Here’s a full run down of the books featured on BBC Two series Between The Covers.
Hosted by Sara Cox since 2020, each episode of the BBC show features famous faces discussing their favourite books, new releases and iconic classics.
There have been eight series so far with the most recent starting on Tuesday, 29 October at 7PM on BBC One. You can also watch online via the BBC iPlayer.
Here’s a run down of all the books in the latest series, and those from past runs as well…
Series 8 (Autumn 2024)
Each episode of series eight will once again spotlight a newly published book, reflecting a mixture of styles and genres.
The six newly published books in the upcoming new series are:
- 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
The celebrity panellists on the series are Alan Davies, Neneh Cherry, Richard Osman, Sara Pascoe, Sir Trevor McDonald, Elizabeth Day, Graham Norton, Gemma Whelan, Stephen Mangan, Taj Atwal, Jack Edwards, Meera Syal, Tom Allen, Jo Brand, Richard Ayoade, Alex Jones, Neil Delamere, Ranvir Singh, Adrian Edmondson, Cariad Lloyd, Ben Miller, Maisie Adam, Olly Smith and Sophie Raworth.
Series 7 (Autumn 2023)
Each episode of series seven will feature two review sections: one spotlighting a newly published book, reflecting a mixture of styles and genres, the second a classic from The Booker Prize backlist.
The six newly published books in the upcoming new series are:
- 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
Meanwhile The books from The Booker Prize backlist are:
- The God Of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
- Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, by Roddy Doyle
- The Light of Day, by Graham Swift
- My Sister, The Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- Any Human Heart, by William Boyd
- Redhead by the Side of the Road, by Anne Tyler
The celebrity panellists on series seven include Rob Delaney, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Nish Kumar, Sandi Toksvig, Richard Armitage, Ellie Taylor, Ade Edmondson, Kerry Godliman, Bill Paterson, Annie Macmanus, Chris McCausland and Alex Jones.
They’re joined by Ben Miller, Andi Osho, Ed Byrne, Suzi Ruffell, Omari Douglas, Angela Barnes, Adam Kay, Anita Rani, Ahir Shah, Laura Smyth, Jo Brand and Miles Jupp.
Series 6 (Spring 2023)
2023’s first series saw a Eurovision twist as the UK hosted the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of ukraine.
The six newly published books carefully selected for the series (in broadcast order) are:
- 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
Meanwhile, the books set in Eurovision countries are:
- Burial Rights, by Hannah Kent (Iceland)
- Lullaby, by Leïla Slimani (France)
- Death And The Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine)
- The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson (Finland)
- I’m Not Scared, by Niccolò Ammaniti (Italy)
- My Family And Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell (Greece)
The celebrity guests taking part across the series are Meera Syal, Alan Davies, Samantha Bond, Mel Giedroyc, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Sara Pascoe, Katie Melua, Adam Garcia, Cerys Matthews, Charlie Higson, Nick Knowles, Laura Whitmore, Angela Scanlon, DJ Spoony, Rob Rinder, Sunetra Sarker, Ivo Graham, Sophie Duker, Helen McGinn, Ore Oduba, Sara Barron, Gethin Jones and Joe Thomas.
Series 5 (Autumn 2022)
The seven newly-published books which will feature in the new series are:
- 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, b Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Meanwhile the Booker Backlist novels chosen are:
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- Snap by Belinda Bauer
- The Long Song by Andrea Levy
- The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
- Us by David Nicholls
The celebrity guests taking part across the new series were Graham Norton, Alex Jones, Amanda Abbington, JJ Chalmers, Ruth Jones, Jessie Cave, Samuel West, Kae Kurd, Paterson Joseph, Al Murray, Sophie Raworth, Jenny Eclair, Tom Allen, Stephen Mangan, Pam Ferris, Rakhee Thakrar, Gabby Logan, Ade Adepitan, Kerry Godliman, Tom Read Wilson, Ugo Monye, Clara Amfo, Sarah Keyworth and Rick Edwards.
Series 4 (Spring 2022)
Series four again featured brand new books and additional book choices selected from the Big Jubilee Read, a reading for pleasure campaign spearheaded by BBC Arts and The Reading Agency.
