№ 01
“A comprehensive biography of one of the most important writers and social commentators in American history.” source
44th President of the United States
Barack Obama
Barack Obama, the 44th U.S. President, is one of the most closely watched readers in public life. Every summer and December he shares a reading list, picks that can send quiet literary titles up the bestseller charts. Books below come from his published lists or interviews.
26
Recommendations
2025
Most recent list
Literary Fiction
Most-recommended
On the record
All Barack Obama book recommendations.
№ 02
“A beautiful fable about migration, memory, and the struggle to recognize our common humanity.” source
№ 03
“One of my favorite crime fiction writers delivers in this story of family, ambition and corruption in a racially charged and violent South.” source
№ 04
“A must-read for progressives who want a blueprint for reforming government so it can deliver for working people.” source
№ 05
“Amazing, true story of a couple surviving crisis in the open seas.” source
№ 06
“A timely reminder of the quiet dedication and skill of the people who work every day to make this country work.” source
№ 07
Obama named Rooney's novel about two grieving brothers one of his favorite books of 2024. He shares the year-end list as titles only, with no note on each pick. source
№ 08
Obama listed the posthumous memoir of the Russian opposition leader among his favorite books of 2024. The list names titles without a comment on each book. source
№ 09
Obama picked this Booker-winning novel set aboard the International Space Station for his favorite books of 2024. He posts the list as titles only. source
№ 10
Obama, who awarded McBride a National Humanities Medal in 2015, named this novel one of his favorite books of 2023. He posts the year-end list as titles only. source
№ 11
Obama listed this multigenerational family saga set in South India among his favorite books of 2023. The list names titles without a comment on each one. source
№ 12
Obama put this argument about why poverty persists in the United States on his 2023 summer reading list. He shares the list as titles only, with no comment on each book. source
№ 13
Obama chose this true account of shipwreck and mutiny for his 2023 summer reading list, which he posts as titles only without a note on each pick. source
№ 14
Obama, who kept a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office, listed this Pulitzer-winning biography on his 2023 summer reading list. The list names titles only. source
№ 15
“I'm a bit biased on this one.” source
№ 16
Obama named this time-spanning novel one of his favorite books of 2022. He posts the year-end list as titles only, without a comment on each pick. source
№ 17
Obama listed this Pulitzer-winning novel about money and power among his favorite books of 2022. The list names titles without a note on each one. source
№ 18
Obama picked this study of animal senses for his favorite books of 2022. His year-end list is published as titles only, with no per-book commentary. source
№ 19
Obama placed Alderman's dystopia, in which women develop the ability to deliver electric shocks, first on his list of favorite books of 2017. He named the titles without a comment on each. source
№ 20
“I once wrote a book on my own search for identity, so I was curious to see what Alex, daughter of a Burmese mother and Iowan Irish-Catholic father, and a friend of mine, discovered during her own.” source
№ 21
“It's six years old now, but still a timely and smart discussion of how different cities and regions have made a changing economy work for them.” source
№ 22
“In a time of growing inequality, accelerating change, and increasing disillusionment with the liberal democratic order we've known for the past few centuries, I found this book thought-provoking.” source
№ 23
“Well, the last novel I read was Colson Whitehead's 'The Underground Railroad.' And the reminder of the ways in which the pain of slavery transmits itself across generations, not just in overt ways, but how it changes minds and hearts.” source
№ 24
“His 'A Bend in the River,' which starts with the line, 'The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.' And I always think about that line... particularly in foreign policy.” source
№ 25
“I think Toni Morrison's writings, particularly 'Song of Solomon' is a book I think of when I imagine people going through hardship. That it's not just pain, but there's joy and glory and mystery.” source
№ 26
“One of my favorite characters in fiction is a pastor in Gilead, Iowa, named John Ames, who is gracious and courtly and a little bit confused about how to reconcile his faith with all the various travails that his family goes through.” source
Readers with overlapping taste
