Skip to Content

Barack Obama lists his favorite books of 2020

In a year that saw many traditions upended, former President Barack Obama is keeping up with one annual custom: sharing his favorite books of the year.

The former President, in a Twitter post Thursday, highlighted 17 titles — including Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste,” Brit Bennett’s “The Vanishing Half” and C Pam Zhang’s “How Much of These Hills is Gold.”

But noticeably absent from the list was his own memoir — A Promised Land — which was released last month.

“I’ll start by sharing my favorite books this year, deliberately omitting what I think is a pretty good book — A Promised Land — by a certain 44th president,” Obama joked. “I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did.”

Check out Obama’s full list of favorite books below:

“Homeland Elegies” by Ayad Akhtar

“Jack” by Marilynne Robinson

“Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson

“The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson

“Luster” by Raven Leilani

“How Much of These Hills is Gold” by C Pam Zhang

“Long Bright River” by Liz Moore

“Memorial Drive” by Natasha Trethewey

“Twilight of Democracy” by Anne Applebaum

“Deacon King Kong” by James McBride

“The Undocumented Americans” by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett

“The Glass Hotel” by Emily St. John Mandel

“Hidden Valley Road” by Robert Kolker

“The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson

“Sharks in the Time of Saviors” by Kawai Strong Washburn

“Missionaries” by Phil Klay

Article Topic Follows: National Politics

Jump to comments ↓

Author Profile Photo

CNN

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content