Oprah's Book Club 2.0 is a book club founded June 1, 2012, by Oprah Winfrey in a joint project between OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and O: The Oprah Magazine. The club is a re-launch of the original Oprah's Book Club, which ran for 15 years and ended in 2011, but as the "2.0" name suggests, digital media is the new focus. It incorporates the use of various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter) and e-readers that allow for the quoting and uploading of passages and notes for discussion, among other features.
On March 25, 2019, Apple Inc. and Oprah announced a revival of a video version of Oprah's Book Club that will air on Apple TV+.
History The book club was announced June 1, 2012. Critics at the time pointed out that her online audience was not as large as it was previously with network television, and the new club would be a test if she still had the "Oprah Effect" with the reading public to create hits as before. As the New York Times Book Review reported a few months later, in the August 19 issue, Cheryl Strayed's Wild had dropped off the New York Times Best Seller List by May 20, but after its selection by Oprah in early June, it reached No. 1 Non-fiction by July 15, and stayed there for many weeks, thus, said the Times, confirming the "Oprah Effect" still worked.
Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selections Date Author Title Citation June 2012 Cheryl Strayed Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail December 2012 Ayana Mathis The Twelve Tribes of Hattie January 2014 Sue Monk Kidd The Invention of Wings February 2015 Cynthia Bond Ruby August 2016 Colson Whitehead The Underground Railroad September 2016 Glennon Doyle Melton Love WarriorJune 2017 Imbolo Mbue Behold the Dreamers February 2018Tayari JonesAn American MarriageJune 2018Anthony Ray HintonThe Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death RowNovember 2018Michelle ObamaBecomingSeptember 2019Ta-Nehisi CoatesThe Water DancerNovember 2019Elizabeth StroutOlive, AgainApril 2020Robert KolkerHidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American FamilyJune 2020James McBrideDeacon King KongNovember 2020Isabel WilkersonCaste: The Origins of Our DiscontentsMarch 2021Marilynne RobinsonGileadHomeLilaJackJune 2021Nathan HarrisThe Sweetness of WaterAugust 2021Honorée Fanonne JeffersThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisSeptember 2021Richard PowersBewildermentFebruary 2022Martha BeckThe Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True SelfApril 2022Viola DavisFinding MeJune 2022Leila MottleyNightcrawlingOprah's New Book Club Pick Is Nightcrawling, by Leila MottleySeptember 2022Jarvis Jay MastersThat Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death RowOprah picks California death row inmate’s autobiography for book clubOctober 2022Barbara KingsolverDemon CopperheadFebruary 2023Susan CainBittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us WholeMarch 2023Ann NapolitanoHello BeautifulMay 2023Abraham VergheseThe Covenant of WaterSeptember 2023Nathan HillWellnessOctober 2023Jesmyn WardLet Us DescendFebruary 2024Lara Love HardinThe Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and HealingMay 2024Colm TóibínLong IslandJune 2024David WroblewskiFamiliarisSeptember 2024Elizabeth StroutTell Me EverythingOctober 2024Lisa Marie PresleyRiley KeoughFrom Here to the Great UnknownDecember 2024Claire KeeganSmall Things Like TheseJanuary 2025Eckhart TolleA New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (also selected in January 2008)February 2025Eric PuchnerDream StateMarch 2025Amy GriffinThe TellApril 2025Tina KnowlesMatriarch: A MemoirMay 2025Ocean VuongThe Emperor of GladnessJune 2025Wally LambThe River Is WaitingJuly 2025Bruce HolsingerCulpabilityAugust 2025Richard RussoBridge of SighsOprah Winfrey picks "Bridge of Sighs" for book club in August: Read a free excerptSeptember 2025Elizabeth GilbertAll the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and LiberationOprah Winfrey selects Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir for her book clubOctober 2025Megha Majumdar A Guardian and a ThiefNovember 2025Ann PackerSome Bright NowhereFebruary 2026Tayari JonesKinApril 2026Maria SempleGo GentleMay 2026Douglas StuartJohn of JohnJune 2026Sophie Chen KellerLittle WonderOctober 2026Amanda Rizkalla Hungered
Controversies On January 21, 2020, Oprah announced her next book club selection would be American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. The novel, about a Mexican woman fleeing to America after being targeted by a drug cartel, came under scrutiny as Cummins was a white woman with no connection to Mexico and marketing for the book claimed she had a special connection to the material because her husband had at one point been an undocumented immigrant without ever revealing he was a white Irishman. 142 authors including R. O. Kwon, Tommy Orange and Valeria Luiselli penned an open letter asking Oprah to rescind her endorsement of the book.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell was originally selected for March 2020, but dropped after Russell was accused, without evidence, of plagiarizing Wendy C. Ortiz's 2014 memoir Excavation. According to the Associated Press, "Reviewers who looked at both books saw no evidence of plagiarism."
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External links
Video announcement.