Between the Covers (TV programme)

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. The initial run of shows would have show dates in London, Oxford, Nottingham, Birmingham, Reading and Brighton and would feature Jo Brand, Kacey Ainsworth, Stephen Mangan, Joseph O’Connor. The tour would 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

Series Eight (2024)

Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a book of the week pick from 2024.

2024

• All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
• Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
• There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
• Butter by Asako Yuzuki
• Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor
• The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet

Cancellation

On 9 August 2025, the BBC announced it had axed Between the Covers after eight series and it would not return for a ninth series in the autumn.

References