Fiction, feminism and sport: Barack Obama's 2019 reading list has it all

WASHINGTON: Former US President Barack Obama is a voracious reader, and has released the much-awaited annual list of his favourite books, continuing what he said has become a 'fun little tradition'.

In his Instagram post on Sunday, the 58-year-old said that these books made 2019 "a little brighter". The list comprises 19 fiction and non-fiction titles on subjects ranging from surveillance capitalism and the attention economy to feminism and race in Britain, and has two volumes specifically tagged for sports fans.

While each of us has plenty of things that keep us busy, Obama stated that outlets like literature and art can enhance our day-to-day experiences.


The former president, who is himself an author, said that literature and art were the "fabric that helps make up a life". "The album that lifts us up after a long day, the dog-eared paperback we grab off the shelf to give to a friend, the movie that makes us think and feel in a new way, works that simply help us escape for a bit," his post read.

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Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing my annual list of favorites — books, films, and music — with all of you. This has become a fun little tradition for me, and I hope it is for you, too. Because while each of us has plenty that keeps us busy—work and family life, social and volunteer commitments—outlets like literature and art can enhance our day-to-day experiences. They’re the fabric that helps make up a life—the album that lifts us up after a long day, the dog-eared paperback we grab off the shelf to give to a friend, the movie that makes us think and feel in a new way, works that simply help us escape for a bit. To start, here are the books that made the last year a little brighter for me. Most of them came out in 2019, but a few were older ones that were new to me this year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

A post shared by Barack Obama (@barackobama) on Dec 28, 2019 at 1:17pm PST

Obama's eclectic list includes "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power" by Shoshana Zuboff; "The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company" by William Dalrymple; "Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee" by Casey Cep; this year's Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo's "Girl, Woman, Other" and "Lost Children Archive" by Valeria Luiselli among other interesting titles.

The list has books "for the sports fan": Jim Rooney's "A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney's Story From the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule" and Andre Iguodala's "The Sixth Man".

Obama mentioned that he will share his annual list of favourite films and music over the next few days. He began publishing lists of book recommendations in 2015, while he was still in office.