The OWN founder will add enhanced eBooks that allow fans to access exclusive contents including a reader's guide and her personal notes on favorite passages.
- Jun 2, 2012
AceShowbiz - Oprah Winfrey is back with her famous book club, which was first introduced during "The Oprah Winfrey Show" era. In an effort to embrace the fast-growing digital world, the TV host is going to revamp the club by adding new digital aspects such as eBooks and online platforms on social media like Facebook and Twitter.
"This is way different from the old book club," she said. "This time it's an interactive, online club for our digital world." The first book picked for the revived club is Cheryl Strayed's "Wild". It follows the author in her eleven-hundred-mile solo hike from the Mojave Desert to Oregon while she was struggling to cope with the death of her mother and a failed marriage.
Oprah called the story "stimulating, thought-provoking, soul-enhancing." She said, "I was reading this book. As a real book. Holding up the book. I was on the edge of my seat reading the book and I was like, 'Where is The Oprah Winfrey Show when you need to announce and tell everybody about this book? I need the book club.' So I created Book Club 2.0 for this book, Wild by Cheryl Strayed!"
The club is a joint project of Oprah's OWN network and her O magazine. "This is a book club for the way people live and read today," said Sheri Salata, president of OWN. "In addition to the traditional way, we also access books on smart phones, e-readers and tablets and we talk to our friends about them through social media. Oprah's Book Club 2.0 takes the Oprah.com online community, readers of O Magazine and OWN viewers and connects them through their shared love of great books."
O's editor-in-chief Susan Casey chimed in, "Oprah's Book Club 2.0 is the perfect extension of what we do every month in O Magazine. We cover books in depth, and even offer the first chapters of those we feature on our iPad edition. The club is a great way to create a community and a global conversation while promoting one of the greatest pleasures: getting lost in an amazing story."
The new book club will be launched on Monday, June 4 at 12 P.M. ET. A special eBook version of "Wild" that includes a reader's guide and Oprah's notes on her favorite passages will be released on the same day. An interview with its author will air July 22 on OWN's "Super Soul Sunday" and on Oprah Radio. It will also be featured in the July issue of O Magazine.
