What Obama’s been reading since leaving office
Thought-provoking books that help us expand our worldview and have fun doing it.
Published on January 29, 2024
Small Mercies: A Novel
Dennis LehaneIn 1970s Boston at the height of desegregation tensions, Mary Pat Fennessey’s teen daughter goes missing the same night a young Black man is found dead. Mary’s probing questions raise the hackles of the Irish mob, hinting at a possible connection between the two events. Lehane delivers a gripping thriller that’s dark yet hopeful with themes of race and class at the forefront. Obama included “Small Mercies” on his 2023 summer reading list.
All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel
S. A. CosbyObama named Cosby’s “Razorblade Tears” one of his top books of 2022, so it’s no surprise that the former president included Cosby’s latest propulsive thriller on his 2023 summer reading list. A fatal school shooting leads Sheriff Titus Crowne into a complex web of racially motivated crime, forcing him to reckon with his role as a Black law enforcement officer in the American South.
Why We're Polarized
Ezra KleinNow that “compromise” has become verboten in U.S. politics, everyone’s starting to wonder: How did we get into this viciously polarized mess? Klein, Vox co-founder, details how “mega-identities” started emerging in the 1960s and have been pulling us further apart ever since. Obama included this much-needed overview of the fraying of a nation in his 2022 summer reading list.
The Candy House: A Novel
Jennifer EganAfter winning a Pulitzer for “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” Egan is back with an incredible follow-up. Her story about a new platform called “Own Your Unconscious” — where users can upload their memories to the cloud — delightfully twists through various points of view (including cameos from beloved “Goon Squad” characters). This tongue-in-cheek commentary on the need for community and connection is one of Obama’s favorite books from the summer of 2022.
The Family Chao
Lan Samantha ChangAnother of Obama’s 2022 summer favorites, family dysfunction abounds in this reboot of Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” set among a Chinese American immigrant family. Between a reimagined murder trial (an update of the original) and real-life examples of anti-immigrant sentiment, Chao breathes new life into the classic immigrant tale and creates a story that reads like “Succession” if it were set in a Chinese restaurant in Wisconsin.
Mouth to Mouth: A Novel
Antoine WilsonThis unnerving, slow burn of a thriller made Obama’s list of summer favorites in 2022. During a chance encounter, an old college classmate confesses to the narrator that he once rescued a powerful art dealer from drowning, only to become fixated on him. In the tradition of Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, “Mouth to Mouth” grapples with the dark side of morality, opportunity, and obsession.
The School for Good Mothers: A Novel
Jessamine ChanAnother book on Obama’s 2022 summer reading list is this scathing commentary on the assumptions and stereotypes about mothers and the government powers that separate families. Chan’s dystopian drama is a page-turner. Frida Liu’s recent divorce may be the last straw, but at least she has her 18-month-old daughter — until she doesn’t. When the single mom leaves her child home alone for two hours, she’s sent to a rehabilitation facility where she must be a surrogate mother to other children in order to earn back her own.
Razorblade Tears: A Novel
S. A. CosbyCosby follows up his cinematic “Blacktop Wasteland” with an equally thrilling crime novel with a killer narrator and a propulsive plot. Putting aside their prejudices and homophobia, two ex-con dads, one Black and one white, join forces, hell-bent on revenging the brutal murder of their sons, who were married. Kirkus calls it, “Fast on its feet, by turns lethal and tender,” we call it a rip-roaring ride, and Obama calls it one of his favorites of 2022.
Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks
Chris Herring“For hoops fans,” Obama recommends this action-packed, deeply researched history of the notoriously tough and talented ’90s Knicks. An intimate look at the exhilarating highs and excruciating lows when stars like Patrick Ewing and John Starks ruled the court with their hard-as-nails coach Pat Riley. Readers get courtside seats for a team sports writer Herring calls “wildly colorful — at times, as flagrant and out of bounds off the court as they were on it.”
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Dawnie WaltonMissing music festivals? Walton’s exhilarating debut novel feels like a backstage pass to witness the adventures of Afro-Punk sensation Opal and “goofy white English boy” Nev, a two-person 1970s band with a devoted cult following. But there’s so much more to this poignant tale than good times and good beats. Rock and roll meets social justice when the pair suffers a violent backlash to Opal’s activism against racism and misogyny. Obama named it one of his favorite books of 2021.
Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel
Anthony DoerrObama ranked this dazzling tale of a long-lost ancient Greek manuscript from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “All the Light We Cannot See” among one of the best books of the year in 2021. Interconnected stories spanning hundreds of years — from a medieval walled city to present-day Idaho to a spaceship in the near future — explore the connections that make us human and the power of hope in dark times.
These Precious Days: Essays
Ann PatchettA famous writer once told Patchett that having children was a prerequisite to learning about love and being a great writer. In this collection of personal essays, childless Patchett — one of the greatest contemporary authors — expounds upon many of the relationships that have made her life enviably fulfilling.