The seven newly-published books which featured in the series were:
- 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
Meanwhile the Big Jubilee Read choices were:
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (1992, Sri Lanka/Canada)
- The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon (1956, Trinidad)
- Arrow Of God by Chinua Achebe (1964, Nigeria)
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985, Canada)
- The Secret River by Kate Grenville (2005, Australia)
- The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019, Malaysia)
- The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa (1978, Pakistan)
The celebrity guests taking part across the series wereDavid Morrissey, Vick Hope, Richard Osman, Sir Trevor McDonald, Peter Davison, Mel Giedroyc, Sarah Hadland, Richard E. Grant, Deborah Meaden, Jo Brand, Darren Harriott, Neil Morrissey, Nina Wadia, Kate Bottley, Emeli Sandé, Jordan North, Rhys Stephenson, Deborah Frances-White, Adrian Scarborough, Jen Brister, Catherine Bohart, Colin Salmon, Dan Smith, Cariad Lloyd, Katy Wix, Pierre Novellie, Stephen Bailey and Sukh Ojla.
Series 3 (Autumn 2021)
The six newly-published books which will featured in this series were:
- Sorrow And Bliss by Meg Mason (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- The Coward by Jarred McGinnis (Canongate)
- Still Life by Sarah Winman (Fourth Estate)
- Ascension by Oliver Harris (Little, Brown)
- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber)
- Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo (Virago)
They were joined by six Booker backlist gems:
- Good Behaviour by Molly Keane.
- The Garden Of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
- The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
The line-up of celebrity panellists keen to share their love of reading on the series were Emilia Fox, David Harewood, Greg James, Sarah Kendall, Prue Leith, Dane Baptiste, Evanna Lynch, Ben Miller, Rob Rinder, Lou Sanders, Sharleen Spiteri, Iain Stirling and Fleur East.
Series 2 (Spring 2021)
Series two saw the panel discusses a big hitter book from last year as well as a newly published book, which deserved to be put in the spotlight.
The newly published books were:
- The Fine Art Of Invisible Detection by Robert Goddard (published 18 March)
- Should We Fall Behind by Sharon Duggal (published October 2020)
- Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan (published 29 April)
- Another Life by Jodie Chapman (published 1 April)
- The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward (published 18 March)
- The Frequency Of Us by Keith Stuart (published 25 March)
The big hitting books were:
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- The Lying Life Of Adults by Elena Ferrante
- Agent Running In The Field by John le Carré
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
- The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Featuring on the celebrity panel were Ranvir Singh, Micky Flanagan, Sophie Willan, Reginald D Hunter, Nish Kumar, Stacey Dooley, Robert Webb, Caitlin Moran, Don Warrington, Zoe Lyons, Hugh Dennis, Giovanna Fletcher, David Baddiel, Katherine Ryan, Adjoa Andoh, Phil Davis, Rachel Parris, Rick Stein, Vick Hope, Rob Delaney, Mel Giedroyc, Rick Edwards, Oti Mabuse and Griff Rhys-Jones.
Series 1 (Autumn 2020)
The first series featured a number of famous faces talking about their books and a separate book of the week.
The celebrity books were:
- Sara Pascoe’s Sex Power Money
- Graham Norton’s Home Stretch
- Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club
- Sophie Ward’s Love And Other Thought Experiments
- Will Young’s To Be A Gay Man
- Alan Davies’s Just Ignore Him
- Babita Sharma’s The Corner Shop
The books of the week were:
- Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library
- Ingrid Persaud’s Love After Love
- Steve Cavanagh’s Fifty Fifty
- Louise Hare’s This Lovely City
- Clare Chambers’ Small Pleasures
- Bolu Babalola’s Love In Colour
- Stuart Turton’s The Devil And The Dark Water
Alongside the celebrity authors, the guest panellists in series one were Laura Whitmore, Anita Rani, Russell Kane, Lolly Adefope, Ricky Wilson, Ellie Taylor, Rebecca Front, Ade Adepitan, Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, Ade Edmonson, Andi Oshu, Meera Syal, Guvna B, Dave Gorman, Tom Allen, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Phil Wang, Grace Dent, Ben Miller and Desiree Burch
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