Obama started his tradition of writing up yearly summer reading lists in 2009, only missing a couple of years while he was in the White House, but he’s had a bit more time to spend reading in recent years and has even branched out into recommending films as well. His justification for only including the few TV series that he considers “as powerful as movies” tells us that he probably doesn’t have a binge-watching habit, though.
Former US president Barack Obama is seen as an authority figure by many

So it’s only fitting that his recommendations for books and movies are always very welcome

Obama started his tradition of writing up yearly summer reading lists in 2009

The former US President posted his annual book list on Twitter

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, SHOSHANA ZUBOFF
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, CASEY CEP
Girl, Woman, Other, BERNARDINE EVARISTO
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present, DAVID TREUER

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, JENNY ODELL
Lost Children Archive, VALERIA LUISELLI
Lot: Stories, BRYAN WASHINGTON
Normal People, SALLY ROONEY
The Orphan Master’s Son, ADAM JOHNSON

The Yellow House, SARAH M. BROOM
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE
Solitary, ALBERT WOODFO
The Topeka School, BEN LERNER
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, JIA TOLENTINO
Trust Exercise, SUSAN CHOI
We Live in Water: Stories, JESS WALTER

A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule, JIM ROONEY
The Sixth Man, ANDFIE IGUODALA

American Spy, LAUREN WILKINSON
The Education of an Idealist, SAMANTHA POWER
Exhalation, TED CHIANG
Finding My Voice, VALERIE JARRETT
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, SARAH SMARSH

How to Read the Air, DINAW MENGESTU
Inland, TEA OBREHT
Lab Girl, HOPE JAHREN
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, STEPHANIE LAND
Men Without Women, HARUKI MURAKAMI

The Moment of Lift, MELINDA GATES
The Nickel Boys, COLSON WHITEHEAD
Pachinko, MIN JIN LEE
The Shadow of Sirius , W. S. MERWIN
The Shallows, NICHOLAS CARR

Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For, SUSAN RICE
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, ISABEL WILKERSON
Wolf Hall, HILARY MANTEL
He added his favorite movies and plans to post a music list in coming days

1 American Factory
2 Amazing Grace
3 Apollo 11
4 Ash Is Purest White
5 Atlantics
6 Birds of Passage
7 Booksmart
8 Diane
9 The Farewell
10 Ford v Ferrari
11 The Irishman
12 Just Mercy
13 The Last Black Man in San Francisco
14 Little Women
15 Marriage Story
16 Parasite
17 The Souvenir
18 Transit
19 Fleabag: Season 2
20 Unbelievable
21 Watchmen
This year, he added to his already formidable summer reading recommendations with an end-of-year list that suggests enthusiasm to consider a variety of perspectives through the medium of fiction, as well as essays and economic analysis. We’re impressed by his consistent reading schedule, and commenters agree. His movie list, on the other hand, is heavy on drama. Some of the films on his list made Rolling Stone’s top 10 films of the year, and there are quite a few Oscar shortlisted entries as well.
He included a short promotion for American Factory , the first release by the Obamas’ own production label. Barack and Michelle say that they picked up the documentary film, which follows American and Chinese factory workers struggling to adapt to the dynamics of a Chinese glass company’s new American manufacturing location, out of a desire to highlight working-class stories.
Commenters praised the former president’s Twitter presence, which he and his social media representatives strive to keep good-natured, professional and eloquent even as a public figure who no longer holds office.
Twitter users appreciated the recommendations and gave their best wishes

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