Every Single Book Michelle Obama Thinks You Need to Read

Every Single Book Michelle Obama Thinks You Need to Read Even while maintaining a packed schedule, Michelle Obama turns to books to open up new worlds and she believe we should all be doing the same.We need to learn each otherbeis stories so we can humanize each other, the former First Lady said at a New York Public Library press event. There are people who do bad things but we are all just trying to work things out empathy, openness and speaking to each other are vital.Well before the days of promoting her own best-selling memoir, Becoming, Obama welches always vocal about the books and authors she particularly enjoys reading. Below, weve rounded up every title that Obama has publicly recommended (that we could find). Add ansicht to your summer reading list, stat.1. Educated Tara WestoverIts an engrossing read, a fresh perspective on the power of an education, and its also a testament to the way grit and resilience can shape our lives, Obama told the New York Times. Also, since Iv e just finished a memoir of my own, I love to see how people choose to tell their own story the small moments that tell larger truths, the character development, the courage it takes to tell a story fully.2. An American Marriage Tayari JonesThis Oprahs Book Club 2.0 pick has been top-of-stack on Obamas nightstand. NPR calls it a seminal work thats redefining the American love story.3. Exit West Moshin HamidThis New York Times bestselling novel, centering on two refugees escaping a country on the brink of civil war, has received high praise, including the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and The Aspen Words Literary Prize.4. White Teeth Zadie SmithI love the way the story weaves together so many complex and powerful forces that affect our lives and our relationships family and parenting, religion and politics, and so much more, Obama told the Times. Plus, its just plain funny. I love books that make me laugh every now and then.5. Commonwealth Ann PatchettThis humor ous, engaging family portrait, named a Notable Book of 2016 by the New York Times Book Review, is another novel Obama has referred to as sitting atop her nightstand.6. Conversations With Myself Nelson MandelaIts a collection of his writings and speeches, an extension of sorts to Long Walk to Freedom, Obama told the Times. I like to flip through it from time to time because it always seems to give me an extra boost when I need it.7. popsong of Solomon Toni MorrisonOne of the first books that I loved and read cover to cover in one day, not because anybody made me read it but because the book welches good, was Song of Solomon Obama said at a Take Your Child to Work Day event in 2011. That book helped me love reading, because before then reading was kind of like something you did when you had to do it. But that book, it like grabbed me and pulled me and I just kept reading and kept reading.8. The Snowy Day Ezra Jack KeatsObama told the Times that this childrens book was a favorite of Sasha and Malias, explaining why she herself loved it. Its a simple story about the adventures of a boy on a snowy day. He makes snow angels, slides down a snow pile and gets smacked by a snowball. Its a boy who happened to be black and who happened to live in the city. Hes a kid just being a kid, and thats enough.9. Life of Pi Yann MartelIn an interview with People in 2012, Obama and her husband, then-President Barack, said theyd read and enjoyed this book together.10. Where the Wild Things Are Maurice SendakAt the 2016 White House Easter Egg Roll, Obama and her family acted out this classic childrens book on the South Lawn.11. The Light of the World Elizabeth AlexanderThis Pulitzer Prize-nominated memoir was among Obamas favorite reads of 2015. Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise BrownAt the aforementioned Take Your Child to Work Day event, Obama also listed this classic story as one of her and her childrens bedtime favorites.13. Pippi Longstocking Astrid LindgrenI loved her streng th not just her physical power, but the idea that she wouldnt allow her voice to be diminished by anyone, Obama told the Times. Shes independent, clever and adventurous, and shes clearly a good person, someone who always does right by her friends. What I loved most was that she was a girl, and she was a little different, and she was still the most powerful character in those books.--Kayla Heisler is an essayist and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet. She is an MFA candidate at Columbia University, and her work appears in New Yorks Best Emerging Poets 2017 anthology.