Complete List of Between The Covers Books 2024 (Sara Cox Book Club)

Looking for a complete and up to date Between the Covers Books List for 2024? You’re in the right place.

Within this blog post I will list every book featured in all of the seven series, including the most recent series, airing October 2024.

Between The Covers, also known as the Sara Cox Book Club, has fast become one of my favourite programmes to watch on TV. I love listening to other people’s opinions of books I’ve already read and it’s always great for discovering new reads.

Between the covers first started back in 2020 and the latest eighth series is airing in October 2024. Hosted by the lovely Sara Cox, Between the Covers is shown on Tuesday nights on BBC2 and the episodes can also be found on BBC iPlayer.

In each episode, Sara is joined by four celebrities who are invited to BYOB (Bring Your Own Book) to discuss. The guests also discuss a new release each week as well as a big-hitter.

For this complete Between The Covers books list, I’ll start with the books picked for the most recent series, and then detail the previous series below.

Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Between The Covers Books 2024 (Series 8)

Series 8 New Releases

• 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

Between The Covers Books 2023 (Series 7)

As always Sara and her guests will be discussing a new book release. There will also be six Booker Prize gems to be discussed over the six weeks.

Series 7 New Releases

• 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

Series 7 Booker Prize Gems

• 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

Between The Covers Books 2023 (Series 6)

Each week Sara and the celebrity guests discussed a new book release. This year, as the UK hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on behalf of Ukraine, each episode also featured a novel set in a Eurovision country.

Series 6 New Releases

• 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

Series 6 Eurovision Books

• Burial Rights, by Hannah Kent
• Lullaby, by Leïla Slimani
• Death And The Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov
• The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson
• I’m Not Scared, by Niccolò Ammaniti
• My Family And Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell

Series 6 BYOB Picks

• Untamed by Glennon Doyle (Chosen by Angela Scanlon)
• Natives by Akala (Chosen by DJ Spoony)
• Utz by Bruce Chatwin (Chosen by Rob Rinder)
• Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (Chosen by Cerys Matthews). 
•  Bad Blood by Lorna Sage (Chosen by Alan Davies),
• High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (Chosen by Ivo Graham)
• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (Chosen by Samantha Bond)
• How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie (Chosen by Sunetra Sarker).
• The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (Chosen by Mel Giedroyc)
• Send Nudes by Saba Sams (Chosen by Sophie Duker)
• How to Read Water by Tristan Gooley (Chosen by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
• The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates (Chosen by Nigel Havers)
• Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson (Chosen by Charlie Higson)
• Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Chosen by Katie Melua)
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Chosen by Adam Garcia)
• Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (Chosen by Nick Knowles)
• I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein (Chosen by Sara Barron)
• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Chosen by Ore Oduba)
• Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins (Chosen by Helen McGinn)
• After The Silence by Louise O’Neill (Chosen by Laura Whitmore)
• Sophia by Anita Anand (Chosen by Meera Syal)
• War Doctor by David Nott (Chosen by Gethin Jones)
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Chosen by Joe Thomas)

Between The Covers Books 2002 (Series 5)

This series Sara Cox and her celebrity guests review the best new releases, reminisce about their favourite classics and reveal their own comfort reads.

Series 5 New Releases

• The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
• Sometimes People Die, by Simon Stephenson
• The Second Sight Of Zachary Cloudesley, by Sean Lusk
• The Night Ship, by Jess Kidd
• Take My Hand, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
• The Dance Tree, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Series 5 Classics

• 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

Series 5 BYOB Picks

• The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Chosen by Jessie Cave)
• Scary Smart by Mo Gawdat (Chosen by Kae Kurd)
• The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (Chosen by Ruth Jones)
• Howards End by E. M. Forster (Chosen by Samuel West)
• Educated by Tara Westover (Chosen by Alex Jones)
• Deep by James Nestor (Chosen by Amanda Abbington)
• Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Chosen by Graham Norton)
• Forrest Gump by Winston Groom (Chosen by JJ Chalmers)
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (Chosen by Ade Adepitan)
• The Echo Chamber by John Boyne (Chosen by Gabby Logan)
• Free Love by Tessa Hadley (Chosen by Kerry Godliman)
• The Moon’s a Balloon by David Niven (Chosen by Tom Read Wilson)
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (Chosen by Al Murray)
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Chosen by Jenny Eclair)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Chosen by Paterson Joseph)
• The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (Chosen by Sophie Raworth)
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith (Chosen by Clara Amfo)
• The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef (Chosen by Rick Edwards)
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Chosen by Sarah Keyworth)
• The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (Chosen by Ugo Monye)
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Chosen by Pam Ferris)
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Chosen by Rakhee Thakrar)
• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend (Chosen by Stephen Mangan)
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Chosen by Tom Allen)

