Barack Obama revealed his highly-anticipated annual list of his favorite books, songs, and movies this year, with one of his film picks being a Cinderella-style love story of a topless dancer.
He excitedly took to all his social media profiles Friday to announce what caught his eye among new releases in 2024.
‘I always look forward to sharing my annual list of favorite books, movies, and music,’ the former president wrote.
‘Today I’ll start by sharing some of the books that have stuck with me long after I finished reading them.
‘Check them out this holiday season, preferably at an independent bookstore or library!’
His literature selection didn’t include many light-hearted titles. Rather, the majority of his picks tackled the biggest issues of our day, including the mental health crisis faced by Generation Z and a touching tale about the struggles immigrants and their children face.
Obama flexed his multi-genre taste by sharing his favorite songs, including major hits like Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ’Em’ and Billie Eilish‘s ‘LUNCH’ alongside more under-the-radar country bops such as ‘Scooter Blues’ by Johnny Blue Skies and ‘Ramblin” by the Red Clay Strays.
Obama’s favorite films include box office mega hit ‘Dune: Part Two’ starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Austin Butler, plus a romantic drama out of India called ‘All We Imagine as Light.’
Perhaps Obama’s most risqué suggestion is ‘Anora,’ an independent film that tells the story of a Brooklyn stripper named Anora who falls in love with and marries a Russian oligarch. Drama unfolds when his family seeks to get the marriage annulled once they uncover Anora’s seedy past.
The film turned audience heads and wowed critics, earning a 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Obama didn’t rank any of his selections, only listing them in no specific order. The one exception to this was Jonathan Haidt’s self-help book called ‘The Anxious Generation.’
On his Medium page, Obama said the novel was his ‘top highlight.’
The latest book from Haidt, a renowned social psychologist who often opines on lofty topics, delves into how young children’s socialization has radically changed over the decades, and for the worse.
Haidt said that parents supplied ‘play-based’ activities in the 1980s, something that was been replaced with ‘phone-based’ activities by the 2010s.
This shift has led to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism, Haidt writes. He calls on parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments to take action.
Obama also recommended ‘Patriot,’ a posthumous autobiography by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in February while serving a 19-year-sentence in a brutal prison.
It’s widely believed Navalny met his end via poisoning at the direction of Vladimir Putin, though this has never been confirmed.
Navalny began writing the book after he was almost poisoned to death in August 2020, and it details his entire life from his early years to his rise to the most credible threat to the Kremlin status quo.
Another page-turner according to Obama was ‘Someone Like Us,’ a winding tale that follows Mamush, the son of Ethiopian immigrants to the US, as he deals with an unexpected death in his family and difficult childhood memories he’d rather bury than confront.
In terms of music, Kendrick Lamar’s energetic track ‘squabble up’ had Obama hyped and numerous other songs that were extremely popular this year on social media.
These TikTok-boosted hits included ‘Band4band’ by Central Cee and Lil Baby, ‘Too Sweet’ by Hozier, ‘MILLION DOLLAR BABY’ by Tommy Richman, and ‘i like the way you kiss me’ by Artemas.
Obama even jammed out to two Spanish songs this year, featuring on his list Colombian singer KAROL G’s ‘Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido’ and ‘Gata Only’ FloyyMenor and Cris Mj.
Obama’s favorite movies, like his favorite music, were also quite varied this year.
Obama heaped praise on ‘A Complete Unknown,’ the second Chalamet film on his list. The biography music drama follows a young Bob Dylan, played by Chalamet, in the 1960s just as he was coming up.
Obama turned back the clock with his recommendation of ‘The Promised Land,’ which takes place in 1700s Denmark and follows a retired military officer Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) who is called on by the king to establish a homestead in a barren area of the country.
Kahlen runs into problem that soon turns violent when a feudal lord rejects his claim to the land.
Obama also gave a nod to mystery thriller ‘Conclave’, which stars Ralph Fiennes as a papal conclave tasked with electing the next pope.
The film has racked up six Golden Globe nominations and is expected to make a run for Best Picture at the Oscars next year.
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