Skip to main content

Books recommended by Barack Obama

Description: From a list compiled by Entertainment Weekly from Obama's interviews and public statements : http://ew.com/books/2017/01/18/barack-obama-book-recommendations/ and subsequent statements.

1 2 3

Rank Title Author Added

1

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

72,592 members

1,176 reviews

3.8

11 Members: hipdeep, Cecrow, alex68, cej1027, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

2

Where the Wild Things Are

by Maurice Sendak

26,262 members

1,451 reviews

½ 4.3

10 Members: hipdeep, dara85, MarthaJeanne, Cecrow, elkiedee, cej1027, Crazymamie, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

3

Treasure Island

by Robert Louis Stevenson

34,340 members

439 reviews

3.8

8 Members: hipdeep, Cecrow, cej1027, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

4

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

39,318 members

666 reviews

3.9

9 Members: hipdeep, Cecrow, alex68, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

5

Heart of Darkness

by Joseph Conrad

23,717 members

390 reviews

½ 3.6

8 Members: Cecrow, alex68, cej1027, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

6

by Gillian Flynn

22,284 members

1,547 reviews

3.9

7 Members: dara85, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

7

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

20,810 members

435 reviews

3.8

8 Members: alex68, cej1027, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

8

The Underground Railroad

by Colson Whitehead

9,078 members

455 reviews

4

6 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707, TamaraKeller

9

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

by Katherine Boo

4,396 members

294 reviews

4.1

6 Members: MarthaJeanne, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, steller0707

10

All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr

18,949 members

886 reviews

½ 4.3

7 Members: dara85, alex68, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

11

5,605 members

207 reviews

4

5 Members: dara85, elkiedee, cej1027, neicybee, steller0707

12

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

by Richard Flanagan

3,152 members

146 reviews

4

5 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707, TamaraKeller

13

by Herman Melville

35,649 members

545 reviews

3.8

5 Members: Cecrow, alex68, gypsysmom, plt, kara.shamy

14

by Toni Morrison

13,563 members

241 reviews

3.9

5 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom, plt, steller0707, puffintopia

15

Educated: A Memoir

by Tara Westover

9,938 members

519 reviews

½ 4.3

6 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

16

Harry Potter (Books 1-7)

by J. K. Rowling

12,454 members

171 reviews

½ 4.6

5 Members: Cecrow, cej1027, Crazymamie, ahef1963, kara.shamy

17

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44,627 members

698 reviews

4.2

5 Members: Cecrow, alex68, gypsysmom, plt, ahef1963

18

The Quiet American

by Graham Greene

8,075 members

181 reviews

4

5 Members: alex68, Crazymamie, plt, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

19

by Mohsin Hamid

3,662 members

231 reviews

3.8

5 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom, plt, kara.shamy, steller0707

20

by Hilary Mantel

13,570 members

655 reviews

4

4 Members: hipdeep, elkiedee, Crazymamie, gypsysmom

21

An American Marriage

by Tayari Jones

3,998 members

258 reviews

3.9

5 Members: gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707, TamaraKeller

22

by Michelle Obama

8,589 members

345 reviews

½ 4.4

5 Members: Crazymamie, gypsysmom, ahef1963, steller0707, TamaraKeller

23

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

7,817 members

298 reviews

4.2

5 Members: elkiedee, alex68, cej1027, plt, steller0707

24

by Toni Morrison

23,007 members

409 reviews

3.9

5 Members: alex68, gypsysmom, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

25

The Girl on the Train

by Paula Hawkins

17,952 members

1,121 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: ahef1963, kara.shamy, neicybee, steller0707

