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Oprah Announces Oprah's Book Club (Do You Remember the First Book She Picked?)

Aired on 09/17/1996 | CC tv-pg
Oprah called it one of her all-time favorite moments on television. In 1996, she helped turn millions of viewers into die-hard readers with the announcement of Oprah's Book Club.

"I love books," she said on that history-making episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. "When I was growing up, books were my friends. When I didn't have friends, I had books. And one of the greatest pleasures I have right now in life is to be reading a really good book and to know I have a really, really good book after that book to read."

Watch as Oprah shares why she believes that "books open windows to the world for all of us." Do you remember the very first Book Club selection?

Original airdate: September 17, 1996