Latest news with #'sBookClub
USA Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Oprah says July book club pick hooked her 'until the very last shocking sentence'
Oprah Winfrey's latest book club selection is a high-octane family drama swirling with artificial intelligence ethics. 'Culpability' by Bruce Holsinger (out now from Spiegel & Grau) is the July pick for Oprah's Book Club, and the mogul is already dubbing it "the book of the summer." This is Winfrey's 116th book club selection, and Holsinger's novel joins a 2025 roster that includes Ocean Vuong, Wally Lamb and Tina Knowles. 'I appreciated the prescience of this story,' 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!' Oprah's Book Club pick for July: 'Culpability' by Bruce Holsinger 'Culpability' is set on a summer rental on the Chesapeake Bay and follows the Cassidy-Shaws – leading AI expert Lorelei, husband Noah, tweens Alice and Izzy and teenager Charlie – whose autonomous minivan collides with another car. Each family member has a secret that implicates them in the accident. Their weeklong stay is an unraveling of moral dilemmas, skeletons in the closet and AI consequences. In an announcement on her Instagram, Winfrey called 'Culpability' 'a book that's perfect for your beach bag.' 'Let me just tell you, Gayle King was so riveted that she was reading this book in the car on the way to the Tonys,' Winfrey said in a video. Holsinger is both a fiction and nonfiction writer, the author of five novels, including 'The Displacements' and 'The Gifted School.' He is also a professor at the University of Virginia. "Oprah Winfrey started her book club the same year I finished graduate school,' Holsinger said in a statement. 'For nearly thirty years, as I've taught great books to college students in the classroom and the lecture hall, she has shared great books with the world. Her phone call was like a thunderbolt, and I'll never forget it. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that she found Culpability worthy of her time, praise, and recognition." Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
USA Today
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Oprah's June book club pick is here and it's an author she's loved since the '90s
Oprah's June book club pick is here and it's an author she's loved since the '90s Oprah Winfrey has made her latest book club selection, and this time it's a fan favorite. 'The River is Waiting' by Wally Lamb (out now from Simon & Schuster), a propulsive crime novel following a young father after an unforgivable tragedy, is the Oprah book club pick for June. It's the third time Oprah has chosen a Lamb book for her book club – first 'She's Come Undone' in 1997 and 'I Know This Much Is True' in 1998. In a statement, Winfrey says her third pick from the author is indicative of 'what I think of this truly masterful and beloved writer.' '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,' Winfrey said in a statement. Oprah's Book Club June pick: 'The River is Waiting' by Wally Lamb 'The River is Waiting' follows Corby Ledbetter, a struggling new father who is already mourning the loss of his job and the consequences of his secret addiction before tragedy strikes. Now incarcerated, Corby struggles with the violence and brutality of prison but also finds a prison librarian, a good-natured cellmate and a troubled teen who give him something to fight for. This novel is his quest for forgiveness and hope. Lamb is the author of nine books, including two nonfiction collections of testimonies from imprisoned women, 'Couldn't Keep It To Myself' and 'I'll Fly Away.' His second novel, "I Know This Much Is True," was adapted into a miniseries starring Mark Ruffalo in 2000. In a statement, Lamb reflected on his four phone conversations with Winfrey over his career, three of which were to notify him of the book club selection. The first time she called him, it was 1992 and Winfrey simply wanted to express her gratitude for him writing 'She's Come Undone.' Five years later, she chose it as her fourth book club pick. 'I'm not sure why I've been on the receiving end of such grace and good fortune, but I try to live each day expressing my gratitude in the way I treat others,' Lamb said in a statement. 'And of those four phone conversations with Oprah, I think my favorite may be the first one, before there was an Oprah's Book Club, when I received a validating gift from an avid reader who just wanted to thank me for having written my book.' Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
Winfrey's new book club pick marks the return of an old favorite, Wally Lamb
