The 6 Books Oprah Loves to Give as Gifts During the Holidays

Photo credit: Temi Oyeyola
Photo credit: Temi Oyeyola

From Oprah Magazine

  • Oprah has shared a list of the six books that she loves to give as gifts—and would be happy to receive—during the holiday season.

  • Her picks include a collection by the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature recipient and a new illustrated edition of a classic novel.

  • "Each of these books celebrate love," she says.


In the spirit of the holidays, Oprah has unveiled a personally curated list of “Books To Give, Books to Receive”—an assortment of six titles. “All of them,” says Oprah, “are books I would be thrilled to find under my Christmas tree—even if I’ve read them before—or to give to family and friends.”

Among them are two volumes of poetry, a genre Oprah’s always loved but in which she’s found special joy and comfort during the past year. One is a collection by the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, Louise Gluck, entitled Faithful and Virtuous Night, and the second is a volume Oprah always keeps close to her, Love Poems from God, which includes verse from “sacred voices” including Rumi and St. Francis of Assisi.

Also on the list are three literary classics, including a new, lavishly illustrated edition of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a 2007 Oprah’s Book Club Selection; The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather; and Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston.

Finally, there’s the recently released Ex-Libris: 100 Books To Read and Reread, by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michiko Kakutani. In it, she shares her passion for writers like Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Herman Melville—among others—as well as such contemporary authors as Tommy Orange and Colson Whitehead.

“Each of these books," says Oprah, “celebrate love—in their own ways—and it’s this spirit of joy I share with you." Take a look at all six selections below.


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