Oprah Winfrey Is Bringing Her Book Club To Life With Apple

To summarize Oprah’s announcement at Apple’s major unveiling: “You get a book club. And you get a book club! Everyone gets a bookclub!!!!!”

On Monday, Apple gathered the masses to announce strides the company was making in tech and entertainment. In addition to the announcement that Apple would launch its very own credit card, a heightened version of its popular news app, and a star-studded streaming service, Apple had one more treat. The tech giant is now in partnership with Oprah, and she’s bringing back one of her most beloved ideas in a big way.

“There is nothing more thrilling than being transported by a brilliant book,” Oprah said at the event in Cupertino, California. “The only thing more gratifying than an extraordinary read is being able to share that experience with others and we are going to do just that by building the biggest, most vibrant, most stimulating book club on the planet."

Oprah launched her book club in 1996, with the novel The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. The book club segment of her talk show, which ended in 2011, became one of the daytime show’s most popular — and the books that Oprah promoted often got a serious sales boost.

Of course, the book club didn’t come without controversy: Her 2005 selection of James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces received criticism after it was revealed that Frey had fictionalised much of his addiction-centred memoir.

After taking a brief hiatus and relaunching in 2003, Oprah’s final book club selection came in 2010, with new editions of Charles Dickinson’s Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.

Now that Apple is working with Oprah, her book club is getting tech savvy.

“It is a club, imagine where Apple stores stream a conversation with the author and me live across all devices, across all borders, uniting people to stories that remind us no matter who you are or where you are from, every man, woman and child looks up in awe at the same sky,” she told the crowd at the Apple event. “I want to literally convene a meeting of the minds, connecting us through books.”

Exactly how Oprah’s book club will work remains to be seen, but save some space on your bookshelf, digital or otherwise. Oprah really knows how to pick ‘em.