The Best Romance Picks From Oprah's Book Club

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Oprah's Book Club will soon celebrate three decades. Since the first ever book club pick in September 1996, the club has delivered more than 100 emotionally rich, conversation-sparking books that span a wide range of themes and genres. For years, Oprah has never failed to deliver on her promise to bring an excellent book to the table and surprise avid readers who are always seeking a new voice and fresh perspective.

While the club may not focus on a single genre, Oprah's recommendations do tend to lean heavily towards fiction. Her literary novel picks usually showcase complex emotional landscapes, dynamic character development, and thought-provoking, complicated themes. And among those titles are some beautifully, and sometimes tragically, written love stories.

The romance novels selected for Oprah's Book Club explore the complexities of love through stories of all kinds. Whether it's a love tested by illness and time, or a look into a modern relationship shaped simultaneously by doubt and ambition, these picks are proof that Oprah's taste in romance dives much deeper than surface appeal. Many of the relationships in these stories are anything but a fairytale. They're very real and quite messy, while also being moving and unforgettable. These books are sure to have readers feeling deeply with every page turned, connecting with the characters as the story progresses, and contemplating the meaning of love by the end.

This article contains spoilers for "Wellness," by Nathan Hill.

Nathan Hill's book "Wellness" not only made multiple bestseller lists, but was also the winner of France's Grand Prize for American Literature in 2024. Oprah said the book is "a modern take on love, marriage, and society's obsession on improving almost every aspect of our lives ... This brilliant novel will leave you thinking about the truth of your own life and the stories we tell ourselves and each other." A love story with a seriously modern take, this novel shows just how much culture can influence personal relationships.

In the 90s, Jack, a timid photographer and Elizabeth, a psychology student, know their love is fated. With their strong bond over art and philosophy, the two are sure they're meant to be together. Fast-forward to the present and the two lovebirds live in a gentrified neighborhood and raise a son together. On top of the challenges of parenthood, they're juggling their careers, families, and housing struggles. Now, living distant and parallel lives, the two can't help but question whether their relationship was ever built on anything real. Maybe, just maybe, their compatibility was all just an illusion.

This article contains spoilers for "Tell Me Everything," by Elizabeth Strout.

Oprah's 107th pick "Tell Me Everything" is the fifth book of the Amgash series from Pulitzer-prize winning author Elizabeth Strout. But the best thing about this pick is that you don't need to have read Strout's previous books to understand what's going on. As Oprah puts it, "[E]verything you need to know is contained within the pages of this marvelous book."

We loved this book because it's not a traditional love story. Strout takes us on a quiet journey that explores the meaning of human connection, the importance of trust, and the most private yearnings of everyday, ordinary people. Oh, and there also might be a murder to be solved on top of all that, landing it a spot on our list of best thriller and mystery picks from Oprah's Book Club.

Bob Burgess is a lawyer in Crosby, Maine, occupied with defending a man who has been named the prime suspect in the murder of his own mother. In his personal life, Bob spends a lot of time taking walks with writer Lucy Barton. On these walks, the two bond over their past regrets, fears, and the "what ifs?" of life. Lucy also gets the chance to meet Olive Kitteridge, who is now in a retirement home, and the two spend time reminiscing about the past and sharing stories about the many people they've encountered. As characters navigate these connections, the book explores themes of the different kinds of love, grappling with loss, and the meaning of life itself.

This article contains spoilers for "An American Marriage," by Tayari Jones.

Not only was "An American Marriage" by Tayari Jones selected as Oprah's 78th book club pick in 2018, it also won the Women's Prize for Fiction the following year. In an interview with PBS Books, Jones shared that the book took six years to write, adding that "what I've learned is that the right book takes time, and you just write the book however it comes to you." Taking her time definitely worked, as the book was reviewed and recommended by Bill Gates and also made Barack Obama's 2018 summer reading list.

The book follows Celestial and Roy, who are enjoying their time as newlyweds only for their happiness to be disrupted by Roy being wrongfully incarcerated. The two are forced into a long-distance marriage, one in which letters and hope are the only things they can hold onto. As time passes, there's growing uncertainty, Celestial is lonely, and she's no longer sure love is at the center of all of this chaos. An old friend enters the picture and for the first time in a long time, she finds comfort through him. Jones explores how much effort even the strongest bonds of love can demand, and what loyalty really means when life takes unexpected turns.

This article contains spoilers for "Love in the Time of Cholera," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Introducing "Love in the Time of Cholera" as her 63rd pick, Oprah said the book is "one of the greatest love stories I have ever read ... It is so beautifully written that it really takes you to another place in time, and will make you ask yourself: How long could you, or would you, wait for love?" Marquez, known for his magical realism, writes a love story that stands the test of time and an epidemic. While readers are often at odds about whether this book is a beautiful love story or an narrative that romanticizes unhealthy obsession, it's hard to deny that Marquez does explore love in all directions, even the messiest ones.

In their younger days, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza were madly in love. However, as the two grow older, Fermina chooses to marry a wealthy doctor. This doesn't stop heartbroken Florentino from loving her and he chooses to wait for her return. For 50 years, he pursues countless affairs, but remains emotionally loyal to Fermina, and Fermina only. This story explores the endurance of one man's love and how it withstands the test of time.

This article contains spoilers for "Hello Beautiful," by Ann Napolitano.

A beautifully written story about romantic and familial love, "Hello Beautiful" was selected as Oprah's 100th book recommendation. With more than 1 million copies sold, readers have said the book reminds them of "Little Women," although Ann Napolitano told NPR that wasn't intentional. "It was only once I'd created — or met — the sisters, and they were having a conversation in the scene that I was writing about which March sister they were most like. And I was like, 'Oh, yes, of course. It's four sisters, just like the March girls,'" explained Napolitano.

Growing up in a loveless home, William Waters is a traumatized young man. That begins to change when he falls in love with Julia Padavano. Julia is one of four sisters in the vibrant and tightly-knit Padavano family. Through this family, William experiences a love and warmth he has never once felt in his life. But William's unresolved trauma eventually comes to haunt him, and not only threatens his relationship with Julia, but also puts the loyalty between the four sisters to test. The heartbreaking fallout that follows spans for years and changes the family forever — is love and loyalty enough to heal what's been broken?

In addition to providing us with insight into human nature, there are many love lessons to learn from romance books. So when we were putting together this list of best romance picks from Oprah's Book Club, we sought out titles that do an excellent job highlighting all kinds of emotional complexities, deep human connection, and the meaning of love.

In order to compile this list, we started out by reviewing the complete list of all of Oprah's Book Club picks to date. We started with a quick skim of synopses of the fictional titles of the list, and we paid close attention to titles that explore romantic relationships and emotional intimacy between characters. The ideal book for our list has romantic relationships as a central theme and showcases a narrative of enduring bonds and emotional entanglements.

Once we gathered all of the romantic literary novels from the list, we evaluated each one for how deeply it engages with all kinds of types of love and emotional connection. We gauged just how closely the stories mirrored real-life romance and how easy it was to relate to the narratives. When we had a narrowed-down list of titles, we vetted reviews of each of the books on Goodreads and Amazon to see how readers felt about the book. And with that, our list was finalized. We hope these books will give you something to reflect on and provide you with a fresh perspective on love.