Barack Obama just shared his 10 favorite books of 2024. See the list
Barack Obama is sharing his annual list of his favorite books of the year.
On Dec. 20, the former president dropped his 2024 annual reading list on his Instagram account. The list contains 10 titles, both fiction and non-fiction, covering a range of subjects including anxiety, art, economic growth, love, politics and more.
“I always look forward to sharing my annual list of favorite books, movies, and music. Today I’ll start by sharing some of the books that have stuck with me long after I finished reading them,” Obama wrote in his caption.
He added, “Check them out this holiday season, preferably at an independent bookstore or library!”
Here are the books that made the cut for Obama’s 2024 list.
Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2024
- “Intermezzo” by Sally Rooney — The fourth novel from Irish author Rooney explores love and loss through the story of two brothers and the women in their lives.
- “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey — English writer Harvey won the Booker Prize for this wildly inventive novel about astronauts orbiting a space station for 24 hours.
- “The Anthropologists” by Ayşegül Savaş — Turkish author Savaş’ graceful third novel delves deep beneath life’s surface as it follows an expat couple’s day-to-day hunt for an apartment.
- “In Ascension” by Martin MacInnes — A young microbiologist sets out to investigate a deep trench in the Atlantic Ocean and ends up discovering a series of seemingly linked natural wonders in MacInnes’ third novel.
- “Someone Like Us” by Dinaw Mengestu — The son of Ethiopian immigrants investigates his family’s secrets after the sudden death of the man he thinks of as his father.
- “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt — Haidt, a social psychologist, explores how technology and trends influenced an epidemic of childhood mental illness around the globe.
- “Patriot” by Alexei Navalny — A posthumously published memoir, “Patriot” explores the life and career of Russian opposition leader and political prisoner Navalny, who died at a penal colony in the remote Arctic Circle penal colony in February 2024.
- “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right” by Arlie Russell Hochschild — In this follow-up to her 2016 book “Strangers in Their Own Land,” Berkeley professor emerita Hochschild explores Trump’s appeal among blue-collar voters in Appalachia.
- “Growth: A Reckoning” by Daniel Susskind — In his latest book, British economist Susskind illustrates how the pursuit of unfettered growth has created economic inequality, disruptive technologies, environmental destruction and climate change around the globe.
- “The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing” by Adam Moss — Moss, the former editor of New York magazine, interviews nearly 50 artists, writers, filmmakers and others, to understand the creative process.
Barack Obama’s summer 2024 reading recommendations
Obama’s list of his favorite books of 2024 follows on the heels of his annual summer reading list, released Aug. 12.
That list included 14 novels and non-fiction pieces of work that explore global and American history, culture, feminism, the meaning of democracy and more.
“I’ve read some great books over the last few months and wanted to share some of my favorites,” the caption to his post reads. “Let me know if you have any recommendations for books I should check out!”
Check out Obama’s entire summer reading list list below.
Fiction
- “James” by Percival Everett — Inspired by “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: by Mark Twain, Everett’s novel follows Jim, the character in the original story who is escaping slavery.
- “Headshot” by Rita Bullwinkel — This debut novel follows eight teenage girls who take part in a boxing competition in Reno, Nevada.
- “The God Of The Woods” by Liz Moore — Barbara Van Laar’s disappearance from her family’s summer camp eerily mirrors her brother’s disappearance 14 years earlier. As the search intensifies, the seems of the Van Laar family’s tightly woven secrets begin to unravel.
- “Beautiful Days” by Zach Williams — A couple wakes up in a remote cabin, rapidly aging, while their toddler stays the same. Across ten stories, Williams explores different characters who struggle with nightmare scenarios.
- “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar — A troubled poet explores the mysteries of his past in order to discover the truths of his family’s dark history.
- “Memory Piece” by Lisa Ko—Set in the 1980s, Ko’s novel follows three teens — Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen — who find solace in their shared alienation and dreams of the future. Later, as adults, their friendship faces turns and challenges.
- “The Ministry Of Time” by Kaliane Bradley — In the near future, a civil servant is hired by a government ministry that determines if time travel is possible. Tasked with living and working alongside Commander Graham Gore, a man who died in 1845, she doesn’t expect their relationship to grow deeper.
- “Help Wanted” by Adelle Waldman — A group of low-wage employees at a big-box store in upstate New York tough it out through exhausting shifts, all the while hoping for better opportunities.
- “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball And Ascension” by Hanif Abdurragib — From the author of “Little Devil in America,” “There’s Always This Year” explores the pinnacle of success through the lens of basketball’s prime era, focusing on the rise of players like LeBron James.
- “Everyone Who Is Gone Here: The United States, Central America, And The Making Of A Crisis” by Jonathan Blitzer —Blitzer explores the decades of flawed policies and corruption that have fueled this crisis of Central American migrants seeking safety at the US-Mexico border.
- “Reading Genesis” by Marilynne Robinson — In her new book, Marilynne Robinson challenges traditional and fundamentalist interpretations of Genesis.
- “When The Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, And How America Cracked Up In The Early 1990s” by John Ganz — John Ganz dives into the heated era of the early 1990s, following the fall of Reagan. He explores the rise of domestic upheaval.
- “Of Boys And Men: Why The Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, And What To Do About It” by Richard Reeves — Reeves shares his take on the future of masculinity and what it can look like in an equal world.
- “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook” by Hampton Sides — The novel explores British explorer Captain James Cook’s fatal encounter with Indigenous Hawaiians and the broader impact of the Age of Exploration.
