Most Recommended Books

Track reading, wishlists & new-book alerts

Get
Skip to content
Share:
Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey Recommended Books

Oprah Winfrey has recommended 94 books. Browse the complete reading list with quotes and sources below.

Oprah Winfrey is an American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer, and philanthropist.

(Read more on Wikipedia)

Online Presence

94 Books Recommended

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

An American Marriage

A Novel

by Tayari Jones
"The perfect book to read along with a friend or family member." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Road

by Cormac McCarthy
"Unlike any book I have chosen." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

A Million Little Pieces

by James Frey
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Also recommended by:

Nate Berkus

Gilead (4 books)

"A quartet of masterpieces." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

by Cheryl Strayed
"About the difference between deciding to do something and really having to do it." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Heart of a Woman

Maya Angelou's Autobiography, Book 4

by Maya Angelou
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Song of Solomon

by Toni Morrison
"Fills me with admiration and awe." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

A Map of the World

A Novel

by Jane Hamilton
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

East of Eden

by John Steinbeck
"So rich and full of drama you won't be able to turn the pages fast enough!" - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Becoming

by Michelle Obama
"I want the whole world to read this book." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy

A Lesson Before Dying

by Ernest J. Gaines
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Underground Railroad

by Colson Whitehead
"Every now and then a book comes along that reaches the marrow of your bones, settles in, and stays forever. This is one." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

We Were the Mulvaneys

by Joyce Carol Oates
"I read this book over a year ago, but this family still haunts me." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Invention of Wings

A Novel

by Sue Monk Kidd
"It is impossible to read this book and not come away thinking differently about our status as women." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

A New Earth

Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

by Eckhart Tolle
"One of the most important books of our time." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Aubrey Marcus

A Fine Balance

by Rohinton Mistry
"I've never encountered pages that took me so far, and removed me from my own way of life and way of thinking the way [this book] did." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Alicia Keys, Jacqueline Novogratz

American Dirt

by Jeanine Cummins
"Changed the way I see what it means to be a migrant in a whole new way." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Sun Does Shine

How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

by Anthony Ray Hinton
"Reads like an epic novel. And it is all true!" - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

While I Was Gone

by Sue Miller
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

What Looks Like Crazy On an Ordinary Day

Idlewild Book 1

by Pearl Cleage
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Breath, Eyes, Memory

by Edwidge Danticat
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

I Know This Much Is True

A Novel

by Wally Lamb
"It’s not just a book, it’s a life experience." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Say You're One of Them

by Uwem Akpan
"Masterfully both captures the innocence and the horror of the unimaginable events these children witness." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Behold the Dreamers

A Novel

by Imbolo Mbue
"About race and class, the economy, culture, immigration and the danger of the us-versus-them mentality." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Stolen Lives

Twenty Years in a Desert Jail

by Malika Oufkir
"People read [this book] and they are changed by it—enlightened by it—opened up by it." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Cane River

by Lalita Tademy
"[Opens] the door for a lot of people who want to trace their own roots or look at what their heritage, what that legacy has meant for them." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Love Warrior

A Memoir

by Glennon Doyle
"I read it as a testament to the power of vulnerability." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, Book 1

by Harper Lee
"I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it, because I fell in love with Scout." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Icy Sparks

by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Olive, Again

Olive Kitteridge, Book 2

by Elizabeth Strout
"I fell in love with Olive not despite her flaws, but because of them." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Tara Road

A Novel

by Maeve Binchy
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

by Ayana Mathis
"So astonishing, it left me speechless." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Cry, the Beloved Country

by Alan Paton
"Captures the very essence of South Africa in transition from a rural, tribal nation of spiritual heritage to a modern country of big cities, violence and upheaval." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Melinda Gates

Drowning Ruth

A Novel

by Christina Schwarz
"It will drive you crazy with suspense. I loved it, loved it, loved it; I stayed up all night reading it." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Middlesex

A Novel

by Jeffrey Eugenides
"I promise it will grab you from the first sentence." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Freedom

A Novel

by Jonathan Franzen
"It’s got everything—sex and love, even rock n’ roll, and everything you want in a book." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"As steamy, dense and sensual as the jungle that surrounds the surreal town of Macondo!" - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Ruby

A Novel

by Cynthia Bond
"I have never been more excited about a find." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Reader

by Bernhard Schlink
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Sound and the Fury

by William Faulkner
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

White Oleander

by Janet Fitch
"Page after page, I fell in love with a story that deeply moved me." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens
"Such a beautiful book. I love this book." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