26

A Gentleman in Moscow

9,235 members

522 reviews

½ 4.4

5 Members: elkiedee, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, ahef1963, steller0707

27

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

4,478 members

377 reviews

½ 4.4

4 Members: cej1027, Crazymamie, steller0707, TamaraKeller

28

The Power and the Glory

by Graham Greene

7,791 members

124 reviews

3.9

4 Members: MarthaJeanne, alex68, ahef1963, steller0707

29

by Marilynne Robinson

10,866 members

364 reviews

3.9

4 Members: gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

30

by Ralph Ellison

16,263 members

212 reviews

4

4 Members: elkiedee, alex68, plt, kara.shamy

31

6,570 members

284 reviews

4.1

3 Members: plt, steller0707, Noogawa

32

Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese

9,581 members

538 reviews

½ 4.3

4 Members: elkiedee, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, steller0707

33

Girl, Woman, Other

by Bernardine Evaristo

3,248 members

135 reviews

4.2

4 Members: elkiedee, Crazymamie, gypsysmom, steller0707

34

by Brian Jacques

11,263 members

143 reviews

4

3 Members: Cecrow, cej1027, ManWithAnAgenda

35

by Jhumpa Lahiri

3,336 members

178 reviews

3.9

4 Members: elkiedee, alex68, gypsysmom, steller0707

36

Sing, Unburied, Sing

3,995 members

196 reviews

4.1

3 Members: elkiedee, kara.shamy, steller0707

37

by Naomi Alderman

4,807 members

255 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707

38

A House for Mr Biswas

by V. S. Naipaul

3,464 members

69 reviews

3.8

3 Members: alex68, ahef1963, TamaraKeller

39

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

by Atul Gawande

5,334 members

284 reviews

½ 4.5

3 Members: gypsysmom, plt, kara.shamy

40

The Three-Body Problem

8,889 members

413 reviews

3.8

3 Members: gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

41

by David McCullough

13,824 members

200 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: kara.shamy, puffintopia

42

Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

7,830 members

370 reviews

½ 4.4

3 Members: gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707

43

The Golden Notebook

by Doris Lessing

5,414 members

93 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: alex68, gypsysmom, steller0707

44

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

3,574 members

49 reviews

4.1

3 Members: alex68, gypsysmom, plt

45

To the End of the Land

by David Grossman

1,455 members

63 reviews

4

3 Members: alex68, gypsysmom, plt

46

by Michael Ondaatje

2,074 members

104 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: gypsysmom, plt, kara.shamy

47

Song of Solomon

by Toni Morrison

10,909 members

124 reviews

4

3 Members: gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707

48

by Bryan Washington

446 members

15 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda

49

Washington Black

2,321 members

135 reviews

3.9

3 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom, steller0707

50

by Toni Morrison

7,720 members

98 reviews

3.8

2 Members: steller0707, puffintopia

51

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

12,568 members

383 reviews

4.2

2 Members: MarthaJeanne, ahef1963

52

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts

by Maxine Hong Kingston

4,985 members

71 reviews

3.8

2 Members: steller0707, TamaraKeller

53

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

by Nelson Mandela

4,893 members

63 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: ahef1963, TamaraKeller

54

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do

by Studs Terkel

2,132 members

20 reviews

4.2

2 Members: hipdeep, elkiedee

55

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev

by Dawnie Walton

683 members

29 reviews

3.8

2 Members: hipdeep, elkiedee

56

Fates and Furies

by Lauren Groff

3,799 members

216 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: kara.shamy, steller0707