Aftershocks: A Memoir
Nadia OwusuAs the daughter of a United Nations official, Owusu’s childhood was nomadic, never allowing her family to put down roots. An absent mother, the death of her father as an adolescent, and a series of family secrets and lies left her unmoored; depression threatened to drag her down further. Her move to New York and subsequent rewriting of her own identity result in a deeply compelling tale of self-fulfillment in a sea of turmoil. This memoir made Obama’s list of favorite books in 2021.
At Night All Blood Is Black: A Novel
David DiopWinner of the 2021 International Booker Prize, this slim novel’s dark themes pack an emotional punch while shining a light on overlooked World War I history. Tormented by his failure to save his friend on the battlefield, a Senegalese soldier fighting for the French army descends into the hell of war.
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
Elizabeth KolbertIt’s hard to find a more relevant book during a summer of raging wildfires, historic droughts, and catastrophic flooding. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kolbert tackles the urgent issue of finding ways to reverse human-caused environmental damage. She investigates possible solutions born of the very human ingenuity that got us into trouble in the first place. Could these innovations avert disastrous climate change? Or will they dig us into a deeper hole?
Leave the World Behind: A Novel
Rumaan AlamA simple premise belies the provocative racial themes that unfold in this slow-burn thriller nominated for the National Book Award in Fiction. A white Brooklyn family rents a luxurious house in the Hamptons for a week-long getaway, but they’re barely settled in when there’s a late night knock at the door. It’s an older Black couple claiming to be the owners who rented the house out, but they’re back due to a severe power outage in the city. With no internet or cell phone access in this remote area, it’s difficult to verify the truth. The tension keeps ratcheting up until the pulse-pounding ending. Netflix has already scooped up the movie rights, with Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali set to star.
The Overstory
Richard PowersObama recommended “The Overstory” on a June 2021 episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast. It won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and according to Obama, “it changed how I thought about the Earth and our place in it.”
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir
Natasha TretheweyCritics across the board have been raving about this memoir from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Trethewey. The author addresses essential topics — including domestic violence and racism — as she confronts her mother's horrifying murder at the hands of her stepfather. Obama says “it’s a meditation on race, and class, and grief. Uplifting, surprisingly, at the end of it. But just wrenching.”
Luster: A Novel
Raven LeilaniSharing his favorite books of 2020 on Instagram, Obama gave a shout out to Leilani’s electrifying debut novel. When a Black artist in her 20s starts dating a white man in an open relationship, her life quickly becomes tangled up in his family’s drama.
Jack (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel
Marilynne RobinsonObama’s a fan of Pulitzer Prize winner Robinson’s “Gilead” novels and recommended the series’ fourth book. It’s the moving story of star-crossed lovers set in a segregated, post-WWII America that deemed their love illegal and dangerous. When Jack, a white prodigal son of a preacher, falls for Della, an upstanding Black teacher, their bond proves that love conquers all — but at a price.
Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel
Kawai Strong WashburnOne of the most original novels of 2020, a Pen/Hemingway Award winner, AND one of Obama’s favorites. In Washburn’s debut, a Hawaiian child who goes overboard on a cruise is delivered safely back from the brink of death in the jaws of a shark. A moving story fueled by legends and familial love.
Wolf Hall: A Novel
Hilary Mantel“Hilary Mantel’s epic fictionalized look at Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power, came out in 2009, but I was a little busy back then, so I missed it. Still great today,” wrote Obama in his list of book recommendations on Facebook in August 2019.
How to Read the Air
Dinaw Mengestu“You’ll get a better sense of the complexity and redemption within the American immigrant story with Mengestu’s novel,” Obama wrote in his 2019 Facebook post.
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
Melinda GatesIn his 2019 reading recommendations post on Facebook, Obama wrote, “Melinda [Gates] tells the stories of the inspiring people she’s met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention — from child marriage to gender inequity in the workplace. I’ve called Melinda an impatient optimist and that’s what she delivers here — the urgency to tackle these problems and the unwavering belief that solving them is indeed possible.”
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Isabel WilkersonIn 2019, as part of his My Brother’s Keeper initiative, Obama recommended the next four nonfiction books “to provide some essential context about the challenges that many people of color face every day.” In this riveting history, Pulitzer Prize winner Wilkerson (“Caste”) brings to life the previously overlooked story of the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans uprooted their lives to move from the South to cities across the U.S. from 1915–1970.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ibram X. KendiIn this National Book Award winner, Kendi traces the history of racist ideas in America, specifically through the three concepts of segregation, assimilation, and antiracism. He contextualizes recent events, including the tragic killing of Black men and women and urgent calls for racial justice. Powerful, eye-opening, and deeply researched, this chronicle of the seeds and spread of prejudice is a necessary read.
