Former United States President Barack Obama has listed Indian writer Amitava Kumar’s Immigrant, Montana among his favourite books of 2018.
Obama on Friday listed his favourite books, songs, and movies of the year, continuing his “favourite tradition” of sharing year-end lists. “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,” the former president said in a post on Facebook. “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.”
Immigrant, Montana is Kumar’s second novel and deals with love, migration, politics and race. Kumar thanked Obama on Twitter for reading the novel.
Among Obama’s top picks of books of 2018 are Michelle Obama’s Becoming, VS Naipaul’s A House for Mr Biswas, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Americanah, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Zadie Smith’s Feel Free and former White House staffer Ben Rhodes’s The World As It Is.
His favourite movies include Annihilation, Black Panther, The Death of Stalin, Minding the Gap, Roma and Won’t You Be My Neighbor.
Apes••t by The Carters, Bad Bad News by Leon Bridges, Every Time I Hear That Song by Brandi Carlile,
I Like It by Cardi B (featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin), Make Me Feel by Janelle Monáe, Mary Don’t You Weep by Prince, My Own Thing by Chance the Rapper (featuring Joey Purp), Nterini by Fatoumata Diawara and Turnin’ Me Up by BJ the Chicago Kid were among the former president’s favourite songs. Obama made a special mention of The Great American Songbook by Nancy Wilson, who died this year.
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