57

A Bend in the River

by V. S. Naipaul

3,202 members

57 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: alex68, gypsysmom

58

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

by Barbara Park

5,918 members

185 reviews

4

2 Members: plt, ahef1963

59

Klara and the Sun

by Kazuo Ishiguro

5,010 members

239 reviews

3.9

Member: Babelo

60

These Precious Days: Essays

by Ann Patchett

902 members

62 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: elkiedee

61

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

740 members

9 reviews

3.9

Member: kara.shamy

62

by Colm Tóibín

1,478 members

71 reviews

3.9

2 Members: elkiedee, plt

63

2,657 members

158 reviews

4.1

2 Members: hipdeep, gypsysmom

64

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

1,268 members

43 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: hipdeep, gypsysmom

65

by Tommy Orange

4,365 members

194 reviews

4

2 Members: hipdeep, steller0707

66

The Nickel Boys

by Colson Whitehead

4,119 members

218 reviews

4.2

2 Members: alex68, steller0707

67

by Sally Rooney

6,999 members

277 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom

68

The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin

4,839 members

132 reviews

½ 4.4

2 Members: kara.shamy, steller0707

69

1,466 members

71 reviews

4

2 Members: kara.shamy, steller0707

70

The Lincoln Highway

3,426 members

172 reviews

4.1

2 Members: elkiedee, gypsysmom

71

What Is the What

6,829 members

164 reviews

4.2

Member: MarthaJeanne

72

The Candy House

by Jennifer Egan

1,267 members

66 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: Babelo

73

A Grain of Wheat

by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

950 members

19 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

74

Lost Children Archive

by Valeria Luiselli

1,199 members

62 reviews

3.8

2 Members: gypsysmom, steller0707

75

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

by Isabel Wilkerson

5,306 members

185 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

76

Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–63

by Taylor Branch

2,225 members

21 reviews

½ 4.5

Member: neicybee

77

The Post-American World

by Fareed Zakaria

2,094 members

52 reviews

3.8

Member: MarthaJeanne

78

The Wealth of Nations

6,147 members

46 reviews

3.9

Member: puffintopia

79

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

by Salman Rushdie

1,342 members

68 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: kara.shamy

80

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

1,545 members

14 reviews

4

Member: puffintopia

81

The Naked and the Dead

by Norman Mailer

4,151 members

47 reviews

3.9

Member: alex68

82

by Jonathan Franzen

2,279 members

78 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: kara.shamy

83

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

by Shoshana Zuboff

1,527 members

36 reviews

4

Member: hipdeep

84

In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History

by Mitch Landrieu

226 members

11 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: puffintopia

85

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

2,463 members

33 reviews

4.2

Member: TamaraKeller

86

The Shadow of Sirius

by W. S. Merwin

330 members

8 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: hipdeep

87

2,996 members

132 reviews

4.2

Member: hipdeep

88

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

11,892 members

228 reviews

4.1

Member: hipdeep

89

The Souls of Black Folk

by W. E. B. Du Bois

5,304 members

69 reviews

4.2

Member: kara.shamy

90

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

9,996 members

229 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: kara.shamy

91

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

by Hans Rosling

3,241 members

110 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: hipdeep

92

Project Hail Mary

6,115 members

348 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: hipdeep

93

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

476 members

10 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: hipdeep

94

Collected Poems, 1948-1984

by Derek Walcott

525 members

3 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963

95

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

by Stacy Schiff

530 members

10 reviews

4.1

Member: hipdeep

96

In Dubious Battle

by John Steinbeck

2,398 members

44 reviews

3.8

Member: Crazymamie

97

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

1,533 members

46 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: hipdeep

98

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present

by David Treuer

754 members

12 reviews

4.2

Member: hipdeep

99

Crying in H Mart: A Memoir

by Michelle Zauner

2,669 members

97 reviews

4

Member: plt

100

by Colson Whitehead

2,205 members

104 reviews

3.9

Member: elkiedee

1 2 3

About This List

Started: hipdeep
January 2017
Type: Numbered and unnumbered, Adding restricted

Related Lists

Phi Beta Kappa reading list

Names in Titles

Books Set in Small Towns and Villages

Books Set in New York State

Income Inequality

Books You Couldn't Finish

Set in the Desert

Recent Debut Books: Spring 2022

Best Workplace Fiction

Current Discussions

None

Related Tags

20th century (3,755) adventure (3,027) Africa (3,504) African American (3,349) American (3,556) American history (3,231) American literature (5,324) biography (7,558) classic (8,326) classics (8,359) ebook (3,222) fantasy (3,818) fiction (63,823) historical fiction (7,858) history (10,664) Kindle (3,416) literature (8,794) memoir (4,608) non-fiction (15,449) novel (10,418) politics (3,777) read (7,519) science fiction (4,334) to-read (54,389) USA (3,003)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.