14 Must-Read Books From Barack Obama's Epic Summer Reading List

Jamesby Percival Everett

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

Hanif Abdurraqib grew up in Ohio in the '90s, and he got to witness the making of basketball greats like Lebron James hone their craft. He also saw what happens when some people's dreams of playing basketball don't pan out.

Based on his admiration for the sport, Abdurraqib began devoting his life to decoding the art and history of it. He even started looking at how society's expectations and ideas about success help shape the game along with the rich storytelling often found in basketball.

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and The Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here explores the journey many make when they reach the U.S.-Mexico border. Coming from El Savador, Guatemala, and Honduras, migrants have their own reasons for leaving their homes behind. From persecution to poverty, these reasons are enough to spark courage in them to travel to a country they're unfamiliar with. That's not to say that everyone will be successful.

Unfortunately, the reason they're leaving their homes behind through no fault of their own. Corruption is a tale as old as time, and it didn't always stem from the countries migrants called home.

Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson

Though it's often hailed as the beginning of God's conversation, some believe there's much more to the book of Genesis than we thought about. Reading Genesis decodes the first book of the Bible by exploring how many people actually wrote it and whether that's meant to be taken at face value or not.

Marilynne even includes the full KJV translation of Genesis in her work to help readers understand just what makes it a revered book of the bible.

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkle

Headshot unveils the lives of eight teen girls who are determined to be named the best boxer. They have each given up something in order to compete in Reno, Nevada, but their ambition is too great to feel weighed down by their sacrifices.

As the girls compete, they'll learn about each other and themselves through a series of competitions that will determine who's really the best.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

When the daughter of wealthy family goes missing from a camp, everyone rushes to uncover what happened. Sadly, this feels all too familiar because the daughter's brother also went missing without being found.

No one can explain what's going on until a little sleuthing reveals odd things about the Van Laar family. Though they own the summer camp, they're practices seem unsavory which means there's a lot more to the picture than everyone realizes.

Beautiful Days by Zach Williams

Beautiful Days is meant to ask readers one question: how would you spend your days if you knew your time was running out for various reasons? From a couple who's watches themselves age while their child remains as is to a humanoid figure, each character's journey takes them on an adventure that makes them question how they're spending their days.

There are moments when reality is sweeter than we imagined, but it can also reveal our deepest fears. No matter how the cards fall, we have to decide how we're going to respond in different situations.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Cyrus Shams is still mourning the loss of his mother when he starts taking stock of his family's lives. From his father's job to the uncle who was familiar with death, he begins to realize that something may have been different about his mom. This difference is so shocking that it'll make him question everything he thought he knew about her and the martyrs he keeps obsessing over.

Memory Piece by Lisa Ko

Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng share a common thread as teens at the beginning of the '80s. They feel connected by their quirks and spend many days dreaming about their future selves. These dreams are bright and limitless, but their adulthood takes a different turn.

Giselle is successful, but the social circle she's in feels worlds away. Jackie finds herself worried about how capitalism is attached itself to the free world of coding. And Ellen? She faces gentrification in New York amongst other things.

As they work to make sense of their adult lives, their friendship remains blossoms into something much deeper.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

The Ministry of Time reads like an alternate timeline of Shutter Island without the breakdown of one's psyche.

It introduces a civil servant who's been tasked with helping an expat 1847 adjust to life in the modern world. Also know as Commander Graham Gore, 1847 slowly begins to make great strides and even begins befriending some of the other expats in the program they're in. This delights the civil servant, but she can't but feel drawn to 1847 — something that's extremely forbidden.

But the Ministry is hiding something and it could change the very fabric of time for not just the expats, but for everyone.

When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s by John Ganz

The '90s were supposed to usher in great change in the United States. Foreign threats were eliminated and it seemed like U.S. was finally earning it's title of being the greatest country. But growing tensions on American soil were simmering.

Political writer John Ganz takes a look back at pivotal moments in history — tales of survivalists and the rise of Rush Limbaugh — to show how they shaped the current climate we're living in. He even goes over that recession and conversations about things like race became everyone's focus.

Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It by Richard V. Reeves

There's been a shift in society that's left boys and men unable to find their footing. They're struggling to financially, socially, educationally, and in other many other ways.

Journalist Richard Reeves wrote Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It as a way to break down the complexity of being a young who'll eventually become a man. Unfortunately, he believes certain institutions have failed boys and men because they refuse to change their ideology.

Instead of writing from a place of "Woe is me," Reeves breaks down how boys and men can rewrite their own narratives so they're able to move in a world that would rather see them be complacent.

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook outlines how one man's secrets cost him his life. Despite being hailed as a smart and harmonious Captain, James Cook's true intentions revealed themselves the more he completed his expeditions.

His first voyage placed him on an unfair pedestal because he gave others the impression that he was traveling and discovering new things as an enlightened man. However, his last voyage revealed the secret orders he'd received based on how he treated those around him. He didn't hesitate to strike others if he felt they were stealing or beneath him, as evidenced by how he treated crew as well as Indigenous people.

This novel shows how he marked his own grave by taking readers from the beginning of his journey to his grisly end.

Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

Former President Barack Obama's Favorite Books Of 2023

• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
• Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
• How to Say Babylonby Safiya Sinclair
• The Wager by David Grann
• Chip War by Chris Miller
• The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
• Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell
• King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
• The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen
• All the Sinners Bleedby S.A. Cosby
• The Kingdom, the Power, and the Gloryby Tim Alberta
• Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista
• The Other Eden by Paul Harding