NEW YORK -- For her next book club pick, Oprah Winfrey is highlighting an author she has praised even before she had a book club. Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has chosen Wally Lamb's new novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' the story of a father torn by grief and guilt. It's the third time she's selected a Lamb book and continues a bond predating 1996, when she launched her club. 'I've had four phone conversations with Ms. Winfrey,' Lamb said in a statement, remembering how she called to praise his debut novel, 'She's Come Undone' upon its release, in 1992. Five years later, she phoned with the news that 'She's Come Undone' was her latest book club pick. In 1998, Winfrey picked Lamb's 'I Know This Much Is True,' his second novel. 'I was as shocked as ever last month when I answered the phone and heard Ms. Winfrey's voice again, twenty-seven years after the last time we had talked,' he said. 'She told me my latest novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' would be the 115th title in her beloved Book Club. I'm not sure why I've been on the receiving end of such grace and good fortune, but I try to live each day expressing my gratitude in the way I treat others.' Winfrey's conversation with Lamb can be heard on the latest episode of 'Oprah's Book Club: Presented by Starbucks,' a podcast available through Winfrey's YouTube channel and other outlets. 'I know many of you might remember that Wally and I go way back because I picked his very first book in 1997 for my book club, and then I chose his second book the next year,' Winfrey said in a statement. 'And now with 'The River Is Waiting' – we've selected three novels by the same author and that should tell you ALL you need to know about what I think of this truly masterful and beloved writer.'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Winfrey's new book club pick marks the return of an old favorite, Wally Lamb
NEW YORK (AP) — For her next book club pick, Oprah Winfrey is highlighting an author she has praised even before she had a book club. Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has chosen Wally Lamb's new novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' the story of a father torn by grief and guilt. It's the third time she's selected a Lamb book and continues a bond predating 1996, when she launched her club. 'I've had four phone conversations with Ms. Winfrey,' Lamb said in a statement, remembering how she called to praise his debut novel, 'She's Come Undone' upon its release, in 1992. Five years later, she phoned with the news that 'She's Come Undone' was her latest book club pick. In 1998, Winfrey picked Lamb's 'I Know This Much Is True,' his second novel. 'I was as shocked as ever last month when I answered the phone and heard Ms. Winfrey's voice again, twenty-seven years after the last time we had talked,' he said. 'She told me my latest novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' would be the 115th title in her beloved Book Club. I'm not sure why I've been on the receiving end of such grace and good fortune, but I try to live each day expressing my gratitude in the way I treat others.' Winfrey's conversation with Lamb can be heard on the latest episode of 'Oprah's Book Club: Presented by Starbucks,' a podcast available through Winfrey's YouTube channel and other outlets. 'I know many of you might remember that Wally and I go way back because I picked his very first book in 1997 for my book club, and then I chose his second book the next year,' Winfrey said in a statement. 'And now with 'The River Is Waiting' – we've selected three novels by the same author and that should tell you ALL you need to know about what I think of this truly masterful and beloved writer.'
San Francisco Chronicle
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Winfrey's new book club pick marks the return of an old favorite, Wally Lamb
NEW YORK (AP) — For her next book club pick, Oprah Winfrey is highlighting an author she has praised even before she had a book club. Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has chosen Wally Lamb's new novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' the story of a father torn by grief and guilt. It's the third time she's selected a Lamb book and continues a bond predating 1996, when she launched her club. 'I've had four phone conversations with Ms. Winfrey,' Lamb said in a statement, remembering how she called to praise his debut novel, 'She's Come Undone' upon its release, in 1992. Five years later, she phoned with the news that 'She's Come Undone' was her latest book club pick. In 1998, Winfrey picked Lamb's 'I Know This Much Is True,' his second novel. 'I was as shocked as ever last month when I answered the phone and heard Ms. Winfrey's voice again, twenty-seven years after the last time we had talked,' he said. 'She told me my latest novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' would be the 115th title in her beloved Book Club. I'm not sure why I've been on the receiving end of such grace and good fortune, but I try to live each day expressing my gratitude in the way I treat others.' Winfrey's conversation with Lamb can be heard on the latest episode of 'Oprah's Book Club: Presented by Starbucks,' a podcast available through Winfrey's YouTube channel and other outlets. 'I know many of you might remember that Wally and I go way back because I picked his very first book in 1997 for my book club, and then I chose his second book the next year,' Winfrey said in a statement. 'And now with 'The River Is Waiting' – we've selected three novels by the same author and that should tell you ALL you need to know about what I think of this truly masterful and beloved writer.'
