Barack Obama lists the books of 2019 that made the year a 'little brighter' for him

Former US President Barack Obama recommended 19 books, the titles of which ranged from biographies to fiction to essay compilations and sports-related books.

Sunday December 29, 2019 , 4 min Read

Former US President Barack Obama took to social media to share his list of favourite books of 2019. Continuing what has now become an annual tradition, the former US President recommended 19 books that, he said, "...made the last year a little brighter" for him.

The book recommendations, which included a mix of fiction and non-fiction, show Barack Obama continues to remain the avid reader that he is known to be. The latest list is in addition to the 19 titles he had recommended earlier this year.

Talking about this annual tradition, Obama wrote on Instagram,

"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."

View this post on Instagram

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

Here's the full list of books Obama recommends:

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
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Solitary by Albert Woodfox
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
We Live in Water: Stories by Jess Walter
A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule by Jim Rooney
The Sixth Man by Andre Iguodala

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