CRRL Picks: Oprah's Book Club

A Novel

by Verghese, A.

Book - 2023

Oprah says, “It is one of the best books I have read in my entire life, and I have been reading since I was 3!” Oprah says, “It is one of the best books I have read in my entire life, and I have been reading since I was 3!” Show less

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Hello Beautiful

A Novel

by Napolitano, Ann

Book - 2023

Oprah’s 100th book club selection takes us on a journey through generations of love and heartbreak, fractured trust and forgiveness. “The whole reason I s...Show more Oprah’s 100th book club selection takes us on a journey through generations of love and heartbreak, fractured trust and forgiveness. “The whole reason I started a book club was to uplift and inspire people,” says Oprah. “A great book not only enhances your life experience but can also change you. Our 100th selection does just that—you cannot read it without opening up, forgiving, seeing yourself and the relationships we weave in a new way. You come away more connected to life.” Show less

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Bittersweet

How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole

by Cain, Susan

Book - 2022

“This book has the power to transform the way you see your life and even the world,” Oprah says. “I have started to look at my own life in the world diffe...Show more “This book has the power to transform the way you see your life and even the world,” Oprah says. “I have started to look at my own life in the world differently.” "Bittersweet", by Susan Cain, is a nonfiction title that explores how we deal with sadness. Not by denying it. Not by surrendering to it. But by acknowledging it. Even if, at times, it seems self-defeating because: We’re all supposed to be happy, right? Or at least try to be happy? Show less

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Demon Copperhead

A Novel

by Kingsolver, Barbara

Book - 2022

Oprah says, “It’s an absolutely riveting read.” Demon Copperhead re-envisions the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield, setting it in modern-day Appa...Show more Oprah says, “It’s an absolutely riveting read.” Demon Copperhead re-envisions the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield, setting it in modern-day Appalachia. Kingsolver was inspired while on a visit to Dickens’s seaside English retreat and actually started writing Demon Copperhead at Dickens's own desk. It’s Kingsolver’s 17th novel in some three decades, and in writing it, Kingsolver says she wanted to counter some of the condescension and downright snobbery directed at the region in which she was born and still lives, a region whose people, she believes, have been exploited for generations, most recently by pharmaceutical companies who targeted Appalachian residents and created the current opioid crisis. Show less

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That Bird Has My Wings

The Autobiography of An Innocent Man on Death Row

by Masters, Jarvis Jay

Book - 2009

“Years ago, I was given a memoir by Jarvis Jay Masters,” said Oprah. “His story, of a young boy victimized by addiction, poverty, violence, the foster care system, and later the justice system, profoundly touched me then, and still does today.” “Years ago, I was given a memoir by Jarvis Jay Masters,” said Oprah. “His story, of a young boy victimized by addiction, poverty, violence, the foster care system, and later the justice system, profoundly touched me then, and still does today.” Show less

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Nightcrawling

by Mottley, Leila

Book - 2022

When Oprah first encountered "Nightcrawling," 19-year-old poet Leila Mottley's debut novel, she quickly opted to name it her 96th OBC pick. She ...Show more When Oprah first encountered "Nightcrawling," 19-year-old poet Leila Mottley's debut novel, she quickly opted to name it her 96th OBC pick. She was struck by the author's power to convey, in vivid and precise language, trauma, love and everything in between: "It always brings me joy to help introduce new writers to the reading community, and this young poet wowed me with her ode and elegy to Oakland, and her acute and insightful depictions of youth, injustice, the legacy of incarceration, and the resilience of community and chosen family." Show less

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Finding Me

by Davis, Viola

Book - 2022

Viola Davis, the first Black actor to earn the so-called "Triple Crown of Acting" - an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy - details her rise from poverty...Show more Viola Davis, the first Black actor to earn the so-called "Triple Crown of Acting" - an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy - details her rise from poverty and other trauma to emerge as an iconic American artist in this powerful memoir. Oprah had this to say about the book: "There are so many lessons to be learned from this breathtaking memoir about triumphing over adversity and trauma. Viola Davis leaves it all on the page - from her beginnings in South Carolina as the fifth of six children born in a sharecropper's shack to acclaim as an actor, producer and philanthropist. I was so moved by this book that I just had to share it with our entire OBC audience." Show less