A Stone of Hope: A Memoir
Jim St. GermainThis stirring memoir is another book Obama recommended to “help us better understand our country’s past and our evolving, persistent struggles with race.” Arrested at 15 for dealing drugs, St. Germain’s life changed when he received rehabilitation rather than incarceration. An inspiring rallying cry for reforming the prison system.
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King, Jr.“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quote is as relevant today as it was when he wrote his 1963 letter defending the use of civil disobedience in the fight to end segregation. Listen to King’s seminal letter and let his words be, as Obama writes, “fuel on our journey toward a more fair and just future for all of our sons and daughters.”
An American Marriage: A Novel
Tayari JonesJones’ explosive bestseller won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction. It also won praise from Obama, who included it in his summer reading recommendations in 2018. He wrote in his August Facebook post that it’s “a moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African American couple.”
A House for Mr Biswas
V. S. Naipaul In his August 2018 summer reading list on Facebook, Obama wrote, “With the recent passing of V.S. Naipaul, I reread ‘A House for Mr Biswas,’ the Nobel Prize winner's first great novel about growing up in Trinidad and the challenge of post-colonial identity.”
The Atlantic49 min read
The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy
The class divide is already toxic, and is fast becoming unbridgeable. You’re probably part of the problem.
Obama also recommended this article from “The Atlantic” in June 2018. “Another thought-provoking analysis, this one about how economic inequality in America isn’t just growing, but self-reinforcing — and what that means for education, health, happiness, even the strength of our democracy,” Obama wrote in his Facebook post.
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
David W. BlightIn an end-of-year post on Facebook in 2018, Obama shared books that inspired him that year, including this definitive biography of one of the most significant figures in American history. A look at the inner and outer life of the famed abolitionist and orator, this well-written portrait draws on new information to provide the most well-rounded examination of Douglass yet. It won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for History.
Arthur Ashe: A Life
Raymond ArsenaultAlong with “Frederick Douglass,” Obama recommended another stellar biography of a trailblazing Black American: tennis star Arthur Ashe. Like Jackie Robinson, Ashe broke the color barrier in his sport, and this is the inspiring story of how he fought for civil rights on and off the court.
Asymmetry: A Novel
Lisa HallidayAs you might gather from the title, this book contains more than one distinct story, but that’s just the tip of the asymmetrical iceberg. From age, gender, and class to nationality, race, and religion, this assured and allusive debut takes on some of the most significant issues of today even as its concerns remain more timeless than trendy.
A Grain of Wheat
Ngugi wa Thiong'oVisiting Africa in 2018, the former president shared his reading recommendations, which included some of “Africa’s best writers and thinkers.” Obama suggested “A Grain of Wheat,” describing the novel in his Facebook post as: “A chronicle of the events leading up to Kenya’s independence, and a compelling story of how the transformative events of history weigh on individual lives and relationships.”
Dying: A Memoir
Cory TaylorIn a 2017 Facebook post listing the best books he read during his first year out of office, Obama recommended Taylor’s poignant memoir about coming to terms with her terminal cancer diagnosis. Her experiences offer readers a moving example of how to approach the inevitable, and a way to embrace life even in the face of death.
Janesville: An American Story
Amy GoldsteinLike many others in 2017, Obama spent time reading stories about working class America. By now everybody’s heard of “Hillbilly Elegy,” but “Janesville” is equally important (and less controversial) to understanding how the US got into this frayed and tattered state. This moving award-winner made it onto Obama’s top reads of 2017.
Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel
Jesmyn WardThis winner of the National Book Award draws on Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, and Greek myths to play with the classic American road novel, weaving magical realism into the modern, rural South. Sentences rise together to form a penetrating story that lingers like fog on the Mississippi bayou. We’re not surprised Obama recommended Ward’s gorgeous, haunting book.
Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated
Shea SerranoObama added Serrano’s work to his 2017 list as a “bonus for hoops fans.” Anyone who likes to dream in sports hypotheticals and what-ifs while swimming in an endless sea of stats needs to read this book. Alternatively, you can read it if you just like basketball and want a good laugh.
Sources
- July 9, 2021 Summer Reading List Post
- 2021, Instagram
- Obama Explains How American Went From ‘Yes We Can’ to MAGA
- 2021, The Ezra Klein Show
- Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020
- 2020, Instagram
- August 14, 2019 Reading List Post
- 2019, Facebook
- May 6, 2019 Reading List Post
- 2019, Facebook
- President Obama Marks Five-Year Anniversary of My Brother’s Keeper with Reading List
- 2019, Obama Foundation
- December 28, 2018 Reading List Post
- 2018, Facebook
- August 19, 2018 Reading List Post
- 2018, Facebook
- July 13, 2018 Africa Recommended Reading List Post
- 2018, Facebook
- June 16, 2018 Reading List Post
- 2018, Facebook
- December 31, 2017 Facebook post
- 2017, Facebook
- December 17, 2021 Facebook post
- 2021, Facebook
- July 20, 2023 Summer Reading List
- 2023, Instagram