We’re very excited to hear about a prime time book club coming this October to BBC2. Presented by the rather brilliant Sara Cox!
Sara Cox said: “I can’t wait to delve between the covers of some fantastic books with some of my most favourite people. This show will be welcoming and warm — we want to celebrate books, recommend some absolute crackers and have a good giggle while we do it.”
Sara Pascoe, Graham Norton, Richard Osman and Babita Sharma are among the authors confirmed to be making appearances on BBC2’s new book club programme “Between the Covers”, hosted by Sara Cox.
Sophie Ward, Will Young and Alan Davies will also take part.
Each programme will feature a panel of four different “famous faces” who will each bring with themone of their own books to discuss with their fellow guests. The show also includes two review sections: in one, the panel will discuss the fiction Book of the Week, introduced via a recorded clip featuring an interview with the author; in the second, a further book written by one of Cox’s celebrity guests will be discussed.
The show will launch on Friday 9th October and will run as seven 30-minute episodes.
Fancy reading along with the TV book clubbers? You can reserve all the featured books for free from Manchester Libraries.
The full line-up includes comedian Sara Pascoe talking about her book Sex Power Money alongside panellists Tom Allen, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Phil Wang, with Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library as Book of the Week.
This is followed by Richard Osman discussing Thursday Murder Club with fellow panellists Lolly Adefope, Ricky Wilson and Ellie Taylor, with Ingrid Persaud’s Love After Love as Book of the Week. Then Sophie Ward will talk about her novel Love And Other Thought Experiments alongside Rebecca Front, Ade Adepitan and Bill Bailey, with Steve Cavanagh’s thriller Fifty Fifty as the Book of the Week.
The fourth instalment will see Will Young discuss his autobiographical account To Be A Gay Man with Jo Brand, Ade Edmonson and Andi Oshu. Louise Hare’s This Lovely City will then be reviewed as Book of the Week.
This is followed by Alan Davies presenting his autobiography Just Ignore Him (Little, Brown) alongside Laura Whitmore, Anita Rani and Russell Kane, with Clare Chambers’ Small Pleasures (W&N) as Book of the Week.
In the sixth week Babita Sharma will talk about her book The Corner Shop with Meera Syal, Guvna B and Dave Gorman. Bolu Babalola’s Love In Colour is Book of the Week in that episode.
Finally, Graham Norton will discuss his novel Home Stretch alongside panellists Grace Dent, Ben Miller and Desiree Burch, with Stuart Turton’s The Devil and The Dark Water as Book of the Week.
Emma Cahusac, commissioner for BBC Arts, said: “’Between The Covers’ continues BBC Arts’ commitment to books programmes by bringing a weekly book group into the homes of everyone in the UK. The books the team have chosen are all contemporary, bringing a broad range of exciting and engaging stories across a variety of literary genres. I am thrilled the series has a prime-time slot on BBC Two, and look forward to joining in the conversation on Twitter on Friday evenings.”
All the featured books will be stickered and available in bookshops, libraries and online with viewers encouraged to join in the discussion on social media via hashtag #betweenthecovers.