Between The Covers Books 2022 (Series 4)

In series four Sara Cox talks to the guests about their favourite books as well as a new release and a ‘Big Jubilee Read’.

The Big Jubilee Read celebrates great books from across the Commonwealth, to coincide with the Platinum Jubilee. It features 70 titles – ten from each decade of the Queen’s reign.

Click here to read The Big Jubilee Read complete list of 70 books.

Series 4 New Releases

• 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

Series 4 Jubilee Read Books

• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
• Arrow Of God by Chinua Achebe
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Secret River by Kate Grenville
• The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
• The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa

Series 4 BYOB Picks

• The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (Chosen by Richard Osman)
• Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez (Chosen by Deborah Frances-White)
• Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (Chosen by David Morrissey)
• Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman (Chosen by Vick Hope)
• The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes (Chosen by Sir Trevor McDonald)
• My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (Chosen by Sarah Hadland)
• Polar by T.R. Pearson (Chosen by Peter Davison)
• H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (Chosen by Cariad Lloyd)
• Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Chosen by Richard E Grant)
• Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller (Chosen by Deborah Meaden)
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Chosen by Stephen Bailey)
• The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Chosen by Sukh Ojla). 
• The Faber Book of Reportage edited by John Carey (Chosen by Jo Brand)
• The Road to Character by David Brooks (Chosen by Darren Harriott)
• The Return of Faraz Ali  by Aamina Ahmad (Chosen by Nina Wadia)
• Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Chosen by Neil Morrissey).
• Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend by Arianna Huffington (Chosen by Emeli Sandé)
• No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (Chosen by Pierre Novellie)
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold (Chosen by Rev Kate Bottley)
• Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald (Chosen by Adrian Scarborough)
• The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (Chosen by Mel Giedroyc)
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (Chosen by Jordan North)
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (Chosen by Jen Brister)
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (Chosen by Rhys Stephenson)
• The Overstory by Richard Powers (Chosen by Dan Smith)
• The Topeka School by Ben Lerner (Chosen by Catherine Bohart)
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Chosen by Colin Salmon)
• Bluets by Maggie Nelson (Chosen by Katy Wix)

Between The Covers Books 2021 (Series 3)

Series 3 began in November 2021. Within this series Sara Cox talks to the guests about their favourite books as well as a new book from 2021 and a Booker backlist gem.

Series 3 New Releases

• 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

Series 3 Booker Gem

• Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
• The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
• The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
• The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

Series 3 BYOB Picks

• Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Chosen by Emilia Fox)
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Chosen by Dane Baptiste)
• Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss (Chosen by Andy Parsons)
• Loving Sabotage by Amélie Nothomb (Chosen by Evanna Lynch)
• Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (Chosen by Fern Brady)
• Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver (Chosen by John Thomson)
• Delicacy by Katy Wix (Chosen by Lou Sanders)
• The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre (Chosen by Olly Smith)
• The Fight by Norman Mailer (Chosen by Ben Miller)
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (Chosen by Kacey Ainsworth)
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Chosen by Rob Rinder)
• She Left Me the Gun by Emma Brockes (Chosen by Sindhu Vee)
• May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Homes (Chosen by Alan Davies)
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Chosen by Sarah Kendall)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Chosen by Suzi Ruffell)
• The Acid House by Irvine Welsh (Chosen by Iain Stirling)
• Any Human Heart by William Boyd (Chosen by Ben Willbond)
• The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (Chosen by Jason Forbes)
• The Lightning Thread by David Profumo (Chosen by Prue Leith)
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind (Chosen by Sharleen Spiteri)
• Enduring Love by Ian McEwan (Chosen by Fleur East)
• Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (Chosen by Greg James)
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Chosen by Imogen Stubbs)
• How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (Chosen by Lloyd Griffith)  

Between The Covers Books 2021 (Series 2)

Series two was launched in May 2021. Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a popular book from 2020, and a book recently published in 2021.

