It may already be August, but it’s not too late to add a few more books to your summer reading list.
For the second year running, former President Barack Obama shared his top five summer reading picks, listing the titles in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“One of my favorite parts of summer is deciding what to read when things slow down just a bit, whether it’s on a vacation with family or just a quiet afternoon,” Obama wrote. “This summer I’ve been absorbed by new novels, revisited an old classic, and reaffirmed my faith in our ability to move forward together when we seek the truth.”
Here’s what made Obama’s list this year:
Educated by Tara Westover
The “remarkable” memoir of a young woman raised in a survivalist family in Idaho who went on to receive a Ph.D. from Cambridge
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
“Set after WWII, Warlight by Michael Ondaatje is a meditation on the lingering effects of war on family.”
A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Inspired by Naipaul’s recent passing, this summer Obama says he reread “the Nobel Prize winner’s first great novel about growing up in Trinidad and the challenge of post-colonial identity”
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
“[A] moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.”
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
“[A] hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases.”
In July, Obama also shared a list of some of his favorite work by African writers, inspired by his trips to Kenya and South Africa.
Read the text of Obama’s full post below.
One of my favorite parts of summer is deciding what to read when things slow down just a bit, whether it’s on a vacation with family or just a quiet afternoon. This summer I’ve been absorbed by new novels, revisited an old classic, and reaffirmed my faith in our ability to move forward together when we seek the truth. Here’s what I’ve been reading:
Tara Westover’s Educated is a remarkable memoir of a young woman raised in a survivalist family in Idaho who strives for education while still showing great understanding and love for the world she leaves behind.
Set after WWII, Warlight by Michael Ondaatje is a meditation on the lingering effects of war on family.
With the recent passing of V.S. Naipaul, I reread A House for Mr Biswas, the Nobel Prize winner’s first great novel about growing up in Trinidad and the challenge of post-colonial identity.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is a moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases.