Barack Obama reveals favourite books of 2018, from Becoming by Michelle Obama to Feel Free by Zadie Smith

'Becoming' by Michelle Obama was 'obviously my favourite', the former US president said

Roisin O'Connor
Music Correspondent
Friday 28 December 2018 17:17 GMT
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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

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