This will be President Obama’s final summer as President of the United States, and who knows what will follow. As such, this is the final reading list from the man who made history and became the first person of colour to become president.
Those who have followed President Obama’s Summer Reading Lists from the White House in previous years will know that Obama likes a mix of books, and this year it’s a mix of fiction, and non-fiction, a Pulitzer prize winning memoir, a thriller and a science fiction novel. Here are the selections in full.
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life – William Finnegan
Barbarian Days is billed as an old-school adventure story and social history about a life spent chasing waves, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 2016.
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
The Underground Railroad is salvation to many, including Cara, a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. This is a powerful historical novel, recreating the horrors of the pre-Civil War era.
H is for Hawk – Helen Macdonald
Costa Prize Winner, H is for Hawk is an unflinchingly honest account of Macdonald’s determination to become a falconer, taming the wildest of animals.
The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
Soon to be a movie, The Girl on the Train divided our readers and for everyone who said how brilliant it was, there was someone else calling it terrible. Personally I thought it was a fantastic psychological thriller, with horribly damaged and dislikeable characters.
Seveneves – Neal Stephenson
It looks like The PoTUS has been taking advice from Bill Gates as Seveneves appeared on his reading list a few months ago. Technical science fiction would be the best description!
So they are the five books making the cut for President Obama’s Summer Reading List 2016, and if you like these, then here are last year’s selections too if you missed them.
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
The Sixth Extinction – Elizabeth Kolbert
The Lowland – Jhumpa Lahiri
Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
Washington: A Life – Ron Chernow
Now you can read like the President, until the upcoming elections at least.
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