Barack Obama’s complete 2024 summer reading list

all 14 titles from the list Obama published in August 2024, kept as an authority snapshot rather than a claim about what is 'best'

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James - Percival Everett

novel; a retelling of Huckleberry Finn centered on Jim

There’s Always This Year - Hanif Abdurraqib

Everyone Who Is Gone Here - Jonathan Blitzer

reported nonfiction on the United States, Central America, and migration

Reading Genesis - Marilynne Robinson

Headshot - Rita Bullwinkel

eight teenage boxers meet across a two-day tournament

The God of the Woods - Liz Moore

Beautiful Days - Zach Williams

short stories; useful if a full novel is not the mood

Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar

Memory Piece - Lisa Ko

three friends move through art, technology, and adulthood

The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley

When the Clock Broke - John Ganz

political history focused on the United States in the early 1990s

Of Boys and Men - Richard Reeves

The Wide Wide Sea - Hampton Sides

narrative history of James Cook’s final voyage

Help Wanted - Adelle Waldman

workplace novel set among big-box retail employees

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