--- title: The 6 Books Barack Obama Thinks You Should Read This Summer description: In his annual summer reading list, former President Barack Obama recommends nonfiction books and novels, mostly by African authors canonical: https://time.com/5338619/obama-2018-summer-reading-list/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-13T21:12:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:15.143Z og:title: These Are the 6 Books Barack Obama Thinks You Should Read This Summer og:description: The list includes inspirational stories of beauty and strength og:url: https://time.com/5338619/obama-2018-summer-reading-list/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4e08071bb2bf854/6989355622fb858496e26261/obama-africa-book-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3162 og:image:height: 1779 og:image:alt: Obama Visits Kenya og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the 6 Books Barack Obama Thinks You Should Read This Summer twitter:description: The list includes inspirational stories of beauty and strength twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4e08071bb2bf854/6989355622fb858496e26261/obama-africa-book-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Are the 6 Books Barack Obama Thinks You Should Read This Summer > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: It's Official Barack and Michelle Obama Sign Production Deal with Netflix [Watch (HLS stream): It's Official Barack and Michelle Obama Sign Production Deal with Netflix](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/a4piomzJ.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2018-05-22. More than a year after he left the White House, Barack Obama’s post-presidential life is beginning to take shape — and Netflix will be a big part of it._ by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Jul 13, 2018 9:12 PM UTC  US President Barack Obama arrives to speak at Safaricom Indoor Arena in Nairobi on July 26, 2015, during a two-day landmark visit to Kenya US President Barack Obama arrives to speak at Safaricom Indoor Arena in Nairobi on July 26, 2015, during a two-day landmark visit to Kenya Saul Loeb — AFP — Getty Images by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Jul 13, 2018 9:12 PM UTC [Former President Barack Obama](http://time.com/5336305/barack-obamas-best-president-survey/) shared his annual summer reading list — and it’s one you should definitely bookmark. Obama posted the list, which includes six books, on his Facebook page Friday — writing that he curated the list in anticipation of his upcoming trip to Africa, during which he will visit Kenya and South Africa. In his Facebook post, Obama explained visiting Kenya is special for him since it’s his family’s ancestral home. His 1995 memoir, _Dreams from My Father_ — [one of TIME’s 2011 picks for the best 100 non-fiction books](http://entertainment.time.com/2011/08/30/all-time-100-best-nonfiction-books/slide/dreams-from-my-father-by-barack-obama/) since 1923 — shares stories from his first visit to his family’s homeland. “I visited for the first time when I was in my twenties and I was profoundly influenced by my experiences,” Obama wrote in the Facebook post, which he also shared on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1017766186296193024) This trip will be [Obama’s first time revisiting the continent](http://time.com/3973360/obama-africa-kenya-ethiopia-photos/) since leaving office in 2016. To honor African literary traditions Obama says he finds “extraordinary,” five of the six books on the list are written by authors of African descent. Obama’s 2018 reading recommendations are a mix of nonfiction and fiction. Nelson Mandela’s memoir, _Long Walk to Freedom_, is one of his recommendations for this summer. Obama wrote that the memoir is “essential reading for anyone who wants to understand history — and then go out and change it.” Another memoir, _The Return_ by Hisham Matar, makes the list as well. Obama wrote that Matar’s memoir “skillfully balances a graceful guide through Libya’s recent history with the author’s dogged quest to find his father who disappeared in Gaddafi’s prisons.” Another book on Obama’s list is the critically acclaimed novel _Americanah_ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which won the 2013 National Book Critics Circle fiction award. _Americanah_ is a contemporary novel analyzing the African diaspora around the world. In his post, Obama calls Adichie “one of the world’s great contemporary writers.” The one exception to the reading list’s thematic celebration of African culture is made for _The World As It Is_ by [Ben Rhodes](http://time.com/5318236/americas-story-must-win-out/), a speechwriter for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and one of his former national security aides. “His memoir is one of the smartest reflections I’ve seen as to how we approached foreign policy, and one of the most compelling stories I’ve seen about what it’s actually like to serve the American people for eight years in the White House,” Obama wrote. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5338619/obama-2018-summer-reading-list/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5338619/obama-2018-summer-reading-list/"},"headline":"These Are the 6 Books Barack Obama Thinks You Should Read This Summer","datePublished":"2018-07-13T21:12:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:15.143Z","description":"The list includes inspirational stories of beauty and strength","url":"https://time.com/5338619/obama-2018-summer-reading-list/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Books","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4e08071bb2bf854/6989355622fb858496e26261/obama-africa-book-list.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. 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