As one year ends and another one begins, people often take to social media to reflect on the past, particularly looking back at the widely consumed pop culture we all enjoyed during the past 365 days. Former President Barack Obama is no different. In his annual social media tradition, the 44th Commander in Chief has shared his list of favorite books, movies, TV shows, and music of 2019. As in previous years, the lists reflect both his intellectual nature as well as his pop culture savvy. They also confirm that he’s still one of the world’s coolest dads.
If you’re surprised by the number of movies Obama saw or the books he read, don’t be. The former President recognizes the value that art has in our lives. “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,” he remarked on Instagram. “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.”
Wondering what Obama loved in 2019? His favorite picks run the gamut. There are novels, for instance, that focus on history (and shattering its myths) including David Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee as well as titles that relate to the digital future like The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff. For films, he enjoyed the comedy Booksmart as well as the thriller Parasite. He also placed American Factory on the list, which is a film from his and wife Michelle’s production company, Higher Ground. (The documentary has been shortlisted for an Oscar.) And when it comes to his favorite songs, Obama proves he’s not immune to the catchy record-breaking bop that is Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus or Lizzo’s Juice.
Check out Obama’s best-of lists below. And if you want to make his favorites your new reading list, we’ve linked the texts below. (It might also be time to get a Kindle Unlimited subscription!)
Former President Barack Obama shared his annual list featuring his favorite list of music, movies, TV shows, and books from 2019.
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Want to make Obama's favorite books part of your reading list? You can buy all of these texts on Amazon.
- The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff
- The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire 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: A Novel by Valeria Luiselli
- Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington
- Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney
- The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
- The Yellow House: A Memoir 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: A Novel by Ben Lerner
- Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
- Trust Exercise: A Novel 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: A Memoir by Andre Iguodala
- American Spy: A Novel by Lauren Wilkinson
- The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir by Samantha Power
- Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang
- Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward by Valerie Jarrett
- Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
- How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu
- Inland: A Novel by Téa Obreht
- Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
- Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
- Men Without Women: Stories by Haruki Murakami
- The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
- The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin
- The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
- Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
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