President Obama Reveals His Favorite Reads For 2023!

Former President Barack Obama has continued a longstanding tradition today.

The 44th President of the United States has released his favorite books of 2023!

Obama has been giving citizens a peek at the literary world since his first term in office and later began adding media to his roster of lists (per Esquire).

On Thursday morning, the author of "A Promised Land" released his favorite books from the first quarter of the year to his social media accounts.

The former President's yearly list of favorites has become an anticipated list every year!

Like many-a-book-shelf, Obama's recommendation list started a bit small during the first year of his presidency. According to Jules Buonocore of The Literary Lifestyle,  Obama's list for 2009 only contained five titles! He would later begin adding titles especially intended for summer.

As the saying says "There are two sides to every story." Several figures involved in the book community spoke to Esquire Magazine to express their thoughts on one of literature's biggest events of the year.

Buonocore shared her thoughts with the publication, expressing her excitement for Obama's yearly list. "First, it's exciting to see which books you've read that a former President has read too, and second, he always offers an array of diverse reads, so you know you're also bound to find something new and impactful to read next," she said.

Buonocore has a section of her blog devoted to the former President's favorite picks, and she also incorporates her own influences into the titles she has also read.

She writes on the blog's page, "When possible, I have annotated specific titles on the Barack Obama Summer reading lists and favorite book lists with my personal star ratings (on a scale of 1-5 stars)..."

"Bookstagrammers" are book-related influencers who use their Instagram platform to influence readers to find their next favorite reads. Bookstagrammer Grace Astrove also spoke to Esquire, revealing her skepticism about the list's authenticity.

"I think he does read, of course," she said, "but with his schedules and responsibilities, there's just no way. It seems more likely that the highly curated list is put together from his team's suggestions, and they all want to choose the best ones that correspond to his important agenda or other trends happening in the world," Astrove concluded.

Whether the list is curated by Obama himself and without any outside influence remains a mystery, but the former President is indeed a champion of the literary world and the written word.

Obama's list for 2023 contains nine recommendations that are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. His Twitter and Instagram posts read, "Here's some books that I'm reading this summer. Check them out and let me know what I should be reading next."

The recommendations began flooding the former President's comment section on Instagram.

"Barack you gotta get on the summer I turned pretty," a follower wrote, referring to "The Summer I Turned Pretty" series by Jenny Han.

"Another year of Colleen Hoover not making the list," another lamented. Hoover currently has several titles on The New York Times best-seller list.

"You should read ACOTAR next. ???," a book lover recommended. Another follower wondered if the former President had heard of popular author Emily Henry. 

The titles on Obama's list are as follows:

"Poverty, By America" by Matthew Desmond

"Small Mercies" by Dennis Lehane

"King: A Life" by Jonathan Eng

"Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano

"All The Sinners Bleed" by S.A. Cosby

"Birnam Wood" by Eleanor Catton

"What Napoleon Could Not Do" by DK Nnuro

"The Wager" by David Grann

"Blue Hour" by Tiffany Clarke Harrison

As of this writing, the former President has yet to release his lists for music, television, and film.