Barack Obama Recommended Books
Barack Obama has recommended 100 books. Browse the complete reading list with quotes and sources below.
Barack Obama is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th president of the United States.
(Read more on Wikipedia)100 Books Recommended
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Pachinko
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
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Men Without Women
Stories
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Exhalation
Stories
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Why Liberalism Failed
"Offers cogent insights into the loss of meaning and community that many in the West feel." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
A Gentleman in Moscow
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Bill Gates, Brian Koppelman, Melinda Gates, Sarah Jessica Parker
Asymmetry
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
How to Do Nothing
Resisting the Attention Economy
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Girl, Woman, Other
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
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Factfulness
Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
"A hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
Florida
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
All the Light We Cannot See
A Novel
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
Self Reliance
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Broken Ladder
How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Things Fall Apart
African Trilogy, Book 1
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Jacqueline Novogratz, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sarah Jessica Parker
Lab Girl
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Gilead
Gilead, Book 1
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
The Return
Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
The Sixth Extinction
An Unnatural History
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
Evicted
Poverty and Profit in the American City
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Normal People
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Educated
A Memoir
"A remarkable memoir of a young woman raised in a survivalist family in Idaho." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
Bill Gates, Michelle Obama, Kathryn Minshew, Melinda Gates, Shauna Niequist, Marty Cagan
Dying
A Memoir
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
The World as It Is
A Memoir of the Obama White House
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
An American Marriage
A Novel
"A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Moment of Lift
How Empowering Women Changes the World
"Melinda tells the stories of the inspiring people she’s met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
Tough Love
My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Topeka School
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
American Spy
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
The Shallows
What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
A Grain of Wheat
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Truth Decay
An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life
"A look at how a selective sorting of facts and evidence isn’t just dishonest, but self-defeating to a society that has always worked best when reasoned debate and practical problem-solving thrive." - Barack Obama (Source)
Basketball
A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
How Democracies Die
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
The Girl on the Train
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Source of Self-Regard
Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
Stories
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
The Education of an Idealist
A Memoir
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Abraham Lincoln
Selected Speeches and Writings
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
Trust Exercise
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Seveneves
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
Immigrant, Montana
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Long Walk to Freedom
The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
How to Read the Air
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Becoming
"Obviously my favorite [book of 2018]!" - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
Frederick Douglass
Prophet of Freedom
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Feel Free
Essays
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
There There
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Trick Mirror
Reflections on Self-Delusion
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Washington Black
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
The Power
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
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Americanah
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Lowland
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Oxford Shakespeare
The Complete Works
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Shah Rukh Khan, J.K. Rowling, Stewart Brand, Ricardo Semler, Christopher Hitchens, Fred Wilson, Mark Twain
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
Native America from 1890 to the Present
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
The Anarchy
The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Anything Is Possible
Amgash, Book 2
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Exit West
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
H Is for Hawk
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Moby Dick
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Steve Jobs, PewDiePie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Penn Jillette, Jack Edwards
A House for Mr Biswas
A Novel
"Great novel about growing up in Trinidad and the challenge of post-colonial identity." - Barack Obama (Source)
The Sixth Man
A Memoir
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
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The Warmth of Other Suns
The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Between the World and Me
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
Jack Dorsey, Bob Iger, Jon Stewart, Cal Fussman, Sunny Hostin, Jay-Z, Mark Manson
Song of Solomon
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Bozoma Saint John, Jesse Williams
Arthur Ashe
A Life
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Maid
Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
The Yellow House
A Memoir
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Inland
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
The Shadow of Sirius
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
American Prison
A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Futureface
A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging
"A thoughtful, beautiful meditation on what makes us who we are." - Barack Obama (Source)
Janesville
An American Story
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Barbarian Days
A Surfing Life
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
Holy Bible
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
A Different Way to Win
Dan Rooney's Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
The Nickel Boys
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Wolf Hall
Thomas Cromwell, Book 1
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The Underground Railroad
A Novel
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Also recommended by:
Lost Children Archive
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Lot
Stories
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
We Live in Water
Stories
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Coach Wooden and Me
Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Parting the Waters
America in the King Years 1954-63
On the "favorite books" section of Barack Obama's Facebook profile. (Source)
Also recommended by:
The New Geography of Jobs
"Still a timely and smart discussion of how different cities and regions have made a changing economy work for them." - Barack Obama (Source)
Warlight
A Novel
"A meditation on the lingering effects of war on family." - Barack Obama (Source)
Say Nothing
A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Finding My Voice
My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
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The Orphan Master's Son
A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Five-Carat Soul
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Furious Hours
Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Grant
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Sing, Unburied, Sing
A Novel
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2017 list. (Source)
Washington
A Life
Barack Obama's "2016 Summer Reading List." (Source)
Heartland
A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Solitary
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list. (Source)
In the Shadow of Statues
A White Southerner Confronts History
"An ultimately optimistic take from someone who believes the South will rise again not by reasserting the past, but by transcending it." - Barack Obama (Source)
The Word Collector
"A fun book that vividly illustrates the transformative power of words." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
Life 3.0
Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list. (Source)
Also recommended by:
Speed & Scale
An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now
"If you care about climate change, [this book] offers concrete steps that we can all take to make a difference." - Barack Obama (Source)
Also recommended by:
Other Recommenders
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.
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