Azumah Nelson and Minnie Driver titles for Sky Arts Book Club

Books by Caleb Azumah Nelson and actor Minnie Driver are to feature on season three of the "Sky Arts Books Club" which kicks off next month, hosted by author and journalist Elizabeth Day and fellow author, presenter and chef Andi Oliver. 

Bad Form’s book club will be joining the group to talk about Driver’s memoir, Managing Expectations (Manilla Press), while Azumah Nelson, winner of the 2021 Costa First Novel award and British Book Award for debut fiiction, will appear on the programme to talk about Open Water (Viking).

Beginning on 6th July with a "Summer Reads Special" starring Driver, the season will feature reading recommendations from literary podcaster and YouTuber Simon Savidge.

Two more debuts, including Violets by Alex Hyde (Granta) and The Maid by Nita Prose (HarperCollins), will feature in the new series, while actor and cook Stanley Tucci’s food memoir Taste (Penguin), and Gay Bar by Jeremy Atheron Lin (Granta), will be discussed.

"I am so thrilled to be back with my fantastic cohorts; the brilliant and inspiring Elizabeth Day and the country’s best-read human Simon Savidge," Oliver said. "I take such pure joy in this unadulterated celebration and exploration of books. This season is joyful, thought-provoking and completely compelling and I can’t wait to share it with everyone."

Bad Form’s editor-in-chief Amy Baxter and features editor Sophie Niang’s book club picks include Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen (Scribner) and Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados (Verso). Novels including Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth Estate), Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk (Penguin) and You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (Faber) are among the titles presenters and guests have put forward on the theme of books that remind readers of summer holidays.

The four-episode series will air on Sky Arts, Freeview and Now TV every Wednesday at 8 p.m. throughout September. The season will round off with a bumper Christmas special on 14th December, starring musician Sophie Ellis-Bextor presenting Love. Family. Food: Recipes from the Kitchen Disco (Hamlyn) and offering her pick of Christmas books. 

"It’s such a thrill to be back with the wonderful Andi Oliver and our resident book guru, Simon Savidge, for a whole new season of what I can entirely objectively say is one of the best books programmes around," Day said. "This series, we talk to a dazzling and diverse range of authors, including big names and stellar talents, and our book clubs have not pulled their punches in asking each of our writers perceptive—and occasionally challenging—questions! I’m proud to be at the helm of such an inclusive and welcoming programme and we can’t wait for viewers to join us and share their own take on the titles discussed on our Facebook group, because—like all the best book groups—there’s always so much to chat about."