tales.
😵Did you know that the world’s longest novel could take you up to a year to read? It boasts an estimated 9,609,000 characters, making it around 24 times longer than the average book. You can read more about it here.
🍸Manchester: Sober Girl Society book swap mixer | 11th June. If you’re in north-western England, why not join the SGS next week for an evening of friendship-making, book swapping, goody bags, and gorge non-alcoholic drinks at Manchester's alcohol-free bar!
✨ Book Nook of the Week
This week, Book Nook of the Week has to go to Alexis, who referred to the nook as her “little pride and joy”. It would be our pride and joy too! Once you think you’ve seen everything in the picture there is to see, you then spot something else that’s utterly adorable too. We’ve seen books aplenty, Squishmallows, a super cute strawberry pet bed, and, our personal favourite, a gigantic Pompompurin plushie on the floor! Imagine having that to lean on while you read your latest book. Dreamy. If you’ve got a Book Nook you want us to feature, email thebookishdrop@reachplc.com
💸 Deals of the week
💸 June is here, which means there’s hundreds of new Kindle 99p deals up for grabs, including One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune, Funny Story by Emily Henry and Run by Blake Crouch. LGBTQ+ stories The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King by Harry Trevaldwyn and Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart are also just 99p this (Pride) month.
🚀 Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid is finally here, and you can pick up this exclusive alternative cover and sprayed edge version for £5 less at The Works. The Barnes & Noble exclusive edition is also currently on sale for 17% off.
👀 Barnes & Noble is selling various special editions for less at the moment, with The Tenant by Freida McFadden, Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan and House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas all available for up to 24% off.
❓ Is there anything in particular you want to see from us? We’d love to hear from you - whether you want us to review the book you’ve got coming out, you’re organising a book swap IRL, or you have some juicy bookish gossip to share! We’re always all ears! Fill out this form to get in touch!
I cannot wait for The Thursday Murder Club… and what a cast!! 🙌