Before there was Reese or Jenna, there was the original book club maven — Oprah. "There is no best life without books,"Oprah Winfrey wrote on Instagramto mark 25 years of "Oprah's Book Club" in 2021.We have gathered all her official book selections in one place, dating all the way back to 1996's inaugural book club pick.
Before there was Reese or Jenna, there was the original book club maven — Oprah. "There is no best life without books," Oprah Winfrey wrote on Instagram to mark 25 years of "Oprah's Book Club" in 2021.We have gathered all her official book selections in one place, dating all the way back to 1996's inaugural book club pick." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "Some Bright Nowhere" by Ann Packer • Fiction • November 2025About: This novel follows Eliot and his wife Claire, who, after four decades of marriage, are facing her end of life. Eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, though, as Eliot focuses on settling into what will be their last days together, she makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. The book poses the powerful question: "What if your partner's dying wish broke your heart?"
Buzz: "This beautifully written story is going to get you thinking about some things that really matter," Winfrey said in a statement. "The story leaves you questioning the obligations of marriage and the difference between male and female friendships, and one of the most significant of questions: How do you want to spend your last days?"" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "A Guardian and a Thief" by Megha Majumdar • Fiction • October 2025About: Set in a Kolkata defined by flooding and famine, Ma, her 2-year-old daughter and her elderly father are days from escaping to America. But the morning of their flight, they discover Ma's purse, containing their immigration documents, has been stolen. Set over the course of one week, the novel follows Ma's search for the thief and the story of the Boomba, the thief himself.
Buzz: "I was spellbound from Page 1," Winfrey said in a statement. "Megha Majumdar is one of those exquisitely skilled authors who takes us into the story of characters and cultural conflicts and leaves us spellbound until the last word and beyond."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "All the Way to the River" by Elizabeth Gilbert • Memoir • September 2025 About: This memoir follows Gilbert's relationship with her best friend Rayya Elias, who she realized she was in love with after Elias was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It's a meditation on grief, codependency and addiction.
Buzz: "This new memoir is just as powerful – raw, unflinching, and deeply healing. She bares her soul, sharing her truth so openly, she offers readers the courage to face their own," Winfrey said in a statement." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "Bridge of Sighs" by Richard Russo • Fiction • August 2025 About: This is a multigenerational story about family and destiny in the Lynch family, convenience store owners in small-town New York. Protagonist Louis Charles (known as "Lucy") is a 60-year-old man excavating his hometown and family history through old memories
Buzz: "This book has everything you need for a classic summer read – romance, unrequited love, life-long friendships, and of course – epic family drama," Winfrey said in a statement." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "Culpability" by Bruce Holsinger • Fiction • July 2025About: The novel follows leading AI expert Lorelei, husband Noah, tweens Alice and Izzy and teenager Charlie after their autonomous minivan collides with another car. Each family member has a secret that implicates them in the accident.
Buzz: "I appreciated the prescience of this story," Oprah Winfrey said in a statement. "It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding artificial intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!"" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "The River is Waiting" by Wally Lamb • Fiction • June 2025 About: The story of a young father who, after an unbearable tragedy, reckons with the possibility of atonement for the unforgivable.
Buzz: "Wally Lamb takes us on an incredible and transformative journey from the depths of despair to the healing power of facing the truth and finding forgiveness," Oprah Winfrey said." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "The Emperor of Gladness" by Ocean Vuong • Fiction • May 2025About: 19-year-old Hai develops an unlikely bond with an elderly widow suffering from dementia after he becomes her caretaker.
Buzz: "Ocean draws from his own personal experiences of being born in Vietnam, raised in a working-class family in Connecticut, and working as a fast-food server as inspiration for this story, which features an unlikely cast of truly unforgettable characters," Oprah Winfrey said. "This award-winning author and acclaimed poet has written in stunning prose, a heartfelt and powerful examination of those living on the fringes of society, and the unique challenges they face to survive and thrive."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "Matriarch" by Tina Knowles • Nonfiction • April 2025About: Tina Knowles, mother to international sensation Beyoncé, chronicles her own life's story in this memoir which follows her from a humble upbringings, through marriage and motherhood, and the shaping of Destiny's Child.
Buzz: "Some of you might know Tina Knowles as the mother of a superstar – as in Beyoncé – but she is also a highly successful entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and now author of this fascinating memoir of her journey to become the global figure she is today," Oprah Winfrey said." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
• "The Tell" by Amy Griffin.• Nonfiction • March 2025About: In this stirring memoir, author Amy Griffin mines her own childhood trauma to interrogate perfectionism and the societal messaging that teaches women to look outside themselves for validation.
Buzz: "Amy Griffin led what looked like a picture-perfect life – successful businesswoman, wife, mother – yet she was always running, both physically and emotionally," Winfrey said in a release announcing the choice. "Her shocking self-discovery lets us see what can happen when you face the secrets you've held onto and how your life can change when you reconcile your past."
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• "Dream State" by Eric Puchner • Fiction • February 2025About: Set against the sprawling backdrop of the American west, Puchner's novel is one-part mystery and one-part romance as three protagonists come together for a fated (or ill-fated) wedding.
Buzz: "This is the kind of book you won't want to put down written by a brilliant storyteller," Winfrey said in a release announcing the choice. "Spanning fifty years, 'Dream State' is an exquisite examination of the important relationships we have in our lives – love, marriage, friendship - and how life can turn out so differently than we expected."
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"A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle • Nonfiction • January 2025 About: A best-selling spiritual guide, Tolle's book explores the ego and argues that our attachment to it causes both personal and global suffering.
Buzz: "For my next @oprahsbookclub selection, I'm doing something I've never done before—pick the same book twice," the media mogul wrote on Instagram. "As we welcome a new year, I wanted to revisit Eckhart's work for a new generation of readers who can discover their life's purpose if they absorb the principles in it," she added. Oprah selected the same book in 2008." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough • Nonfiction • October 2024 About: The book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the highs and lows of one of the most legendary families in American music written by Elvis Presley's late daughter and granddaughter. Buzz: "I have great love and admiration for Lisa Marie Presley, and was so moved that her daughter Riley, through her grief, was able to help her finish a beautifully touching memoir that allows us to see her mother at her most honest and vulnerable." "This is an intimate look at what it was like growing up as heir to one of America's most famous families," Winfrey added." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
David Wroblewski • Fiction • June 2024 About: The book is the 106th Oprah's Book Club selection and is the follow-up to the Wisconsin-born novelist's 2008 debut, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," another book club pick. Buzz: Winfrey said the "epic novel" goes on a journey that "brilliantly interweaves history, philosophy, adventure, and mysticism to explore the meaning of love, friendship, and living your life's true purpose."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
by Nathan Hill • Fiction • September 2023 About: The book is a sweeping, 600-page narrative about an embattled married couple in Chicago. Buzz: In announcing her selection of Hill's book, Winfrey called the story a "modern take on love, marriage, and society's obsession on improving almost every aspect of our lives – and the impact technology and social media has on our culture and in our lives." "This brilliant novel will leave you thinking about the truth of your own life and the stories we tell ourselves and each other," Winfrey added." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Read USA TODAY's review.Buzz: “One of America’s most revered authors, Kingsolver’s new novel is an extraordinary coming-of-age tale set in Southern Appalachia, narrated by a truly unforgettable protagonist,” Winfrey said on social media." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
![<strong>“Behold the Dreamers,” </strong>by Imbolo Mbue • Fiction • June 2017<br /> <strong>About</strong>: Immigrants Jende and Neni Jonga get jobs working for a financier and his wife.<br /> <strong>Buzz</strong>: “The novel's best elements [are] Mbue’s vivacious brand of humor and her enduring empathy for even her most repulsive characters.” Even as the book “takes some dark, vicious turns,” according to USA TODAY, “it never feels cheaply cynical.” <a href=](https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/480673d96fd29f0503bdefe017533ee8)
Read the review here." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Read the review here." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Read the review here." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Read the review here." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
![<strong>“Mother of Pearl,” </strong>by Melinda Haynes • Fiction • June 1999<br /> <strong>About</strong>: The search for identity in 1950s rural Mississippi among a 28-year-old black man and a 15-year-old white girl.<br /> <strong>Buzz</strong>: “This wise, luminous novel demonstrates [Haynes'] great gifts for language, courageous storytelling and compassion,” says Publishers Weekly.](https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/0bc1885374241b9c3d565837385909fb)
See Oprah's latest book club pick, 'Some Bright Nowhere' by Ann Packer
Oprah Winfrey'sfirst book club pick of 2026 is finally here.
Oprah's Book Club chose "Kin" byTayari Jonesas its February book, a literary historical novel that follows two young motherless girls growing up in the Jim Crow-era South.
This is the second time Winfrey has selected a book by Jones. Winfrey called her writing a gift that "can touch us soul to soul" when shechose her novel "An American Marriage" in 2018. "An American Marriage" was also named on formerPresident Barack Obama's summer and year-end reading listand won the Women's Prize for Fiction.
In "Kin," Jones returns with another Southern novel brimming with familial bonds, betrayals, reflection and uncharted paths.
"Tayari's storytelling washed over me like a trip back home, like a visit with my own 'kin' I hadn't seen in a long while," Winfrey said in a statement. "It is masterful and reminds us of the true bonds we share with family, whether biological or chosen."
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Oprah's Book Club pick for February: 'Kin' by Tayari Jones
"Kin" is a tribute to female friendship and sisterhood. "Kin" follows two motherless girls and neighbors, Vernice (or "Niecy") and Annie, so close they often refer to each other as "cradle friends." Both grow into adulthood differently – Annie sets off toward Tennessee to find her long-lost mother and Niecy, at Spelman College, must choose between two conflicting paths of love and expectations. Despite years apart, through strife and success, they remain tethered to each other.
"To be selected for Oprah's Book Club is a writer's dream, and to be chosen twice is a stunning gift," Jones said in a statement. "Oprah knows that our stories will heal us. For decades she has elevated the voices of the world − book by book. Like the old folks say, I'm honored to be one in that number."
This is Jones' fifth novel, previously having written "Silver Sparrow," "The Untelling," "Leaving Atlanta" and "An American Marriage."
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find heron Instagram, subscribe to our weeklyBooks newsletteror tell her what you're reading atcmulroy@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Oprah Book Club list picks this prolific author for the second time
