Posted on August 4, 2020 at 11:09 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Celebrity book clubs have released their picks for August.
Oprah Winfrey went with Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.
The nonfiction work explores how the United States has an unspoken caste system and what it has cost us.
"This might be the most important book I’ve ever chosen for my book club," Winfrey said in announcing the selection.
"Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents provides a new way of seeing racial inequality, giving rise to countless aha moments and helping us truly understand America as it is now and how we hope it will be."
Jenna Bush Hager picked The Comeback by Ella Berman and Here For It by R. Eric Thomas.
The former follows embattled actress Grace Turner as she realizes she must return to Los Angeles, which she fled, to confront her (figurative) demons there; the latter, a collection of personal essays about the author’s journey to self-acceptance as a Black and queer man.
Hager, in announcing the picks, explained that The Comeback felt like the perfect summer read, while Here For It would continue conversations the nation is having about social justice issues.
Good Morning America, meanwhile, chose The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis.
The novel alternates between the stories of Laura Lyons, wife of the New York Public Library’s superintendent, and her estranged granddaughter, Sadie Donovan, who serves as a NYPL curator.
You can read an excerpt from The Lions of Fifth Avenue in GMA’s announcement.
And finally, Reese Witherspoon selected Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat.
The book is a short-story collection describing Haitian women’s experiences with love and loss.
“I chose this book as our August book pick because I was so moved by the resilience and strength that these women exemplified,” Witherspoon said in announcing the selection.
Categories: Today in Books