Series 2 New Releases

• 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

Series 2 Big Hitters

• 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 2 BYOB Picks

• One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown (Chosen by Griff Rhys Jones)
• Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty (Chosen by Oti Mabuse)
• Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith (Chosen by Rick Edwards)
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (Chosen by Mel Giedroyc)
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith (Chosen by Vick Hope)
• A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin (Chosen by Rob Delaney)
• The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (Chosen by Rick Stein)
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Chosen by Rachel Parris)
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Chosen by Phil Davis)
• Everybody Died, So I Got a Dog by Emily Dean (Chosen by Katherine Ryan)
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Chosen by Adjoa Andoh)
• Emma by Jane Austen (Chosen by David Baddiel)
• Jemima J by Jane Green (Chosen by Giovanna Fletcher)
• The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver (Chosen by Zoe Lyons)
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (Chosen by Don Warrington)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (Chosen by Hugh Dennis)
• The Joke by Milan Kundera (Chosen by Reginald D Hunter)
• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (Chosen by Ranvir Singh)
• Glue by Irvine Welsh (Chosen by Mickey Flanagan)
• Planet Young by Gerry Potter (Chosen by Sophie Willan)

Between The Covers Books 2020 (Series 1)

Sara Cox talks to guest stars about their favourite books as well as a book of the week pick from 2020, and a written by one of the guests. These books are:

Series 1 New Releases

• 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 by Bolu Babalola
• The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Series 1 Guest Authors

• Sex Power Money by Sara Pascoe
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward
• To Be a Gay Man by Will Young
• Just Ignore Him by Alan Davies
• The Corner Shop by Babita Sharma
• Home Stretch by Graham Norton

Series 1 BYOB Picks

• Dietland by Sarai Walker (Chosen by Desiree Burch)
• Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Chosen by Grace Dent)
• The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson (Chosen by Graham Norton)
• The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Chosen by Ben Miller)
• Beloved by Toni Morrison (Chosen by Meera Syal and Babita Sharma)
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer (Chosen by Guvna B)
• Who on Earth is Tom Baker? An Autobiography (Chosen by Dave Gorman)
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Chosen by Anita Rani)
• Matilda by Roald Dahl (Chosen by Laura Whitmore)
• The Sellout by Paul Beatty (Chosen by Alan Davies)
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (Chosen by Russell Kane)
• Red Dwarf by Grant Naylor (Chosen by Andi Osho)
• The Ragged Trouser Philanthropists by Robert Tressell (Chosen by Jo Brand)
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Chosen by Will Young)
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Chosen by Ade Edmondson)
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Chosen by Ade Adepitan)
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Chosen by Rebecca Front)
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (Chosen by Bill Bailey)
• Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann (Chosen by Sophie Ward)
• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (Chosen by Richard Osman)
• Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin (Chosen by Ricky Wilson)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (Chosen by Ellie Taylor)
• The First Bad Man by Miranda July (Chosen by Lolly Adefope)
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Chosen by Sara Pascoe)
• Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (Chosen by Tom Allen)
• Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton (Chosen by Sophie Ellis-Bextor)
• The Iliad by Homer (Chosen by Phil Wang)

My Recommendations

I’ve now read quite a few of the books featured on Between The Covers. Most have them have been really good, but there are a few that have really stayed with me.

These are my favourite novels that were featured on the Between The Covers books list. Just click the link to see my full reviews of each book.

• Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
• Weyward by Emilia Hart
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
• Still Life by Sarah Winman
• The Coward by Jarred McGinnis
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
• Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

FAQs

What does BYOB mean on Between the Covers?

BYOB stands for Bring Your Own Book. The celebrity guests are invited to bring their own book that has made an lasting impact on them.

Which channel is Between the Covers on?

Between the Covers is on BBC2. Episodes can also be found on iPlayer.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my disclosure policy.