Arts & Entertainment
Los Angeles Public Library: Happy Birthday President Obama!
Happy birthday to President Obama. And happy reading for the rest of us!
August 4, 2021
August 4, 2021, is former President Barack Obama’s 60th birthday. In honor of this, let’s take a look at his annual list of “Summer Reads”.
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Well-known as a voracious reader, President Obama began releasing a list of what he thought were the best summer reads of the year during his first year in office. Since that time, Obama’s list of summer reads has become an anxiously awaited tradition.
Including both fiction and non-fiction titles, cutting across genres, and including authors who are both well-known and wonderful new discoveries, the list includes something for almost every reader!
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We’ve created a reading list that includes the President's picks from 2015-2021 (2020 seems to have been skipped and wasn’t much of a “Beach/Summer” read year anyway).
Happy birthday to President Obama. And happy reading for the rest of us!
President Obama's Summer Reading Lists 2015-2021
Leave the World Behind Alam, Rumaan
Land of Big Numbers
Chen, Te-Ping
Land of Big Numbers
At Night All Blood is Black
Diop, David
At Night All Blood is Black
The Sweetness of Water
Harris, Nathan
The Sweetness of Water
Klara and the Sun
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Klara and the Sun
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Keefe, Patrick Radden
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Intimacies
Kitamura, Katie M.
Intimacies
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
Kolbert, Elizabeth
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
When We Cease to Understand the World
Labatut, Benjamin
When We Cease to Understand the World
Things We Lost to the Water
Nguyen, Eric
Things We Lost to the Water
Project Hail Mary
Weir, Andy
Project Hail Mary
Exhalation
Chiang, Ted
Exhalation
Wolf Hall
Mantel, Hilary
Wolf Hall
The Collected Works of Toni Morrison
Morrison, Toni
The Collected Works of Toni Morrison
Men Without Women: Stories
Murakami, Haruki
Men Without Women: Stories
The Nickel Boys: A Novel
Whitehead, Colson
The Nickel Boys: A Novel
American Spy
Wilkinson, Lauren
American Spy
An American Marriage
Jones, Tayari
An American Marriage
A House for Mr. Biswas
Naipaul, V. S.
A House for Mr. Biswas
Warlight
Ondaatje, Michael
Warlight
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World
Rosling, Hans
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World
Educated: A Memoir
Westover, Tara
Educated: A Memoir
The Power: A Novel
Alderman, Naomi
The Power: A Novel
Grant
Chernow, Ron
Grant
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Desmond, Matthew
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Janesville: An American Story
Goldstein, Amy
Janesville: An American Story
Exit West: A Novel
Hamid, Mohsin
Exit West: A Novel
Five-Carat Soul
McBride, James
Five-Carat Soul
Dying: A Memoir
Taylor, Cory
Dying: A Memoir
A Gentleman in Moscow
Towles, Amor
A Gentleman in Moscow
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Ward, Jesmyn
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court
Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem
Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court
Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated
Serrano, Shea
Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Finnegan, William
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Girl on the Train: A Novel
Hawkins, Paula
Girl on the Train: A Novel
H is for Hawk
Macdonald, Helen
H is for Hawk
Seveneves
Stephenson, Neal
Seveneves
The Underground Railroad
Whitehead, Colson
The Underground Railroad
Alexander Hamilton
Chernow, Ron
Alexander Hamilton
Between the World and Me
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Between the World and Me
All the Light We Cannot See
Doerr, Anthony
All the Light We Cannot See
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Kolbert, Elizabeth
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Lowland
Lahiri, Jhumpa
This press release was produced by the Los Angeles Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
