
Winfrey's new book club pick marks the return of an old favorite, Wally Lamb
NEW YORK (AP) — For her next book club pick, Oprah Winfrey is highlighting an author she has praised even before she had a book club.
Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has chosen Wally Lamb's new novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' the story of a father torn by grief and guilt. It's the third time she's selected a Lamb book and continues a bond predating 1996, when she launched her club.
'I've had four phone conversations with Ms. Winfrey,' Lamb said in a statement, remembering how she called to praise his debut novel, 'She's Come Undone' upon its release, in 1992. Five years later, she phoned with the news that 'She's Come Undone' was her latest book club pick. In 1998, Winfrey picked Lamb's 'I Know This Much Is True,' his second novel.
'I was as shocked as ever last month when I answered the phone and heard Ms. Winfrey's voice again, twenty-seven years after the last time we had talked,' he said. 'She told me my latest novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' would be the 115th title in her beloved Book Club. I'm not sure why I've been on the receiving end of such grace and good fortune, but I try to live each day expressing my gratitude in the way I treat others.'
Winfrey's conversation with Lamb can be heard on the latest episode of 'Oprah's Book Club: Presented by Starbucks,' a podcast available through Winfrey's YouTube channel and other outlets.
'I know many of you might remember that Wally and I go way back because I picked his very first book in 1997 for my book club, and then I chose his second book the next year,' Winfrey said in a statement. 'And now with 'The River Is Waiting' – we've selected three novels by the same author and that should tell you ALL you need to know about what I think of this truly masterful and beloved writer.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Paris' iconic cauldron from the Olympic Games returns to light up summer nights
Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A year after it captivated crowds during the Paris Olympics, a centerpiece of the summer Games made a comeback Saturday to light up the French capital's skyline. The iconic helium-powered balloon that attracted myriads of tourists during the summer Games has shed its Olympic branding and is now just called the 'Paris Cauldron.' It rose again into the air later Saturday, lifting off over the Tuileries Garden just as the sun was about to set. Despite the suffocating hot weather in Paris, around 30,000 people were expected to attend the launch, which coincided with France's annual street music festival — the Fete de la Musique, the Paris police prefecture said. And it won't be a one-time event. After Saturday's flight, the balloon will lift off into the sky each summer evening from June 21 to Sept. 14, for the next three years. The cauldron's ascent may become a new rhythm of the Parisian summer, with special flights planned for Bastille Day on July 14 and the anniversary of the 2024 opening ceremony on July 26. Gone is the official 'Olympic' branding — forbidden under International Olympic Committee reuse rules — but the spectacle remains. The 30-meter (98-foot) -tall floating ring, dreamed up by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and powered by French energy company EDF, simulates flame without fire: LED lights, mist jets and high-pressure fans create a luminous halo that hovers above the city at dusk, visible from rooftops across the capital. Though it stole the show in 2024, the cauldron was only meant to be temporary, not engineered for multi-year outdoor exposure. To transform it into a summer staple, engineers reinforced it. The aluminum ring and tether points were rebuilt with tougher components to handle rain, sun and temperature changes over several seasons. Though it's a hot-air-balloon-style, the lift comes solely from helium — no flame, no burner, just gas and engineering. The structure first dazzled during the Olympics. Over just 40 days, it drew more than 200,000 visitors, according to officials. Now anchored in the center of the drained Tuileries pond, the cauldron's return is part of French President Emmanuel Macron's effort to preserve the Games' spirit in the city, as Paris looks ahead to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. in this topic


Hamilton Spectator
9 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Simon Cracker creates a brand uniform to highlight star upcycled garments during Milan Fashion Week
MILAN (AP) — Simon Cracker's collection for next summer is an expression of exasperation with a world of uninformed 'experts,' and as an antidote the Italian upcycled brand has distilled its focus to singular, spotlight garments, paired with a Simon Cracker new uniform. For designers Filippo Biraghi and Simone Botte, upcycling is the lexicon they use to tell the story. This season's was titled: 'The devil in the details.' They took inspiration for their ironic and disproportionate details from the Belgian designer Martin Margiela, adding to the garments oversized buttons that were actually facsimile copies, huge safety- and clothespins and giant zipper pulls. 'We didn't copy Margiela. We tried to use the same language,'' Biraghi said. New brand uniform highlights the stars The basic Simon Cracker co-ed uniform for Spring-Summer 2026 was a simple square T-shirt fashioned from jersey stock that they saved and reconditioned after it became waterlogged in flooding. The T-shirts, each with a big care label sewn on the front, were paired with tailored black shorts. The uniforms were backdrops for the real stars: A blazer with multiple crumpled arms that unfurled on the runway into dramatic trains. A triplicate of belted trousers tiered to make super low-waisted streetwear. Shirts sewn on dress fronts, with the arms tied behind the waist. A frenzy of shirts that become a ruffled skirt. Three pleated skirts layered to form a strapless tiered dress. Each garment, made of clothes that had been in some way discarded, had its own architecture, and its own story. Simon Cracker recipe Biraghi said that the designers have come up with a 'recipe' for some core garments, including the Siamese T-Shirt he was wearing. It was made out of two T-shirts, one forming the sides with the arms, the second contributing the front and back panels. The idea is put out some identifiable pieces, while maintaining the uniqueness of each garment that is core to the brand. 'Our niche wants unique pieces. It is not the herd that interests us. Fewer but more devoted,'' Botte said.


San Francisco Chronicle
10 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Simon Cracker creates a brand uniform to highlight star upcycled garments during Milan Fashion Week
MILAN (AP) — Simon Cracker's collection for next summer is an expression of exasperation with a world of uninformed 'experts,' and as an antidote the Italian upcycled brand has distilled its focus to singular, spotlight garments, paired with a Simon Cracker new uniform. For designers Filippo Biraghi and Simone Botte, upcycling is the lexicon they use to tell the story. This season's was titled: 'The devil in the details.' They took inspiration for their ironic and disproportionate details from the Belgian designer Martin Margiela, adding to the garments oversized buttons that were actually facsimile copies, huge safety- and clothespins and giant zipper pulls. 'We didn't copy Margiela. We tried to use the same language,'' Biraghi said. New brand uniform highlights the stars The basic Simon Cracker co-ed uniform for Spring-Summer 2026 was a simple square T-shirt fashioned from jersey stock that they saved and reconditioned after it became waterlogged in flooding. The T-shirts, each with a big care label sewn on the front, were paired with tailored black shorts. The uniforms were backdrops for the real stars: A blazer with multiple crumpled arms that unfurled on the runway into dramatic trains. A triplicate of belted trousers tiered to make super low-waisted streetwear. Shirts sewn on dress fronts, with the arms tied behind the waist. A frenzy of shirts that become a ruffled skirt. Three pleated skirts layered to form a strapless tiered dress. Each garment, made of clothes that had been in some way discarded, had its own architecture, and its own story. Simon Cracker recipe Biraghi said that the designers have come up with a 'recipe' for some core garments, including the Siamese T-Shirt he was wearing. It was made out of two T-shirts, one forming the sides with the arms, the second contributing the front and back panels. The idea is put out some identifiable pieces, while maintaining the uniqueness of each garment that is core to the brand. 'Our niche wants unique pieces. It is not the herd that interests us. Fewer but more devoted,'' Botte said.