All of Oprah’s 2025 Book Club Picks

Oprah started the year with her book club doing something she’d never done before: picking a previously selected title for the second time: “Originally published in 2005 and selected for the Book Club in 2008, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle is ‘the most important book’ she’s ever read (and it’s safe to say, she reads a lot).”

As a fun bonus, you can watch Chris Evans talk to Oprah and Eckhart Tolle about his Tolle tattoo.

Her second choice of the year came with adaptation news via THR: “A24 is the newest member of Oprah’s Book Club. The company has acquired rights to Eric Puchner’s novel Dream State in a competitive situation and will adapt the book for TV.”

You can listen to Puchner discuss his novel on NPR: “Dream State is the latest pick in Oprah’s Book Club. It’s also the rare literary novel that examines the different angles of contemporary male friendship. ‘Friendship is such a huge, important part of my own life,’ Puchner said. ‘I felt like I wanted to write something that I wanted to read but didn’t – as far as I knew – exist in the world.'”

You can also watch a sit-down interview with Oprah and Puchner on YouTube.

The third pick of the year came with controversy, which USA Today explained: “‘One former classmate of Griffin’s, who spoke anonymously to the Times, said her childhood abuse was ‘eerily similar’ to what Griffin describes in ‘The Tell’ – but at the hands of a different teacher, not the teacher Griffin describes in the book. The classmate has retained a lawyer since reading the memoir, the Times reported.”

You can watch Amy Griffin talk with Oprah on YouTube.

In April, Oprah chose “a memoir by an old friend and personal hero, Tina Knowles.”

“When I heard her voice, I cried!” Knowles said. “I have such a rich history with Oprah. Writing a book about your life is a scary thing. It’s almost like having a baby. It’s so personal and sacred to you that you want people to love it and not ever say anything bad about it. Getting the seal of approval from Oprah, and knowing that she read it and loved it, made it all OK. I mean, it’s Oprah!!”

Oprah sat down with Tina Knowles in Chicago for a chat.

Oprah selected Ocean Vuong’s novel in May, and as I’m writing this, the Best of 2025 lists are coming out, and I’ve spotted Vuong’s novel on Kirkus’ Best Fictional Voices of 2025 and Amazon editors’ best books of 2025.

You can watch Oprah telling Vuong his novel has been picked for her book club (he was speechless) and his sit-down talk with Oprah.

For June, Oprah picked an author her fans certainly know, since she’s previously featured two of his books. “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.”

You can watch her talk with Wally Lamb, where she tells the story of how she had to call the phone operator in 1997 (different time!) to get his number because she loved She’s Come Undone.

Oprah’s July pick is set in the near future and tackles AI: “This is the book of the summer. It’s a page-turner, it’s a family epic, there’s romance, there’s betrayal, it’s the whole package.” And she made it a point to say “…and none of you—I repeat, none of you—will predict the shocking twist at the end.”

She sat down with Bruce Holsinger in Seattle to talk about his novel.

For her end-of-summer pick, Oprah went with a backlist title: ”It is, of course, a profound honor to be chosen for Oprah’s Book Club,“ Russo said in a statement. “But to be chosen for a novel written two decades earlier? A book that will introduce a whole new generation of readers to my work? How special is that?”

You can watch Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo’s talk with Oprah on YouTube.

Oprah came into fall with a memoir that most Eat, Pray, Love fans would not have seen coming: “This story is a far cry from Eat Pray Love. It’s unsparing in its depiction of Elias’ substance abuse, as well as Gilbert’s own sex and love addiction. It’s about codependency as much as it is about love.”

Check out Elizabeth Gilbert’s conversation with Oprah.

In October, Oprah picked a dystopian novel getting a lot of buzz, including being a National Book Award and Kirkus Prize finalist: “Megha Majumdar is one of those exquisitely skilled authors who takes us into the story of characters and cultural conflicts and leaves us spellbound until the last word and beyond. Who was the ‘Guardian’ who was the ‘Thief’? I’m still thinking about it.”

Here is Megha Majumdar talking to Oprah about her book.

November’s selection was all about a novel that would leave you pondering about life: “The story leaves you questioning the obligations of marriage and the difference between male and female friendships, and one of the most significant of questions: How do you want to spend your last days?”

Oprah sat down with Ann Packer to talk about the questions in her novel.