Barack Obama has revealed his favourite books, films and songs of the past year.
Continuing an annual tradition that began when he first became president, Obama posted the list on his official Facebook page, explaining that the list “gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved.
“It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists, and storytellers – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before.
“Here’s my best of 2018 list – I hope you enjoy reading, watching, and listening.”
Obama shared a list of his favourite books from a list published earlier this year, and added several others that he has read since.
Breaking tradition from the alphabetised list, he posted his wife Michelle Obama’s book Becoming at the top, noting that the lawyer and former First Lady’s memoir was “obviously my favourite”.
See the full list of books, below:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne
Educated by Tara Westover
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging by Alex Wagner
A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti
The Return by Hisham Matar
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes
More of Obama’s favourite books of 2018:
American Prison by Shane Bauer
Arthur Ashe: A Life by Raymond Arsenault
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
Feel Free by Zadie Smith
Florida by Lauren Groff
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark
There There by Tommy Orange
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
