This weeks Literary Ledger 22 to 29 May 2026

Welcome to your weekly roundup of all things books! We’re keeping it short and sweet, just five stories to keep you in the loop without overwhelming you. Think of this as your quick fix for staying connected to the book world.

I) What’s Next for the Off Campus TV Series?

The Off Campus TV shows have done very well, with 36 million views. The first season was based on the first book in Elle Kennedy’s series, The Deal, starring Ella Bright as Hannah Wells and Belmont Carmeli as Garrett Graham. Each book follows a new romantic couple, and next up is Dean and Allie.

Allie Hayes, Hannah’s best friend and an aspiring actress, and Dean Heyward-Di Laurentis, who’s on the same hockey team as Garrett and is a bit of a charming playboy, are the focus of the next story.

The next book was originally supposed to be The Mistake, but in line with the TV show it made more sense to switch things up, I guess. In that season we’ll also be “soft launching” John Logan and Grace Ivers (who’s already been cast), setting up their relationship for season three.

It’s one of those things where it’s not life or death what order it’s in, since the stories kind of stand on their own anyway. But it’s exciting we’ll be getting more of this.

II) AI Narration and Spotify’s Push Into Audiobooks

Spotify very popularly has an audiobook business (I even saw them at the London Book Fair and managed to snag a free hand sanitiser). They are making some changes using AI so that authors can have their book narrated for them instead of paying narrators to do this. The system is called ElevenLabs. 

There are two ways you can look at this. The first is that it’s another job being lost to AI, so now voice actors have to fear not having as many opportunities going forward. However, if these are self-published authors they may not have the funds to pay a narrator to read their audiobook, but I hardly think this is the solution. Why is the answer always AI?

I knew it would spread itself faintly into the creative field until it was too late to go back to a world that can’t be understood anymore. Reading and voice acting are creative, and it is not known as an easily attainable career (what is anymore). A job in a creative industry is already rare to establish yourself in, and now Spotify are minimising another avenue.

Besides, when something is read by AI it won’t sound or feel authentic, surely. It would feel like having a high-end Google Translate reading something back to you, stale and, well, unhuman.

Spotify are also investing a lot more into audiobooks, but never for the benefit of the creatives they are benefiting off. It’s supposed to be a balance, scratch your back and you can scratch theirs, but of course that was a very silly and unrealistic expectation in such a capitalistic, greed-hungry world.

I really hope it doesn’t end up replacing the human side of it entirely. When the Kindle came in, there were similar fears about physical books disappearing, and that didn’t happen. Because there is something so connecting about a physical copy of a book that you can’t replace, and I’d like to think the same about a voice.

III) Another Casting Announcement for Emily Henry’s Book Beach Read

There was a lot of uproar when the casting came out for Emily Henry’s book Beach Read. Phoebe Dynevor is playing January, and Patrick Schwarzenegger is playing Gus. The BookTok community did not have many nice things to say about Gus’ casting.

So, the description is “infuriatingly attractive” in a charming way, tall-ish, not buff but toned, with olive skin, sharp cheekbones, and furiously dark eyes. Everyone wanted and expected, from that description, someone like Fabian Frankel (and I definitely see it), and Patrick is just not that.

Once again, physical appearance means a lot to readers and authors, because why describe people at all if it isn’t important? We could just leave it blank. It holds such weight in a story, just as appearance holds weight in our own lives, so going off “vibes” alone is frustrating. An actor’s job is to act, so I can’t see why it’s so hard to get someone who looks like Gus and can act as him.

The director, Yulin Kuang, also responded online after the commotion and wrote on one of her Instagram posts: “I have always maintained that we are not casting a character, but a relationship.” But aren’t you casting both…? The two are not mutually exclusive. If you don’t go in with the character in mind first, then the second thing (the relationship side) will fall apart. That reaction didn’t give me much faith, and it didn’t give the Beach Read audience much faith either.

This also shows Kuang’s misunderstanding of what adult romance is, and has really put it in a box. Romance is built on character development, it isn’t always just about tropes, meet-cutes, or passion. Especially with Emily Henry, who I think is a brilliant romance writer.

Anyway, sorry about that, that was just a long-winded way of announcing that Andie MacDowell and Kevin Bacon are also set to join the cast of Beach Read, and production is set to start this June.

IV) Penguin Announces Deluxe Alchemised Edition

Penguin has announced that they are releasing a Deluxe Three-Volume Slipcase Edition of Alchemised by SenLinYu, set to release on 13th October 2026.It is split into its three hardcover volumes (sectioned exactly as in the original copy Parts 1-3).

Honestly, I might have preferred this edition sooner, because carrying around that hefty 1000-page thing was not for the weak. I’m surprised there was enough glue to keep it together.

The set features:

• Illustrated slipcase with brand-new art

• Three unjacketed hardcovers with foil stamps

• Metallic silver edges

• Bookmark ribbons

• Full-colour illustrated endpaper maps

• 24 black-and-white interior illustrations by acclaimed artist Avendell

Check out what the books look like here: https://alchemisedbook.com/deluxe-edition/ 

V) New £1M Literary Grant Fund Announced by the RSL

More positive news for the increase in reading efforts! The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is the UK’s leading literary charity dedicated to promoting literature and supporting writers. They have created a new grant fund worth £1 million, with £200,000 awarded annually between 2026 and 2030.

This will be used to support projects that encourage people to read in communities across the UK, so that could include literary festivals, book events, creative writing workshops, it really spans a lot of things. Of course, this has been launched and inspired by the National Year of Reading.

Unsurprisingly, literature receives a very small share of arts funding. Between 2021 and 2024, only 3% of private cultural funding went to literature, which is unacceptable because there is so much to gain and benefit from reading (I know I’m biased, but it’s true!).

There’s a lot that can apply, like literary charities or independent publishers, and grants will range depending on need, from £5,000-£30,000.

There are two categories of grants available:

1. Operating Grants – for expanding or sustaining existing literary programmes

2. Innovation Grants – for new or experimental projects that test fresh ways of engaging readers

I’m very excited to see the change this will bring!