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Former US president Barack Obama has released his summer reading list for 2024.
Continuing an annual tradition he began in 2015 when he was still in the White House, the 44th president shared a compilation of his favourite books and music.
“I’ve read some great books over the last few months and wanted to share some of my favourites. Let me know if you have any recommendations for books I should check out!” he wrote in a caption on Instagram and X/Twitter.
Among the titles Obama picked are the Booker Prize longlisted Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, and The Ministry of Time by British debut author Kaliane Bradley, which has been one of the biggest books of the summer.
Other books included in the list are James by Percival Everett, also longlisted for the Booker Prize and a favourite to win the accolade, and Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman, a book chronicling the lives of warehouse workers.
The selection appears to reveal the politician as someone who is politically engaged, but who ultimately enjoys good concepts conveyed with good writing.
Some non-fiction choices include Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson, a writer who Obama calls a “friend of mine” and has celebrated throughout his career. He has previously said that one of his all-time favourite characters in fiction is pastor John Ames in Robinson’s novel Gilead. Reading Genesis is a deep dive into Christian scripture and its lessons about human nature.
Other selections reveal the Democrat’s political interests among ongoing culture wars with books relating to conspiracy theories, immigration, the masculinity crisis and imperial ambition.
They include the wordy titles, When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and how America Cracked up in the 1990s by John Ganz, Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters and What to Do About it by Richard Reeves, Everyone Who is Gone Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer, and The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain Cook by Hampton Sides.
Meanwhile, Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar documents one Iranian-American’s journey with grief following the death of his mum.
Including a few more books than his usual spare selection, Obama also included the autobiography There’s Always this Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib, mystery novel The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, short story collection Beautiful Days by Zach Williams, and historical fiction novel Memory Piece by Lisa Ko.
