Barack Obama Unveils His Favorite Books of Summer *and* His Summer Playlist

Barack Obama has finally revealed his favorite summer reads and a list of songs he's been jamming out to—and it's safe to say the former president is having quite an eventful summer.

This week, Obama, 63, took to Instagram to share the highly-anticipated lists, starting with his book roundup. He wrote, "I’ve read some great books over the last few months and wanted to share some of my favorites. Let me know if you have any recommendations for books I should check out!"

The list includes popular titles like Percival Everett’s James, which puts a fascinating twist on Mark Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Adelle Waldman's Help Wanted, which explores work in contemporary America. Another standout title? Liz Moore's The God of the Woods—which, according to PureWow's Wellness Director, Sarah Stiefvater, is "one of the best books I've read in 2024." She writes, "Told from multiple perspectives and chock-full of twists, turns and red herrings, The God of the Woods gripped me for all 496 pages."

Other authors who made the list include Richard Reeves, Hampton Sides, John Ganz and Kaliane Bradley, but the politician hasn't spent the entirety of the summer with his nose in great books. Obama also released his unique mix of summer tunes, which include genres like pop, hip-hop and reggae.

He captioned the post, "With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately—and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix. I hope you find something new to listen to!"