Here Are My Favorite Books, Movies, and Music of 2024

Barack Obama
3 min readDec 21, 2024

I always look forward to sharing my annual list of favorite books, movies, and music. 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!

Favorite Books of 2024

  • The Anxious Generation — Jonathan Haidt
  • Intermezzo — Sally Rooney
  • Patriot — Alexei Navalny
  • Orbital — Samantha Harvey
  • The Anthropologists — Ayşegül Savaş
  • Stolen Pride — Arlie Russell Hochschild
  • In Ascension — Martin MacInnes
  • Growth — Daniel Susskind
  • Someone Like Us — Dinaw Mengestu
  • The Work of Art — Adam Moss

As a reminder, here are some of the books on my summer reading list:

  • James — Percival Everett
  • There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension — Hanif Abdurraqib
  • Everyone Who Is Gone Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis — Jonathan Blitzer
  • Reading Genesis — Marilynne Robinson
  • Headshot — Rita Bullwinkel
  • The God of the Woods — Liz Moore
  • Beautiful Days — Zach Williams
  • Martyr! — Kaveh Akbar
  • Memory Piece — Lisa Ko
  • The Ministry of Time — Kaliane Bradley
  • When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s — John Ganz
  • Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It — Richard Reeves
  • The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook — Hampton Sides
  • Help Wanted — Adelle Waldman

Favorite Movies of 2024

Here are a few movies I’d recommend checking out this year:

  • All We Imagine As Light
  • Conclave
  • The Piano Lesson
  • The Promised Land
  • The Seed of the Sacred Fig
  • Dune: Part Two
  • Anora
  • Dìdi (弟弟)
  • Sugarcane
  • A Complete Unknown

Favorite Music of 2024

Here are my favorite songs from this year! Check them out if you’re looking to shake up your playlist — and let me know if there’s a song or artist I should make sure to listen to.

  • squabble up — Kendrick Lamar
  • LUNCH — Billie Eilish
  • YAYO — Rema
  • Jump — Tyla, Gunna & Skillibeng
  • Band4band — Central Cee & Lil Baby
  • God Gave Me Feet for Dancing — Ezra Collective & Yazmin Lacey
  • Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido — KAROL G
  • Favourite — Fontaines D.C.
  • Active — Asake & Travis Scott
  • A Bar Song (Tipsy) — Shaboozey
  • Old Dutch — Bonny Light Horseman
  • IS IT WORTH IT — Rae Khalil
  • Texas Hold ’Em — Beyoncé
  • Kehlani — Jordan Adetunji
  • i like the way you kiss me — Artemas
  • Scooter Blues — Johnny Blue Skies
  • Peaceful Place — Leon Bridges
  • MILLION DOLLAR BABY — Tommy Richman
  • Right Back to It — Waxahatchee & MJ Lenderman
  • Stargazing — Myles Smith
  • That’s How I’m Feeling — Jack White
  • Gold Coast — Moses Sumney
  • Ramblin’ — The Red Clay Strays
  • Gata Only — FloyyMenor & Cris Mj
  • Too Sweet — Hozier

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Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Written by Barack Obama

Dad, husband, President, citizen.

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