10 Great Books Recommended by Barack Obama

6 days ago 17

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura (2021) book cover

Published Oct 17, 2026, 10:22 PM EDT

Luc Haasbroek is a writer and videographer from Durban, South Africa. He has been writing professionally about pop culture for eight years. Luc's areas of interest are broad: he's just as passionate about psychology and history as he is about movies and TV. He's especially drawn to the places where these topics overlap.

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It's no secret that Barack Obama is a big reader. It has become a tradition for the former president to publish an annual list of his favorite new books. He has recommended dozens of great reads over the years, including insightful non-fiction books like The Great Experiment by Yascha Mounk and Patrick Keefe's Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.

But Obama has excellent taste when it comes to novels. His recommendations include some of the most entertaining and moving works of fiction of the last decade. These books range from historical epics in WWII-era Japan to family dramas in Kansas in the '90s. Obama's favorites are realistic character portraits with harsh but life-affirming narratives.

10 'Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee (2017)

Pachinko is a historical novel by Min Jin Lee and the basis for the Apple TV series starring Youn Yuh-jung and Jin Ha. It follows a Korean immigrant family in Japan between 1910 and 1989. It's a perceptive peek into their struggles to make a life in their new land as World War II and other historical events turn the region upside down.

The title refers to the Japanese gambling game characters play, where much is left to chance. It also describes the characters themselves, whose lives are shaped by the big historical forces at work around them. Obama included Pachinko among his favorites, calling it "a powerful story about resilience and compassion."

9 'Intimacies' by Katie Kitamura (2021)

This book by novelist and art critic Katie Kitamura follows an unnamed woman who works as an interpreter at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. She is tasked with translating for the former president of an African country standing trial for war crimes. Kitamura was inspired by the prosecution of Ivorian politician Laurent Gbagbo, which she attended.

The main character's personal life is complicated too. She pursues a relationship with a married man and befriends the sister of the victim of a senseless crime. Soon the complexities of her situation threaten to overwhelm her. Intimacies is an excellent exploration of the power and pitfalls of language. This pick by Obama is similar to The Idiot by Elif Batuman in that both books examine what words can mean — and not mean.

8 'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles (2019)

Moscow, 1922: the new Bolshevik government sentences Count Alexander Rostov to house arrest in the Metropol hotel. The book follows Rostov's days confined to the hotel as momentous events roil Russia outside. Rostov tries to adjust to his new world, with only the other inhabitants of the hotel for company. Things change again when he unexpectedly finds himself looking after a young girl named Sofia.

A Gentleman in Moscow is a charming, moving story by the author of Rules of Civility and The Lincoln Highway. Rostov's conversations with Sofia and her mother, Nina, are incredibly witty, and the prose is always engaging. It's Amor Towles' most purely enjoyable work, with an almost Wes Anderson-esque quirkiness to the material, which may be why Obama recommends it.

7 'All the Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr (2014)

This historical novel tells the story of Marie-Laure and Werner, a blind French girl and a German boy who meet in Nazi-occupied France. Marie-Laure inherits a gem that her father was entrusted with protecting and later joins the Resistance. Meanwhile, Werner develops a talent for electronics and is tasked with intercepting the Resistance's radio communications. The novel alternates between their stories, building up to the Battle of Saint-Malo.

All the Light We Cannot See is a big, warm-hearted story that'll appeal to fans of The Book Thief by Mark Zuzak or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. It spent more than 200 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and won the Pulitzer Prize. It's not surprising it made it to Obama's reading list.

6 'The Topeka School' by Ben Lerner (2019)

Topeka, Kansas, 1997: Adam Gordon is a senior in high school preparing for a major debate competition. At the same time, he deals with his well-meaning but frustrating psychologist parents and his complicated relationship with his girlfriend Amber. It's a fascinating character study and coming-of-age story that explores several contemporary issues despite the retro setting.

Ben Lerner paints a vivid picture of Kansas in the '90s, perfect for readers in search of some nostalgia. The book is among Obama's favorites. His previous novel, 10:04, about a writer diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition, is also worth checking out.

5 'Exit West' by Mohsin Hamid (2019)

Exit West follows two refugees, Saeed and Nadia, who flee a civil war via a series of magical doors. It's a love story, a work of magical realism, and a commentary on the Syrian civil war and similar conflicts that have profoundly affected millions of people in recent years.

Hamid's other novels, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, are also great, but Exit West might be the most moving. The Obamas' production company, Higher Ground, is set to adapt the book for Netflix.

4 'Anything is Possible' by Elizabeth Strout (2017)

Anything is Possible is a collection of stories set in the fictional rural town of Amgash, Illinois, the setting of Elizabeth Strout's novels My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh, William! Like the other Amgash novels, Anything is Possible features realistic characters grappling with complicated relationships and other challenges.

As one would expect from Strout, Anything is Possible explores challenging subject matter like loss, grief, and guilt, but ultimately the stories are optimistic. The book made it onto Obama's favorite books of 2017.

3 'The Orphan Master's Son' by Adam Johnson (2012)

Adam Johnson's Pulitzer Prize-winning portrait of life in North Korea gives a limited but enlightening peek at one of the world's most repressive dictatorships. The novel follows Jun Do, an orphan conscripted into the military at fourteen, as he struggles to survive in the bleak environment.

North Korea is notoriously sealed off, so stories of life there are hard to come by (aside from propaganda, that is). But Johnson's novel does a great job of adding detail based on extensive research. It makes for a harrowing and engaging tale, which is why it's among Obama's favorites.

2 'Lost Children Archive' by Valeria Luiselli (2019)

Lost Children Archive is by Valeria Luiselli, a Mexican author living in the United States. It follows a family on a road trip from Virginia to Tennessee to Oklahoma to Texas, where the father intends to record a project on the Apache. Their journey brings them face-to-face with the immigration crisis at the southern border.

Among Obama's picks, the novel is a great companion piece to Luiselli's 2017 nonfiction book Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions, which explores the lives of migrant children brought to the US. Both books draw on Luiselli's experiences as an interpreter for young migrants from Central America.

1 'Trust Exercise' by Susan Choi (2020)

Trust Exercise is set at an elite performing arts high school in the 1980s, where two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall in love. They begin a passionate, larger-than-life romance that threatens to blow up their lives—and those of many around them.

Trust Exercise is especially relatable for anyone who was a theater geek in school. The characters' discussions about life and art feel real, as do their struggles outside school. The book — recommended by Obama — is also stylistically daring, with an unusual structure and a twist worthy of a thriller. It went on to win the National Book Award for good reason.

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