So a few days ago I’m somewhere, not around librarians, and I mention that I really like what Oprah has done for reading, and a couple of people say, but her choices are terrible. So I decided to test that hypothesis, and concluded that I wouldn’t mind being as bad a writer as half the folks on Oprah’s book club list.
Sure, the list has some schlock, as does my own personal list of reading favorites. But I stand by what I said (I seem to be doing that a lot this week–my feet hurt!): Oprah has done a lot of good. She has put books in the hands of people who hadn’t been reading, and got them turning pages. Not only that, in rummaging through the list, I like a lot of her choices, from Edwige Danticat to Carson McCullers. (I notice she is gracious enough to list Jonathan Franzen, who I consider a cad and an oaf for his reaction to Oprah selecting The Corrections for her list.)
The books from Oprah’s list I remember reading are bolded and starred below. I am ashamed to admit that for me, a little Toni Morrison goes a very long way. As for East of Eden, I have this sneaking feeling it’s part of that blurred Steinbeck experience in my head… let’s see, something about a turtle, right? And I read War and Peace, but not Anna Karenina–the latter sounds to me like a great book for a long train ride, though then again, the list of books I want to read is so long that Anna Karenina would have to fight hard to be a finalist. Finally, House of Sand and Fog is on my short to-read list, though winter break ’tis very, very brief and I haven’t finished John Keegan’s history of World War II (but I know how it ends).
Which Oprah books have you read? Which ones did you like (or not like)? Do you join me in saying, Thanks be to Oprah?
Oprah’s Book Club list
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Back Roads by Tawni O’Dell
The Best Way To Play by Bill Cosby
* Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
* The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
* The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
* Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Cane River by Lalita Tademy
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
* Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
* The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
* Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
* Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
* The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
* The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
* Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
* Jewel by Bret Lott
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
* A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
The Meanest Thing To Say by Bill Cosby
* Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
* Open House by Elizabeth Berg
* Paradise by Toni Morrison
* The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
* The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
* River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Songs In Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
Sula by Toni Morrison
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
The Treasure Hunt by Bill Cosby
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons
We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage
* Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
* While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Posted on this day, other years:
- Cleaning the Laptops - 2007
- Please comment, do! - 2006
- Must-Read: Corn-Revere on CIPA - 2003
Right on! I think Oprah has exposed a lot of people to quality literature who may never have been otherwise, and I’ve found that most people who criticize her choices tend never to have seen the list. I don’t know how anyone can say Tolstoy, Garcia Marquez, Allende, McCullers, Kingsolver, or most of the others aren’t “good authors”. I’ve read many of these books, and was thrilled that she brought attention to Carson McCullers, who is certainly a lesser known author and one of my favorites. How wonderful that someone is using their celebrity to encourage people to read!
I discovered early on that the Oprah Book Club sticker was a great warning to steer clear of that title. Not my favorite flavor of books, by any means.
As a librarian, how can you argue with Oprah and how she has generated an interest in reading? The people who say her choices are terrible are probably the ones who won’t let their children read graphic novels or Babysitter’s Club books!! I say let them read, because that is the way to keep them reading.
I did enjoy EAST OF EDEN.
She can’t please all the people all the time . . .
I *really* enjoyed _I Know This Much is True_ by Wally Lamb and wouldn’t have discovered the book without Oprah.
Barbara Kingsolver rocks as well. And if you read some Frantzen you’ll see that he’s a little, uh, odd. His eccentricities help his writing–but he’s not the best dinner company. I can’t imagine that Chuck Palahniuk would welcome Oprah into his life, either, but that doesn’t make him a bad person!
It is easy to be a snob about a TV celebrity like Oprah, but I say anyone who is encouraging people to read is doing a great thing.
I hope you try East of Eden sometime soon–I think it is one of the great novels. Anna Karenina is a good read too, but once you’ve tried it you’ll see why I laughed when you mentioned it as a good book to read on the train…
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Just finished “The Deep End of the Ocean†– despite its flaws, it captured my attention from beginning to end. A heart breaking, tragic tale, as you witness a seemingly strong and happy family crumble from within. Well worth reading.
Bie, “the Deep End of the Ocean” was wonderful. I fully agree.