Former US President Barack Obama is known for his love for art, books, music and movies. During the pandemic, Obama turned to books for comfort and even caught up on some movies and music. Now, it's time to share his top book recommendations as Obama continues his tradition of almost a decade.

Obama shared a list of his top 13 book recommendations on Facebook and Twitter. He had originally started this annual practice in 2009, when he was still in the White House. His recommendations have enlightened many as they find something worthwhile to read, listen or even watch.

Barack Obama
Reuters

"Art always sustains and nourishes the soul. But for me, music and storytelling felt especially urgent during this pandemic year. I'll start by sharing some of my favorite books of 2021," Obama wrote.

Obama's favourite books: Top picks

  1. "Matrix" by Lauren Groff
  2. "How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America" by Clint Smith
  3. "The Final Revival of Opal & Nev" by Dawnie Walton
  4. "The Lincoln Highway" by Amor Towles
  5. "Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City" by Andrea Elliott
  6. "Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead
  7. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr
  8. "These Precious Days" by Ann Patchett
  9. "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner
  10. "Aftershocks" by Nadia Owusu
  11. "Crossroads" by Jonathan Franzen
  12. "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois" by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
  13. "Beautiful Country" by Qian Julie Wang

Obama also shared a list of books he previously recommended earlier in 2021:

  1. "At Night All Blood Is Black" by David Diop
  2. "Land of Big Numbers" by Te-Ping Chen
  3. "Empire of Pain" by Patrick Radden Keefe
  4. "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir
  5. "When We Cease to Understand the World" by Benjamín Labatut
  6. "Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future" by Elizabeth Kolbert
  7. "Things We Lost to the Water" by Eric Nguyen
  8. "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam
  9. "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro
  10. "The Sweetness of Water" by Nathan Harris
  11. "Intimacies" by Katie Kitamura

Which of these books are you going to read?

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