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The Way of Integrity

Finding the Path to your True Self

by Beck, Martha Nibley

Book - 2021

Oprah said this about "The Way of Integrity,": "For over 15 years, I have looked to Martha Beck for her wisdom, and marveled at how she hel...Show more Oprah said this about "The Way of Integrity,": "For over 15 years, I have looked to Martha Beck for her wisdom, and marveled at how she helps people through crises in their lives with such grace, insight and humor. As we all navigate this watershed moment in our collective history, The Way of Integrity provides a road map on the journey to truth and authenticity. Her latest work is filled with aha moments and practical exercises that can guide us as we seek enlightenment." Show less

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Bewilderment

A Novel

by Powers, Richard

Book - 2021

The thirteenth novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers, "Bewilderment" follows the story of astrobiologist Theo Byrne as he search...Show more The thirteenth novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers, "Bewilderment" follows the story of astrobiologist Theo Byrne as he searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. This intimate and timely novel allows readers an opportunity to reflect on all that is currently happening throughout our beautiful, imperiled planet Earth - and in our own lives. Show less

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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

A Novel

by Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne

Book - 2021

"The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois," a powerful novel by acclaimed poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, tells the story of African American history and ...Show more "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois," a powerful novel by acclaimed poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, tells the story of African American history and the Black family experience through the lens of the novel's main protagonist, Ailey Pearl Garfield, as she comes to terms with her identity and the themes of what Du Bois called "double consciousness." This novel will resonate with anyone who has a family, who is a daughter or a sister or a mother, and anyone interested in the American origin story. Show less

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The Sweetness of Water

by Harris, Nathan

Book - 2021

With candor and sympathy, debut novelist Nathan Harris creates an unforgettable cast of characters, depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstru...Show more With candor and sympathy, debut novelist Nathan Harris creates an unforgettable cast of characters, depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstruction. Oprah says of this most recent selection, “I think one of the things that's so relevant about the story is that you can feel the essence of what it means to have come from there to here. That's why I liked it so much, is because you get to literally look at how far we have come." Show less

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Gilead

by Robinson, Marilynne

Book - 2006

Oprah's Book Club pick is not one, but four books by Marilynne Robinson. Together, this quartet is known as the "Gilead" novels: 2004's "Gi...Show more Oprah's Book Club pick is not one, but four books by Marilynne Robinson. Together, this quartet is known as the "Gilead" novels: 2004's "Gilead," 2008's "Home," 2014's "Lila," and 2020's "Jack." "Marilynne Robinson is one of our greatest living authors," Oprah comments, "and in the 'Gilead' novels she's written a quartet of masterpieces. The more closely I read them, the more I find to appreciate, and the more they show the way in seeing the beauty in the ordinary. I'm thrilled to share them all with you." Show less

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Home

by Robinson, Marilynne

Book - 2008

In the second installment of the series, Glory Boughton, aged thirty-eight, has returned to Gilead to care for her dying father. Soon her brother, Jack - ...Show more In the second installment of the series, Glory Boughton, aged thirty-eight, has returned to Gilead to care for her dying father. Soon her brother, Jack - the prodigal son of the family, gone for twenty years - comes home too, looking for refuge and trying to make peace with a past littered with tormenting trouble and pain. Show less

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Lila

by Robinson, Marilynne

Book - 2014

Abandoning her homeless existence to become a minister's wife, Lila reflects on her hardscrabble life on the run with a canny young drifter and her effort...Show more Abandoning her homeless existence to become a minister's wife, Lila reflects on her hardscrabble life on the run with a canny young drifter and her efforts to reconcile her painful past with her husband's gentle Christian worldview in this third book of the "Gilead" series. Show less

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Jack

by Robinson, Marilynne

Book - 2020

"Jack" is Robinson's fourth novel in this now-classic series. In it, Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of Gilead'...Show more "Jack" is Robinson's fourth novel in this now-classic series. In it, Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of Gilead's Presbyterian minister, and his romance with Della Miles, a high school teacher who is also the child of a preacher. Their deeply felt, tormented, star-crossed interracial romance resonates with all the paradoxes of American life, then and now. Show less

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Caste

The Origins of Our Discontents

by Wilkerson, Isabel

Book - 2020

Oprah has said that "Caste," by Isabel Wilkerson, is her most vital Book Club selection yet. "It explains why we are where we are in terms ...Show more Oprah has said that "Caste," by Isabel Wilkerson, is her most vital Book Club selection yet. "It explains why we are where we are in terms of racial injustice and inequality," Oprah says, "and it show us how to rebuild a world in which all are truly equal and free." Show less

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Deacon King Kong

by McBride, James

Book - 2020

"In a moment when our country roils with righteous anger and grief," Oprah says, " 'Deacon King Kong' reminds us that when we come together as a community in compassion and empathy, our love triumphs." "In a moment when our country roils with righteous anger and grief," Oprah says, " 'Deacon King Kong' reminds us that when we come together as a community in compassion and empathy, our love triumphs." Show less

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Hidden Valley Road

Inside the Mind of An American Family

by Kolker, Robert

Book - 2020

"Hidden Valley Road," by best-selling author Robert Kolker, tells the heart-rending story of a mid-century American family with 12 children, six...Show more "Hidden Valley Road," by best-selling author Robert Kolker, tells the heart-rending story of a mid-century American family with 12 children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand - and even cure - the disease. "This is a riveting true story of an American family that reads like a medical detective journey," said Oprah Winfrey. "It reveals the shame, denial, shock, confusion, and misunderstanding of mental illness at a time when no one was really sure what schizophrenia was or how to treat it," she said. Show less

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American Dirt

by Cummins, Jeanine

Book - 2020

"This story changed the way I see what it means to be a migrant in a whole new way," Oprah said of "American Dirt," by Jeanine Cummins...Show more "This story changed the way I see what it means to be a migrant in a whole new way," Oprah said of "American Dirt," by Jeanine Cummins. The book follows the journey a woman and her young son take to the United States after their family is murdered in an act of cartel violence. Show less

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Olive, Again

by Strout, Elizabeth

Book - 2019

Oprah selected "Olive, Again" as her Apple Book Club pick because she fell in love the with prickly protagonist "despite her flaws." T...Show more Oprah selected "Olive, Again" as her Apple Book Club pick because she fell in love the with prickly protagonist "despite her flaws." The book is Elizabeth Strout's follow-up to her 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Olive Kitteridge." Show less

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The Water Dancer

A Novel

by Coates, Ta-Nehisi

Book - 2019

This odyssey follows the story of Hiram Walker, a young man born as a slave on a plantation in Virginia who has been gifted a mysterious, magical power th...Show more This odyssey follows the story of Hiram Walker, a young man born as a slave on a plantation in Virginia who has been gifted a mysterious, magical power that eventually saves his life when he nearly drowns in a river. "I have not felt this way about a book since 'Beloved,'" Oprah, said of the book, referring to the late Toni Morrison's celebrated novel. "I knew early on the book was going to cut me up. I ended up with my soul pierced." Show less

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Becoming

by Obama, Michelle

Book - 2018

"She just opens up herself; it's so vulnerable. ... It is Michelle Obama's personal story, of course, but I believe it's going to spark within you the desire to think about your own becoming." "She just opens up herself; it's so vulnerable. ... It is Michelle Obama's personal story, of course, but I believe it's going to spark within you the desire to think about your own becoming." Show less

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The Sun Does Shine

How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

by Hinton, Anthony Ray

Book - 2018

"When you read it, you’ll be swept away into this unbelievable, dramatic true story. And I’m sure you’ll think a lot, like I did, about: How is it possible to find life and freedom on death row?" "When you read it, you’ll be swept away into this unbelievable, dramatic true story. And I’m sure you’ll think a lot, like I did, about: How is it possible to find life and freedom on death row?" Show less

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An American Marriage

A Novel

by Jones, Tayari

Book - 2018

“You'll come away with greater empathy and understanding, but, even if you don’t, it’s just a really great read. It's the perfect book to read along with ...Show more “You'll come away with greater empathy and understanding, but, even if you don’t, it’s just a really great read. It's the perfect book to read along with a friend or family member. You're going to want to have someone else reading it because it’s so juicy." Show less

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Behold the Dreamers

A Novel

by Mbue, Imbolo

Book - 2017

"It's got everything that's grabbing the headlines in America right now. It's about race and class, the economy, culture, immigration, and the danger...Show more "It's got everything that's grabbing the headlines in America right now. It's about race and class, the economy, culture, immigration, and the danger of the us-versus-them mentality. And underneath it all, pumps the heart and soul of family love, the pursuit of happiness, and what home really means." Show less

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