Between the Covers is a BBC talk show hosted by Sara Cox in which guest stars talk about their favourite books, alongside other book picks as well.
In March 2024, a Between The Covers Live! Tour was announced. This initial run of shows would have show dates in London, Oxford, Nottingham, Birmingham, Reading and Brighton and will feature Jo Brand, Kacey Ainsworth, Stephen Mangan, Joseph O’Connor. The tour will be hosted by the TV series executive producer, Amanda Ross.
Episodes
Series One (2020)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a book of the week pick from 2020, and a book written by one of the guests. These books are:
Book of the Week Pick (From 2020)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
This Lovely City by Louise Hare
Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Book Written By a Guest
Sex Power Money (2019) by Sara Pascoe
The Thursday Murder Club (2020) by Richard Osman
Love and Other Thought Experiments (2020) by Sophie Ward
To Be a Gay Man (2020) by Will Young
Just Ignore Him (2020) by Alan Davies
The Corner Shop (2019) by Babita Sharma
Home Stretch (2020) by Graham Norton
Series Two (2021)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a book recently published in 2021, and a popular book from 2020. These books are:
2021
The Fine Art of Invisible Detection by Robert Goddard
Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal
Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan
Another Life by Jodie Chapman
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
The Frequency of Us by Keith Stuart
2020
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Series Three (2021)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a new book from 2021 and a Booker Prize backlist gem. These books are:
2021
Sorrow And Bliss by Meg Mason
The Coward by Jarred McGinnis
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Ascension by Oliver Harris
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo
Booker Prize backlist gems
Good Behaviour (1981) by Molly Keane
The Bookshop (1978) by Penelope Fitzgerald
Exit West (2017) by Mohsin Hamid
The Garden of Evening Mists (2011) by Tan Twan Eng
Fingersmith (2002) by Sarah Waters
The Secret Scripture (2008) by Sebastian Barry
Series Four (2022)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a new book from 2022 and a book from the Big Jubilee Read. These books are:
2022
People Person by Candice Carty-Williams
Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray
Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Metronome by Tom Watson
Exactly What You Mean by Ben Hinshaw
The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry
Big Jubilee Read
The English Patient (1992) by Michael Ondaatje
The Lonely Londoners (1956) by Sam Selvon
Arrow Of God (1964) by Chinua Achebe
The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood
The Secret River (2005) by Kate Grenville
The Night Tiger (2019) by Yangsze Choo
The Crow Eaters (1978) by Bapsi Sidhwa
Series Five (2022)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a new book from 2022 and one from the Booker Prize back catalogue. These books are:
2022
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk
Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson
The Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Booker Prize
Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell
Snap (2018) by Belinda Bauer
The Long Song (2010) by Andrea Levy
The Remains of the Day (1989) by Kazuo Ishiguro
Moon Tiger (1987) by Penelope Lively
Us (2014) by David Nicholls
Series Six (2023)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a new book from 2023 and a book set in Europe to celebrate Eurovision.
2023
In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry
Eurovision-inspired book
Burial Rites (2013) by Hannah Kent
Lullaby (2016) by Leïla Slimani
Death and the Penguin (1996) by Andrey Kurkov
The Summer Book (1972) by Tove Jansson
I'm Not Scared (2001) by Niccolò Ammaniti
My Family and Other Animals (1956) by Gerald Durrell
Series Seven (2023)
Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a new book from 2023 and a classic from the Booker back catalogue.
2023
The Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks
The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Remember, Mr Sharma by A. P. Firdaus
Falling Animals by Sheila Armstrong
Devil’s Breath by Jill Johnson
The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou
Booker Prize
The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993) by Roddy Doyle
The Light of Day (2003) by Graham Swift
My Sister, the Serial Killer (2019) by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Any Human Heart (2002) by William Boyd
Redhead by the Side of the Road (2020) by Anne Tyler