Former US president Barack Obama has released his summer reading list. On Instagram, he wrote, “I’ve read some great books over the last few months and wanted to share some of my favorites. Let me know if you have any recommendations for books I should check out!”
Obama’s must-reads are:
James by Percival Everett
There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraquib
Everyone Who Is Gone Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer
Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Beautiful Days by Zach Williams
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 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
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides
Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman
In the UK a spokesperson for Pan Macmillan told The Bookseller: “It is fantastic to see three Pan Macmillan books – Everyone Who is Gone Here by Jonathan Blitzer (Picador), Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Picador) and James by Percival Everett (Mantle) – recommended by Barack Obama on his 2024 summer reading list.
“As a passionate and prolific reader, Barack Obama’s seasonal recommendations have a great deal of credibility, signalling important moments in the cultural calendar. Barack Obama has often spoken about the power of books to help us understand the world and bring us together and we welcome his choice to spotlight these three extraordinary books, striking in their exploration of displacement, identity and belonging.”