House of Sand and Fog

A Novel

by Andre Dubus III
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Jewel

by Bret Lott
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Open House

A Novel

by Elizabeth Berg
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Good Earth

House Of Earth, Book 1

by Pearl S Buck
"[The author's words] evoke the simple beauty of the characters and the harsh mystery of China's ancient culture." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Winston Churchill

Vinegar Hill

by A. Manette Ansay
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Where the Heart Is

by Billie Letts
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

A Virtuous Woman

A Novel

by Kaye Gibbons
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Gap Creek

A Novel

by Robert Morgan
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Light in August

by William Faulkner
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Also recommended by:

Adam Sessler

Love in the Time of Cholera

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"One of the greatest love stories I have ever read." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Diane Rehm, Bryan Callen

Mother of Pearl

by Melinda Haynes
"That, my dear, is called reading." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Paradise

by Toni Morrison
"Worth waiting for." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Rapture of Canaan

by Sheri Reynolds
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Songs in Ordinary Time

A Novel

by Mary McGarry Morris
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Stones from the River

Burgdorf Cycle Book 1

by Ursula Hegi
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Sula

by Toni Morrison
"There would have been no Oprah's Book Club if this woman had chosen not to share her love of words with the world." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

John Green

The Best Way to Play

by Bill Cosby
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Book of Ruth

by Jane Hamilton
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

by Carson McCullers
"The book I love so much—recommended to me by Julia [Roberts]." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Measure of a Man

A Spiritual Autobiography

by Sidney Poitier
"A beautifully crafted book, written like poetry." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Pilot's Wife

A Novel

by Anita Shreve
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

A Novel

by David Wroblewski
"I think that this is right up there with the greatest American novels ever written." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

As I Lay Dying

The Corrected Text

by William Faulkner
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Also recommended by:

Charles Koch

Back Roads

by Tawni O'Dell
"Raw." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Black and Blue

A Novel

by Anna Quindlen
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Ellen Foster

by Kaye Gibbons
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Fall On Your Knees

by Ann-Marie MacDonald
"What a wild ride. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens
"You get something new every time." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Richard Branson

Here on Earth

by Alice Hoffman
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Midwives

A Novel

by Chris Bohjalian
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Night

by Elie Wiesel
"Required reading for all of humanity." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

River, Cross My Heart

A Novel

by Breena Clarke
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

She's Come Undone

by Wally Lamb
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Bluest Eye

by Toni Morrison
"One of the things [the author is] able to do in this book is [to let] people know that they are not alone." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Diane Rehm

The Corrections

A Novel

by Jonathan Franzen
"A grandly entertaining novel for the new century." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Ev Williams

The Deep End of the Ocean

A Novel

by Jacquelyn Mitchard
"An intense tale that really is a mother's worst nightmare." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Meanest Thing To Say

by Bill Cosby
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

The Poisonwood Bible

A Novel

by Barbara Kingsolver
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Also recommended by:

Hillary Clinton

The Treasure Hunt

by Bill Cosby
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Strength in Stillness

The Power of Transcendental Meditation

by Bob Roth
"I am one-thousand percent better when I do it. Meditation Bob: He’s got it!" - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Daughter of Fortune

Daughter Of Fortune, Book 1

by Isabel Allende
Oprah Winfrey recommended this book in "Oprah's Book Club." (Source)

Also recommended by:

Christopher Hitchens

If at Birth You Don't Succeed

My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny

by Zach Anner
"[The author] makes you want to be a better person, with his humor and his heart and everything he's had to deal with from the time he was born." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Also recommended by:

Alexis Ohanian, Rainn Wilson

Lean In

Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

by Sheryl Sandberg
"Honest and brave... The new manifesto for women in the workplace." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Water Dancer

A Novel

by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"I knew early on the book was going to cut me up. I ended up with my soul pierced." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Caste

The Origins of Our Discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson
"Shows us how to rebuild a world in which all are truly equal and free." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Deacon King Kong

A Novel

by James McBride
"Reminds us that when we come together as a community in compassion and empathy, our love triumphs." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Hidden Valley Road

Inside the Mind of an American Family

by Robert Kolker
"A riveting true story of an American family that reads like a medical detective journey." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

The Untethered Soul

The Journey Beyond Yourself

by Michael A. Singer
"One of my new favorite books." - Oprah Winfrey (Source)

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

Comments

Did we miss something? Have feedback?

Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts

We only use your email to notify you about replies.

All comments are moderated.

Discover and track your reading on the go

Track your reading, manage wishlists, and get notified when new books are added.

94 Oprah Winfrey Recommended Books (2026)