Oprah’s Book Club
Wednesday, February 27th by carla|
Trivia question for today: what author has more titles on Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club list than any other?
Answer: Toni Morrison, first African-American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (The Bluest Eye, Paradise, Song of Solomon, and Sula) |
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When Oprah launched her Book Club in 1996 (61 books ago), she tapped into a national trend. People everywhere were reading books and gathering to talk about them. They were remembering how much fun it is to read a good book and share it with others. And in a fast-paced world, taking time to read and discuss had become almost a mark of status. |
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Oprah spotlights both classic and contemporary books, novels, nonfiction, and, once, fiction masquerading as nonfiction. When she adds a book to her list and book club resources to her site, the book invariably shoots to the top of the bestseller lists.
There is a trickle-down effect, as well. Students have often told me, “I’m reading this book because it was on Oprah’s show.” Several recent studies suggest that Americans are reading fewer books and reading less in general than they used to. But books are not disappearing without a fight. Projects like book clubs help us reclaim the delight we find in the well-crafted sentence, in a complex character, or a a recurring theme. It’s also fun to share our reactions, either with a group of friends locally or on a larger scale, using Web tools like discussion boards or online classes. Teachers do everything they can to make reading fun and interesting, but it took Oprah to make it cool. |
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