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Kate Picker in Time called the Oprah Effect “the greatest force in publishing today, with the power to raise authors from the dead” and banish them from the bestseller lists. Even though the daytime show has ended, the legacy remains:  Oprah’s Book Club had people reading again, and talking about what they read.

Her influence drew new readers and brought attention to classics and undiscovered authors.

• Bring little-known books into the spotlight
• Revive interest in classic literature
• Made (and broke) some careers (into A Million Little Pieces!)
• Spark interest in books and reading (as a reader myself, I can get behind that!)

Oprah’s Book Club titles owned by JTCC Library (from Oprah Book Club List).

Click on any title to go to the library’s copy; please check them OUT!

2010

A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens

Great Expectations Charles Dickens

Freedom Jonathan Franzen

2009

Say You’re One of Them Uwem Akpan

2007

Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez

Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides

The Road Cormac McCarthy

The Measure of a Man Sidney Poitier

2006

Night Elie Wiesel

2005

A Million Little Pieces James Frey

Light in August William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying William Faulkner

2004

The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck

Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez

2003

Cry, The Beloved Country Alan Paton

East of Eden John Steinbeck

2002

Sula Toni Morrison

2001

Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail Malika Oufkir

2000

House of Sand and Fog Andre Dubus III
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison

1999

The Pilot’s Wife Anita Shreve
The Reader Bernhard Schlink

1998

Midwives Chris Bohjalian
I Know This Much Is True Wally Lamb
Paradise Toni Morrison

1997

A Lesson Before Dying Ernest J. Gaines
Songs in Ordinary Time Mary McGarry Morris
The Heart of a Woman Maya Angelou
The Rapture of Canaan Sheri Reynolds
She’s Come Undone Wally Lamb

1996

The Book of Ruth Jane Hamilton
Song of Solomon Toni Morrison