Successful second acts in literature can be notoriously tricky to pull off under any circumstances. So imagine how hard it is if the first act was performed before a live studio audience, on one of the most watched talk shows in television history, in an unlikely but tremendously successful merging of media: Oprah's Book Club. Once an author wins that literary lottery, can he or she possibly pick the right combination of numbers again?
Readers can now decide for themselves. Nearly two years ago, to inaugurate her now famous book club, Oprah Winfrey sent viewers swarming to buy Jacquelyn Mitchard's well-reviewed...