Books recommended by Barack Obama

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is renowned for his public service and commitment to social justice. He has written several books, including memoirs and essays.

The recommended books are characterized by lyrical prose, nuanced explorations of identity, community, and social justice, and a blend of magical realism, historical fiction, and philosophical introspection. These works often delve into the human experience, tackling complex issues such as racism, inequality, and personal struggle with sensitivity, empathy, and authority.

1. Song of Solomon: (by Toni Morrison). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bozoma Saint John , Jesse Williams , Michelle Obama , Oprah Winfrey
2. Exit West: A Novel (by Mohsin Hamid). Recommended by Barack Obama , Michelle Obama , Sarah Jessica Parker
3. An American Marriage: A Novel (by Tayari Jones). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Michelle Obama , Oprah Winfrey , Shauna Niequist
4. The Underground Railroad: A Novel (by Colson Whitehead). Recommended by Barack Obama , John Legend , Oprah Winfrey , Sarah Jessica Parker
5. Things Fall Apart: African Trilogy, Book 1 (by Chinua Achebe). Recommended by Barack Obama , Jacqueline Novogratz , Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie , Sarah Jessica Parker
6. The Word Collector: (by Peter H Reynolds). Recommended by Barack Obama , Michelle Obama
7. The Girl on the Train: (by Paula Hawkins). Recommended by Barack Obama , Jennifer Aniston , George R. R. Martin , Joe Hill
8. The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations (by Toni Morrison). Recommended by Barack Obama
9. The Yellow House: A Memoir (by Sarah M. Broom). Recommended by Barack Obama
10. Men Without Women: Stories (by Haruki Murakami). Recommended by Barack Obama
11. The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) (by Adam Johnson). Recommended by Barack Obama
12. Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life (by Michael D. Rich). Recommended by Barack Obama
13. How to Read the Air: (by Dinaw Mengestu). Recommended by Barack Obama
14. Solitary: (by Albert Woodfox). Recommended by Barack Obama
15. Basketball: A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated (by Shea Serrano). Recommended by Barack Obama
16. A House for Mr Biswas: A Novel (by V. S. Naipaul). Recommended by Barack Obama
17. Lab Girl: (by Hope Jahren). Recommended by Barack Obama
18. The Nickel Boys: A Novel (by Colson Whitehead). Recommended by Barack Obama
19. Gilead: Gilead, Book 1 (by Marilynne Robinson). Recommended by Barack Obama
20. Florida: (by Lauren Groff). Recommended by Barack Obama
21. The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die (by Keith Payne). Recommended by Barack Obama
22. Inland: (by Tea Obreht). Recommended by Barack Obama
23. Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging (by Alex Wagner). Recommended by Barack Obama
24. Warlight: A Novel (by Michael Ondaatje). Recommended by Barack Obama
25. Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward (by Valerie Jarrett). Recommended by Barack Obama
26. We Live in Water: Stories (by Jess Walter). Recommended by Barack Obama
27. The Largesse of the Sea Maiden: Stories (by Denis Johnson). Recommended by Barack Obama
28. Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee (by Casey Cep). Recommended by Barack Obama
29. The Topeka School: (by Ben Lerner). Recommended by Barack Obama
30. There There: A Novel (by Tommy Orange). Recommended by Barack Obama
31. Trust Exercise: (by Susan Choi). Recommended by Barack Obama
32. Anything Is Possible: Amgash, Book 2 (by Elizabeth Strout). Recommended by Barack Obama
33. Arthur Ashe: A Life (by Raymond Arsenault). Recommended by Barack Obama
34. The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House (by Ben Rhodes). Recommended by Barack Obama
35. A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney's Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule (by Jim Rooney). Recommended by Barack Obama
36. The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire (by William Dalrymple). Recommended by Barack Obama
37. Pachinko: (by Min Jin Lee). Recommended by Barack Obama , Emma Watson
38. The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir (by Samantha Power). Recommended by Barack Obama
39. Lot: Stories (by Bryan Washington). Recommended by Barack Obama
40. Immigrant, Montana: A Novel (by Amitava Kumar). Recommended by Barack Obama
41. How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (by Jenny Odell). Recommended by Barack Obama , Ezra Klein
42. Washington Black: (by Esi Edugyan). Recommended by Barack Obama
43. Feel Free: Essays (by Zadie Smith). Recommended by Barack Obama
44. The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between (by Hisham Matar). Recommended by Barack Obama
45. Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel (by Jesmyn Ward). Recommended by Barack Obama
46. The New Geography of Jobs: (by Enrico Moretti). Recommended by Barack Obama
47. Five-Carat Soul: (by James McBride). Recommended by Barack Obama
48. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present (by David Treuer). Recommended by Barack Obama
49. The Shadow of Sirius: (by W.S. Merwin). Recommended by Barack Obama
50. Washington: A Life (by Ron Chernow). Recommended by Barack Obama
51. Asymmetry: A Novel (by Lisa Halliday). Recommended by Barack Obama
52. Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings (by Abraham Lincoln). Recommended by Barack Obama
53. In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History (by Mitch Landrieu). Recommended by Barack Obama
54. Janesville: An American Story (by Amy Goldstein). Recommended by Barack Obama
55. How Democracies Die: (by Steven Levitsky). Recommended by Barack Obama
56. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (by Patrick Radden Keefe). Recommended by Barack Obama
57. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (by David W. Blight). Recommended by Barack Obama
58. American Spy: A Novel (by Lauren Wilkinson). Recommended by Barack Obama
59. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive (by Stephanie Land). Recommended by Barack Obama
60. A Grain of Wheat: (by Ngugi wa Thiong'o). Recommended by Barack Obama
61. Dying: A Memoir (by Cory Taylor). Recommended by Barack Obama
62. Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth (by Sarah Smarsh). Recommended by Barack Obama , Melinda Gates , Sarah Jessica Parker
63. H Is for Hawk: (by Helen Macdonald). Recommended by Barack Obama
64. A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel (by Amor Towles). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Brian Koppelman , Melinda Gates , Sarah Jessica Parker
65. Wolf Hall: (by Hilary Mantel). Recommended by Barack Obama , Christopher Hitchens
66. The Lowland: (by Jhumpa Lahiri). Recommended by Barack Obama , Mindy Kaling
67. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (by Nicholas Carr). Recommended by Barack Obama , Ezra Klein , Tara Brach
68. American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment (by Shane Bauer). Recommended by Barack Obama , David Friedberg
69. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life (by William Finnegan). Recommended by Barack Obama , Paul Graham
70. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion (by Jia Tolentino). Recommended by Barack Obama , Kara Swisher
71. Lost Children Archive: A Novel (by Valeria Luiselli). Recommended by Barack Obama , Natalie Portman
72. Girl, Woman, Other: (by Bernardine Evaristo). Recommended by Barack Obama , Jack Edwards
73. Why Liberalism Failed: (by Patrick J. Deneen). Recommended by Barack Obama , Tim Keller
74. Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For (by Susan Rice). Recommended by Barack Obama , Dick Costolo
75. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (by Matthew Desmond). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates
76. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (by Elizabeth Kolbert). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates
77. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (by Isabel Wilkerson). Recommended by Alicia Keys , Barack Obama
78. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (by Shoshana Zuboff). Recommended by Barack Obama , Vinod Khosla
79. Self Reliance: (by Ralph Waldo Emerson). Recommended by Barack Obama , Patrick O’Shaughnessy
80. Americanah: (by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). Recommended by Barack Obama , Kathryn Minshew
81. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel (by Anthony Doerr). Recommended by Barack Obama , Mike Maples, Jr.
82. Normal People: A Novel (by Sally Rooney). Recommended by Barack Obama , Taylor Swift , Serena Izzo , Jack Edwards
83. Between the World and Me: (by Ta-Nehisi Coates). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bob Iger , Cal Fussman , Jack Dorsey , Jon Stewart , Mark Manson , Sunny Hostin , Jay-Z
84. Grant: (by Ron Chernow). Recommended by Barack Obama , Hugh Hewitt
85. Seveneves: A Novel (by Neal Stephenson). Recommended by Adam Savage , Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Chris Young
86. Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court (by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Recommended by Barack Obama , Noah Kagan
87. Becoming: (by Michelle Obama). Recommended by Barack Obama , Brené Brown , Oprah Winfrey , Selena Gomez , Tyler Oakley
88. Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now (by John Doerr). Recommended by Barack Obama , Tracy DiNunzio
89. The Sixth Man: A Memoir (by Andre Iguodala). Recommended by Arianna Huffington , Barack Obama , Bill Gurley
90. Educated: A Memoir (by Tara Westover). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Kathryn Minshew , Michelle Obama , Melinda Gates , Shauna Niequist , Marty Cagan
91. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (by Hans Rosling). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Howard Marks , Jordan Peterson , Melinda Gates
92. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (by Nelson Mandela). Recommended by Barack Obama , Richard Branson
93. The Power: (by Naomi Alderman). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Kathryn Minshew , Olivia Wilde
94. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63 (by Taylor Branch). Recommended by Barack Obama , Cory Booker , Ryan Holiday , Christopher Hitchens
95. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (by Max Tegmark). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Elon Musk , Keith Rabois , Lex Fridman , PewDiePie
96. Exhalation: Stories (by Ted Chiang). Recommended by Barack Obama , Naval Ravikant , Ryan Shea , Tim Ferriss
97. The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (by William Shakespeare). Recommended by Barack Obama , J.K. Rowling , Ricardo Semler , Shah Rukh Khan , Stewart Brand , Christopher Hitchens , Fred Wilson , Mark Twain
98. Moby Dick: (by Herman Melville). Recommended by Barack Obama , Steve Jobs , PewDiePie , Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie , Penn Jillette , Jack Edwards
99. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (by Melinda Gates). Recommended by Barack Obama , Bill Gates , Brené Brown , Satya Nadella , Warren Buffett
100. Holy Bible: (by -). Recommended by A.J. Jacobs , Barack Obama , Caterina Fake , Hillary Clinton , Kevin Kelly , Laird Hamilton , Neil deGrasse Tyson , Peter Thiel , Ricardo Semler , Ryan Flaherty , Tim Draper , Walter Isaacson , Wim Hof , Christopher Hitchens , Cathie Wood , Kanye West , Maya Angelou , Russell Moore , Winston Churchill