Oprah talks about her Book Club Pick

Shelf Awareness

"Believe me, it's not easy finding words to describe Ruby, because nothing comes close to the experience of reading it," Oprah Winfrey observed about Cynthia Bond's Ruby (Hogarth/Crown), the fourth Oprah's Book Club 2.0 pick. She has also acquired film and television rights through her Harpo Films.

Winfrey's choice, which was released in paperback yesterday, is a debut novel that was "published last year to positive reviews and moderate sales," the Associated Press reported. The numbers changed quickly, with Hogarth commissioning a paperback printing of 250,000 copies. There is also an e-book edition, and 20,000 copies of the hardcover are in print.

Noting that she was hooked on Ruby from the first sentence, Winfrey said, "I thought, 'Wow, this is so good I have to wait until I actually have the time to absorb the language.' I put it down and waited until I was in bed with the flu to start reading it. I found the language and descriptions so vividly compelling that sometimes I would have to take a breath and repeat the sentences out loud."

An interview with Bond appears in the in the March issue of O magazine, which comes out February 17. Introducing the author, Winfrey noted: "When I found out that Bond is 53 and hadn't written a book before, I thought, Wow. This woman was born to write. There's no other explanation for such a vivid, searing first-time novel that penetrates through the page to the reader's heart. Writing is Bond's calling. No question about it. And when I found out that she's spent more than 15 years teaching writing to homeless and at-risk youth, I knew she must be truly special. I couldn't wait to call and tell her that Ruby is our new OBC 2.0 pick."