is, "i alone can fix it." great to talk to you. i'm jonathan karl. as always, thanks for watching. "washington post" live. check out interviews we have coming up and headed to "washington post".com to register for more events like this one and to get more information about upcoming programming. great to have you guys. >> thank you so much. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> you're watching booktv with top nonfiction books and authors

every weekend. booktv, television for serious readers. >> well, it's not often that booktv features nba players, but the nba player on your screen is also the founder of a book club. he's played in the past for the bucks, the warriors, the clippers, the jazz and most recently with the beijing royal fighters. mr. ekpe, how did you start your book club in -- can club? >> guest: good afternoon. thank you for having me. i it started while i was in milwaukee with the bucks. the media relations guy who's still there now, we just wanted a unique way to intera act with fans. and i didn't grow up a book reader, and that a became a hobby of b mine. i thought it would be cool to have a guy like myself open up a

book club. >> host: and, well, looking at the book shelves behind you, it looks like of you have become a book reader. what sparked -- what made that change? >> guest: a couple of things. in college my best friend to this day, his name's banning done greer, he would also send me articles on different things in life like finance, business, investing opportunities, and i would just always is ask him to paraphrase it for me, and we would talk about it. and then i think i was living in miami, and i had a wild night. the next morning, like, my bible was next to me, and i was feeling guilty from the previous night. so i just started a reading the bible, and that's when all of it started and is just clicked. and i haven't looked back since then. >> host: so in an article when you were with the jazz, it said while most players have

headphones on and have music playing to kind of get into the spirit of the game, you have a book open. >> guest: yeah. yeah, you know, i change it up, you know? i'm usually trying to bring a book we me to the game. or out in public if i'm going somewhere by myself and i know i haveve time. it just helps me clear my mind of what's about to take a place in the game. you know, i'm already locked in, i already know the game plan. it's just something to get those butterflies, you know, away. >> host: what kind of books do you gravitate towards? >> guest: me personally, i'm more historical. i love to read about the history of the world. for the book club, mostly thrillers and lately just a lot of memoirs. >> host: give us an example of who. >> guest: we did barack obama's the promised land. that came with a whole story.

that was a great new one. we did heavy which was one of my favorite books of all time, the book club really enjoyed those twoo reads. >> host: this is a quote. people don't realize how a whole life can be changed by one book. malcolm x quote. is that something that appealed to you over the years? >> guest: a hundred percent. i always try to get my players to read. just anybody. i try to be that role model for reading, you know? just reading, you know, having books. i think i've within able to have a positive impact with my teammates, and i think that quote just speaks perfectly to, you know, who malcolm x was and who i'm continuing to grow into. >> host: now, mr. udoh, can anybody participate in your book club? >> guest: oh, of course.

of course. back when we started, i would send out a sign-up for every book, but now i send out one maybe every other month, and once you sign up, you know, you get the e-mails for each book, the discussion time, the reading schedule and, you know, if we have an event, you know, on zoom -- like a couple years ago i started a series called author's talk whenea we read the book, and i'll invite the author to have a conversation with us. at this time i was in salt lake city, but now everything's on zoom. >> host: and would authors participate in your author talkings in were they glad to participate? >> guest: yes, sir with. yes, sir. i think i had six while i was with utah, and then just recently i had one with marlon peterson with his memoir, bird in a cage. >> host: and what's that book about? >> guest: you know, just about

his life. i guess about his upbringing and decisions and, you know, he had to do a stint in prison. and even though he was in prison, he was ablee to make an impactmp outside in society, and he's just been building on that. just dropped his first book. it's a wonderful book, wonderful tread. >> host: and that's a book that booktv has also covered. you can watch it online at booktv.org. mr. udoh, how do you conduct your book club? >> guest: so we're all on twittertw using the hashtag ekps book club. usually they'll follow me or pay attention to the scheduling and followe the hashtag. usually we discuss every thursday at 8 p.m. eastern, and we'll go for, like, an hour to an hour and a half depending on the book and, you know, the conversation. >> host: and if -- what's the easiest way for people to find

that schedule? >> guest: the easiest way, i think, would be to follow me on twitter@ekpeudoh and just pay attention to my betweens. i doo a lot of -- to my tweets. i do a lot of retweeting, but at some point in time i usually tweet the schedule. >> host: is there a book that you go back to every couple of years and reread? >> guest: the alchemies is one of them -- alchemies and the autobiography of malcolm x is another one. i think that's been it. i think -- i'll read the power ofwi moments more now as i'm getting older. >> host: mr. udoh grew up in oklahoma, played for baylor and the university of michigan. and then went on to the nba and to worldwide basketball. is basketball as big in china as it is here in the states? >> guest: i mean, probably

bigger. laugh of la -- [laughter] they really enjoy their basketball. but first,th i have to say shout out to -- on the national championships this year. >> host: and a lot of your former teams are in the playoffs this year. >> guest: i went out to support some of my former teammates, just check in with them. >> host: were you able to get your teammates to read books as well with you? >> guest: well, not necessarily with me, but they'd start asking me for book recommendations, and that's where it started. once i get 'em there, it's uphill. >> host: how many books a year do you read? >> guest: book club is 15, me personally depending on my mood, i could add another 20 to that. 35-40. if i'm overseas, i'm knocking out close to 50 books.

>> host: and are you able to access physical books, or do you read them online? >> guest: all of the above. i will, in some countries i'll do the audio books, but in others i can go to stores or order them and be able to get physical copies. because, as you can see, i like -- [laughter] i like books. i love books, hard books, physical books. >> host: ekpe udoh is the founder of ekpe's book club in case you would like to join and read along with him. thanks for your time on booktv. >> and you've been watching booktv. every sunday on c-span2 watch nonfiction if authors discuss their books. television for serious readers. and watch them all online anytime at booktv.org. you can also find us on twitter, facebook and youtube @booktv. >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's

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