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Journalism of Courage
Usually, the holiday season is associated with a list of presents for Santa Claus to bring, or one that can be exchanged between family members.
But, Barack Obama has his own list. Every year, the former president of the US shares with his followers his annual roundup of books, music and films. This year was no different. Obama took to his social media to share the list of books that kept him company in 2022, writing, “First up, here are some of the books I read and enjoyed this year. Let me know which books I should check out in 2023.”
Take a look.
The 61-year-old’s list included wife Michelle Obama’s latest memoir, ‘The Light We Carry‘, in which the former first lady of the US helps people “navigate life during these uncertain times”. According to a description on Amazon, Michelle shares “practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly uncertain world” as a “mother, daughter, spouse and friend”.
His second favourite book this year was ‘Sea of Tranquility‘ by Emily St. John Mandel. This 2022 novel by the Canadian writer is “a story of humanity across centuries and space”, as the writer “takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony of the moon three hundred years later”.
Next was ‘Trust‘ by Hernan Diaz. The book, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022, is a “literary puzzle about money, power, and intimacy” that “engages the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with which power can manipulate facts”.
This was followed by ‘The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams‘ by Stacy Schiff. It is a 2022 biography of founding father and American revolution activist, politician and patriot Samuel Adams.
‘The Furrows: A Novel‘ by Namwali Serpell was next on his list. A story of siblings and relationships, the book “captures the uncanny experience of grief, the way the past breaks over the present like waves in the sea”.
The list also featured ‘South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation‘ by Imani Perry. It is the “story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people”, an Amazon description reads.
Next was ‘The School for Good Mothers‘ by Jessamine Chan, which is a “transgressive novel of ideas about the perils of ‘perfect’ upper-middle class parenting”.
‘Black Cake‘ by Charmaine Wilkerson is about a family, its conflicts, loss and relationships.
‘Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands‘ by Kate Beaton is an “untold story of Canada”, which is a “country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people”.
‘An Immense World‘ was next on Obama’s list. A book by Ed Yong, it talks about how the world is perceived by animals.
‘Liberation Day‘ by George Saunders is a collection of stories that “explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans”.
‘The Candy House‘ by Jennifer Egan is a “moving testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for connection, family, privacy, and love”.
‘Afterlives‘ is the final book on his list. Written by Abdulrazak Gurnah, the book — winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021 — is about the colonisation of east Africa, about loss, relationships and love.
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