Find the hottest author interviews, book reviews and reading recommendations by two of South Africa’s most seasoned journalists! A new episode of Cover to Cover is broadcast every two weeks on a Thursday at 18h00 on the Exclusive Books You Tube Channel. Here are the links to Jonathan Jansen’s promo clip https://youtu.be/PnU5kDhP64g and Stephen McGown’s promo clip https://youtu.be/8caHCewwKzY


The fifth episode of Cover to Cover will be released on the 25th of February at 18h00 and the theme is biography and autobiography. In this show Joanne goes Cover to Cover with Jonathan Jansen about his book Learning Lessons, Stephen McGown about Six Years with Al-Qaeda and chats to Obenewa Amponsah about Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden and Beauty of the Heart a biography of Charlotte Maxeke by Zubeida Jaffer, given that the governing party has named 2021 the year of Charlotte Maxeke.

“Exclusive Books is passionate about stimulating a vibrant culture of reading, writing and books amongst South Africans. The Cover to Cover bookshow is the latest addition in our arsenal to make that happen, and seasoned broadcasters Joanne Joseph and Eusebius McKaiser are brilliant partners to help us champion this cause.” Batya Bricker, General Manager, Exclusive Books

South African publishers, Pan MacMillan, NB, Jacana and Jonathan Ball Publishers co-sponsored the previous shows and continue to support Cover to Cover. The long-term intention of Cover to Cover is to be highly inclusive, drawing in indie publishers, book clubs,
podcasters and everyone who is contributing to the love for books in this country and elsewhere.

Joanne Joseph reminds us “Neil Gaiman speaks of how American officials often predict the size of prisons they’ll need in the future based on the percentage of illiterate 10 and 11-year-olds in that area. It reminds us that reading, although it can be, is not about mere escapism. The love for books has a far more wide-ranging social impact than we care to admit, and needs to become more deeply entrenched in our society. We’re really hoping “Cover to Cover” will help to work towards achieving that.”

Eusebius McKaiser adds, “Our democracy is famously premised on the ideals of deliberation and participation. But we can only realise these ideals if we are maximally informed citizens who think and reason critically. “Cover to Cover” is exciting because it is a book and reading project aiming to make a humble little contribution towards those democratic ends.”
Joanne and Eusebius are successfully published authors.

Podcasts of the show are also available.