Despite leaving the presidency of the United States in January 2017, Barack Obama continues to be very active on social networks, especially in a time when, free from so many commitments, he enjoys more time to browse his favorite hobby: reading! ! Do not miss the selection of readings by Barack Obama.
Educated by Tara Wetsover
Released March 2018, Educated: A Memoir is based on the own life of its author, Tara Westover. A story that delves into the experiences of a young woman raised by a humble Idaho family without a birth certificate and dedicated to picking peaches throughout her childhood. Such is the secrecy to which she lives subjected, that the protagonist has never been to a class or a school, a situation accentuated by the increasingly violent attitude of his father and brother. Educated talks about the evolution of a protagonist born in the wrong place but who decided on her own to train from Harvard to Cambridge when it came to embracing her dreams.
Although its translation in Spanish has not yet been published, you can purchase educated in its original version.
Warlight, by Michael Ondaatje
Described by Obama himself as "" a tool for meditation and reflection, "Warlight is set in a World War II whose consequences for the world were dire. It's 1945, and 14-year-old Nathaniel and his sister Rachel show up in London - presumably abandoned by their parents - and left in the care of a strange figure known as The Moth. A character that includes many others who intend to take care of the two children. The novel navigates between the perspective of the pre-adolescent Nathaniel and another that takes place twelve years later. Violent, bright and essential.
Would you like to read Warlight?
A house for Mr. Biswas, by VS Naipaul
Because of the death of the Nobel Prize in Literature on August 11, Barack Obama reread VS Naipaul's most famous book: A house for Mr. Biswas, inspired by the own life of the father of the Trinidadian author of Hindu origin. A novel that delves into the problems of the island of Trinidad and Tobago in its post-colonial period through the character of Mr. Biswas, an aspiring low-class journalist married to the daughter of one of the country's most famous castes and his objective to find in the acquisition of one's own home its particular victory over historical memory.
An american marriage, by Tayari Jones
Also included in the Oprah Winfrey's Book Selection, No products found. tells the story of the marriage of Celestial Newlyweds, an artist, and Roy, an executive. Two characters who represent an American dream and whose life is turned upside down when Roy is sentenced to twelve years in prison and Newlyweds throws himself into the arms of a childhood friend. One of the most recent The New York Times bestsellers it has been considered by Obama as "an example to recognize bad convictions."
Factfulness, by Hans Rosling
Its original title, "Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong Abput the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think”Is quite a statement of intent about what this book tells us. A compendium of advice that encourages us to see the world with different eyes depending on the progression of the human being as a way to subtract iron from what in Western societies we consider as "problems."
To these five Barack Obama readings We should add another very special list of books that the former president recommended shortly before returning to the African continent in the summer of 2018.
Everything falls apart, by Chinua Achebe
Considered one of the essential novels of African literature, Everything falls apart was published in 1958, becoming the greatest consecration of the world. Nobel Prize in Literature Chinua Achebe. Inspired by the author's own life, the novel tells the story of Okokwo, the greatest warrior of a Nigerian people whose world is hit by the arrival of the white man and, specifically, by an Anglican religion that will change everything forever.
You still haven't read Everything falls apart?
A grain of wheat, from Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Eternal candidate for the Nobel Prize, Thiong'o is possibly one of the most representative authors of Kenya, a country whose independence in 1963 was forged by the attacks of the Mau Mau guerrilla organization throughout the 50s. A grain of wheat takes part of that period by introducing us to different characters from a Kenyan village that symbolizes the rebellion against the oppression of foreign powers.
Do not miss A grain of wheat.
The Long Road to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela
Obama model, Nelson Mandela is one of the great figures of the XNUMXth century that symbolize the triumph against foreign oppression. Imprisoned for 27 years after leading the first rebellions against colonialism in South Africa, Mandela was released in 1990 to end apartheid that became one of the most infamous episodes in the history of the African continent.
Read the inspiring The long road to freedom.
Americanah (2013) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
One the great voices of feminist and African literature Today is undoubtedly Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author whose bibliography is nurtured by titles as ambitious as this Americanah. Set between Africa and the United States, the novel tells the story of a young Nigerian woman and her odyssey to find her way into a Western culture where nothing is what it seems.
Lee americanah de Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The Return, from Hisham Matar
The famous Arab Spring which took place in different North African countries between 2010 and 2013 becomes the main setting for this autobiographical novel. Matar analyzes the situation of a Libyan country to which he returns with his mother and wife after more than thirty years away to see the awakening of a nation marked by Gaddafi's death in 2012.
The Return it is an exciting book.
The World As It Is, by Ben Rhodes
"It's true, Ben doesn't have African blood running through his veins, but he sees the world as I see it, and as very few people do." With these words Obama refers to Ben Rhodes, his right hand man during his years of mandate in the White House in which Rhodes took part of all the speeches of the president.
Lee The world as it is, the best testimony of Obama himself.
Have you devoured any of these Barack Obama readings?