The ex-president of The United States of America-Barack Obama is probably the coolest presidents the world has ever seen. Even after his 8 years tenure as the president of America, he is still loved and looked up to-date by people from all over the world. Much like anyone awaits an annual music awards show, we are used to wait for Barack Obama’s annual favorite list.
Obama publishes an annual list at each year’s end in which he includes his favorite books, movies and songs he enjoyed in the year. The list is impressive. Even more impressive is how he finds time to sit back and read volumes and volumes of books.
In this year’s list, Obama included 15 movies as his personal favourites, 29 books and 22 songs. Revealing the list Barack Obama captioned on his year-end list;
“As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists, and storytellers – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list – I hope you enjoy reading, watching, and listening.”
Barack Obama
Barack Obama’s Favourite Songs of 2018
- Apes••t by The Carters
Bad Bad News by Leon Bridges- Could’ve Been by H.E.R. (feat. Bryson Tiller)
- Disco Yes by Tom Misch (feat. Poppy Ajudha)
- Ekombe by Jupiter & Okwess
- Every Time I Hear That Song by Brandi Carlile
- Girl Goin’ Nowhere by Ashley McBryde
- Historia De Un Amor by Tonina (feat. Javier Limón and Tali Rubinstein)
- I Like It by Cardi B (feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin)
- Kevin’s Heart by J. Cole
- King For A Day by Anderson East
- Love Lies by Khalid & Normani
- Make Me Feel by Janelle Monáe
- Mary Don’t You Weep (Piano & A Microphone 1983 Version) by Prince
- My Own Thing by Chance the Rapper (feat. Joey Purp)
- Need a Little Time by Courtney Barnett
- Nina Cried Power by Hozier (feat. Mavis Staples)
- Nterini by Fatoumata Diawara
- One Trick Ponies by Kurt Vile
- Turnin’ Me Up by BJ the Chicago Kid
- Wait by the River by Lord Huron
- Wow Freestyle by Jay Rock (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
- And in honour of one of the great jazz singers of all time, who died this year, a classic album: The Great American Songbook by Nancy Wilson
There is not a single song that we could dispute as ‘bad’ or even ‘mediocre.’ The ex-president sure has some good taste in music. It also amazes us how updated he is with current music such as “I Like It” by Cardi B and “Love Lies” by Khalid and Normani.
Barack Obama’s Favourite Books of 2018
- Becoming by Michelle Obama (obviously my
favorite !) - An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne
- Educated by Tara Westover
- Factfulness by Hans Rosling
Futureface : A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging by Alex Wagner- A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi
wa Thiong’o - A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
- How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
- In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrie
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
- The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti
- The Return by Hisham Matar
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
- Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
- The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes
- American Prison by Shane Bauer
- Arthur Ashe: A Life by Raymond Arsenault
- Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
- Feel Free by Zadie Smith
- Florida by Lauren Groff
- Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
- Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar
- The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson
- Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark
- There There by Tommy Orange
- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Sounds like an avid reader to say the least. It is also very romantic how the ex-president promoted his wife’s book ‘Becoming’ to the top of the list and also remarked as his ‘favourite.’
Barack Obama’s Favourite Movies of 2018
- Annihilation
- Black Panther (BluRay on Amazon)
- BlacKkKlansman
- Blindspotting
- Burning
- The Death of Stalin
- Eighth Grade
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Leave No Trace
- Minding the Gap
- The Rider
- Roma
- Shoplifters
- Support the Girls
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor
A stellar movie list by the ex-president indeed.
What do you think of the 2018 year-end list of ex-president Barack Obama? Has any of your favourite books, movies or songs made in to these lists? Let us know in the comments below.