Looking for a good summer read for your holiday weekend? Oprah Winfrey has you covered.
The 63-year-old media mogul appeared on CBS This Morning on Monday, June 26, to reveal her summer selection for Oprah’s Book Club: 2016’s Behold the Dreamers, a novel about an immigrant couple trying to make a life in New York City as the Great Recession hits.
“It’s everything our culture is grappling with right now … about race and class, about the economy, immigration, the dangers of us versus them mentality, so when you read it, it will feel very modern, like it’s happening now,” Winfrey promised of her pick.
“I think it’s a great summer read so I’m hoping everyone gets it before you head out for vacation next week,” she added.
The author, Imbolo Mbue, was also a guest on the show and shared how Oprah’s Book Club inspired her to become a writer.
“In 2002, I walked into a library … and borrowed Song of Solomon and I was so in awe of that I started writing,” the author explained of another book Oprah picked for book club back in 1996.
Mbue immigrated to the U.S. at age 17 and originally began writing as a hobby. When she lost her job during the financial crisis, she decided to write her first novel.
Turns out Oprah isn’t the only big fan of the book. Behold the Dreamers already won the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.
