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Former US President Barack Obama has released his list of favourite books for 2022, with his wife Michelle’s self-help book topping the list.
The much-anticipated list includes eight fiction novels and five non-fiction pieces, covering a wide range of topics.
“I always look forward to sharing my lists of favourite books, movies, and music with all of you,” the 61-year-old 44th US President wrote on Instagram, alongside an infographic of the 13 books.
“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.”
Amongst the novels on the list is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, a science fiction novel spanning places and times that takes the reader from an island off Vancouver in 1912 to a future colony on the moon.
The other novels on the list are:
Trust by Hernan Diaz, a novel that examines themes of money, power and intimacy, set in the booming but doomed financial world of 1920s New York. The novel takes readers through the lives of Benjamin and Helen Rask, wealthy socialites who have acquired their fortune through mysterious means.
The Furrows: A Novel by Namwali Serpell, explores the grief a sister feels after the death of her little brother.
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan is a dystopian drama about mothers who are encouraged to reform their parenting.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson is a novel about two siblings who uncover their mothers’ secrets after she dies.
Liberation Day by George Saunders is a collection of short stories by Saunders, winner of the Booker Prize, among dozens of other literary awards. The stories explore the ideas of power, ethic and justice, cutting to the very heart of what it means to live in community with fellow human beings.
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan is a sci-fi novel in which characters are able to use a piece of technology to access every memory they’ve ever had.
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah is a historical novel set in colonial German East Africa – modern-day Tanzania. The book is centred on two young men – one who was stolen from his parents for war, and the other sold into the military.
The non-fiction reads on the list include:
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama is a self-help guide in which the former first lady shares contents from her ‘personal toolbox’ to overcome adversity. Barack acknowledges that he is “a bit biased” in picking this book.
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff is a biography of a Founding Father with high-minded ideals and bare-knuckle tactics.
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry won the National Book Award for its nuanced analysis of the American South.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton is a graphic memoir that finds cartoonist Beaton, writing about the years she spent working at the oil sands of Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada.
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong, which finds the Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist examining the many ways in which animals sense their surroundings.
