Barack Obama shares his 2021 reading list featuring David Diop, Eric Nguyen and Elizabeth Kolbert

Kazuo Ishiguro, Nathan Harris, Katie Kitamura and Benjamin Labatut all feature

Barak Obama has released a rundown of his favourite books from 2021, continuing an annual tradition of sharing lists of recommendations.

The 44th President of the US has been making annual lists of his favourite books since the time of his Presidency in 2015.

“Whether you’re camped out on the beach or curled up on the couch on a rainy day, there’s nothing quite like sitting down with a great book in the summer,” he wrote on Saturday (10 July) on his social media channels.

“While we were still in the White House, I began sharing my summer favourites—and over the years, it’s become a little tradition that I look forward to sharing with you all,” he continued.

“So without further ado, here are some books I’ve read recently. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.”

Among the titles Obama picked are French author David Diop’s novel At Night All Blood is Black, American author Eric Nguyen’s book Things We Lost to the Water and American journalist Elizabeth Kolbert’s Under A White Sky — a 2021 book about the environment.

Other books included in the list are Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen, which is a 10-part short story series about the diverse lives of a set of Chinese people.

American writer and investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Empire Of Pain, and Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary are also on the list.

Keefe’s book revolves around the examination of the Sackler family and its role in the opioid epidemic.

On Twitter, he thanked Obama for including his book on his recommendations list, writing: “HEY NOW. How amazing to see Empire of Pain on this list, alongside so many authors I admire. What’s the etiquette here in terms of expressing gratitude? Does one tag @BarackObama? In any case, humble thanks.”