5 Of Gayle King's Favorite Books

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"The joy of reading can take you so many different places. In addition to intelligence and stretching your mind, I just think reading is so crucial in terms of being a well-rounded person," Gayle King said of her life-long love of reading while speaking with the HuffPost in 2012. The TV personality, author, and journalist loves a good book, and is happy to share her favorite reads with fans. From memoirs to self-help texts as well as novels, King has some quality recommendations, and these reads are sure to be as absorbing and memorable as King herself found them. 

It certainly helps that King is best friends with Oprah Winfrey, the monarch of bookclubs. Oprah's Book Club is a trusted source for readers in search of their next favorite book. There are the best Oprah Book Club picks of the 2020s. There are also loads of incredible genre books in the mix, including the best romance picks from Oprah's Book Club. There have also been some misses along the way, with a list of the least favorite popular picks from the Oprah Book Club. Hey, there's always going to be something someone doesn't like. But between the two women, there's got to be a lot of book talk, and King, in particular, has some quality recommendations. 

Michelle Obama's 2024 nonfiction book "The Light We Carry" was a very meaningful read for Gayle King, and the CBS News broadcast journalist raved about the book. "It is very timely, and everyone should read it now," King wrote of "The Light We Carry" on Oprah Daily. "[Obama] believes that we all carry light and that, sometimes, we just need the right tools to ignite it. In the book, she provides the tools and practices she uses to get through times of uncertainty." King also found it refreshingly candid and honest that even Obama, with a history of success as an author and first lady, still struggles with self-doubt and insecurity. "While most of us won't be First Ladies, we can learn a lot from her experiences and philosophies," King added. King ended up joining Obama on her book tour, so the text is clearly a very meaningful and personal one to King. 

Indeed, King isn't alone in loving "The Light We Carry." It was the follow-up to Obama's hugely successful memoir, "Becoming," and the book became a #1 New York Times bestseller and a USA Today bestseller. Readers responded to Obama's humor and fresh stories, making "The Light We Carry" a significant book in recent years. So King is in good company with other happy readers. 

Rebecca Soffer's 2022 book "The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Moving Through Grief and Building Your Resilience" is a compelling text about navigating grief while still embracing and owning one's resiliency. In the book, Soffer offers advice to anyone going through loss or working through grief, offering practical tools to help readers address these challenges. From writing prompts to rituals and exercises, Soffer helps those in pain walk right into the heart of grief and come out stronger on the other side. 

For Gayle King, this was an especially meaningful book. "I found [Soffer] to be poignant, funny, and able to provide exercises that help you maneuver the rough," King wrote on Oprah Daily. "I've recommended this book to several people, and they all told me that it was very helpful and that they got something out of it. If I were going through something, this is the book I'd want to read." With a subject as difficult to talk about as grief, Soffer dives head-first into the tricky terrain and offers balm to people who are struggling and looking for solutions. There's good reason why this is such an important book for King. 

The suspenseful 2017 novel "Long Way Down" by Jason Reynolds was a big deal to a lot of readers, not just Gayle King. The gutsy novel takes place in just sixty seconds, during an elevator ride where protagonist Will faces the villain Buck, the man who killed his brother. The whole novel unravels the gripping question of Will's desire get revenge. The novel was the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for 2017 as well as the Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction in 2018. Clearly, readers really connected with "Long Way Down." 

For King, "Long Way Down" was a deliciously exciting book, and one with a unique tone because of its poetic undercurrent. "The man behind the thriller: Jason Reynolds, a National Book Award nominee who read more poetry than fiction growing up," King began on Oprah.com. "That might explain why his novel looks like a collection of poems but is actually one continuous, riveting story." So for King, the combinations of the suspenseful plot with the poetic form made "Long Way Down" a must-read. 

It's no wonder that Gayle King loved "Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom For Modern Times" by Al Roker and Deborah Roberts. King is good friends with the couple, unsurprising since they're all significant figures in broadcast journalism. Roker and Roberts wrote their joint 2016 memoir, and the successful book covers everything from their careers, their marriage, children, as well as the joys and struggles of high-profile lives lived together. 

For King, the book was a gem. "I can't get over how candid they are on the ups and downs, both personal and professional, of their 20-year marriage (including competing for the same interview after Whitney Houston died)," King wrote on Oprah.com. King voiced praise for Roberts' honest depiction of childhood difficulties and race-related antagonism. "Mr. Today Show and Ms. ABC say they're just an average American family (me no think so); one look at the cover and you know how much these two have each other's back," King added. King appreciated the candid humor and touching stories that Roker and Roberts shared with their readers. 

Michael Strahan's 2015 book "Wake Up Happy: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide to Transforming Your Life" is full of personal anecdotes as well as pithy life advice to achieve your dreams. The beloved morning talk show host fills the pages with his own strategies of how he reached success. But the biggest trait that makes Strahan's memoir different is his consistent commitment to positive thinking. 

For Gayle King, this was a meaningful message and one that she wanted to pass on to other avid readers. "In his book 'Wake Up Happy,' Michael says he uses music to do just that, like setting his alarm to play Bill Withers's 'Lovely Day' in the morning," King wrote in Oprah.com. "The morning talk show host, who seems as confident on TV as he always did on the football field, also shares that he sees himself as shy. Kind of surprising coming from Mr. Personality. Michael believes happiness is a choice we make. Michael, I'm with you!" Clearly, joy is contagious with Strahan around, and this is the kind of positivity that King can get behind.