Barack Obama's favorite things, from The Carters' 'Apes***' to his wife's memoir 'Becoming'

Former President Barack Obama shared his favorite books, movies and songs of 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)
Former President Barack Obama shared his favorite books, movies and songs of 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)

As 2018 comes to a close, Barack Obama reflected on his favorite books, movies and songs of the year.

The former president shared his end-of-year list on Facebook, continuing his “favorite tradition” with fans and followers. “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,” he wrote. “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.”

His favorite movies include popular hits like BlacKKKlansman and Black Panther, If Beale Street Could Talk (in theaters now), and Annihilation as well as Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Chloe Zhao’s The Rider, and the poignant Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?.

Obama’s music taste runs the gamut: from The Carters’ audacious summer smash hit Apes*** to folk rock singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile’s Every Time I Hear That Song, his playlist is as diverse as his taste in books.

The 57-year-old counts 2018 buzzy reads like An American Marriage by Tayari Jones and Tara Westover’s memoir Educated among his favorites, along with books that take on sociopolitical issues including The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne and How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.

However, his favorite read of the year should come as no surprise: his wife’s memoir, Becoming. He pointed out that the former first lady’s best-seller is “obviously my favorite!”

Check out all of Obama’s favorite books, movies and songs of 2018 below.

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