Barack Obama shares his favorite movies, books and music of 2022
Former President Barack Obama
By Chandelis Duster, CNN
Former President Barack Obama stuck to an annual tradition Friday, releasing a list of his favorites for the year of 2022, including movies and books.
“I always look forward to sharing my lists of favorite books, movies, and music with all of you,” Obama tweeted. “First up, here are some of the books I read and enjoyed this year. Let me know which books I should check out in 2023.”
Among his favorite written works, Obama listed “The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan and “The Light We Carry” by former first lady Michelle Obama, noting, “I’m a bit biased on this one.”
On his list of favorite movies, the former president included “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Descendant,” which he also noted he was “biased” about since the Netflix documentary was produced by the Obama-founded company Higher Ground Productions.
“I saw some great movies this year — here are some of my favorites. What did I miss?” Obama wrote in another tweet.
Social media denizens quickly pointed out that Obama left off the list one of the highest grossing movies of the year: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The Marvel hit and sequel to 2018’s “Black Panther” has come in second behind “Top Gun: Maverick” in box office gross this year, bringing in more than $421 million at the domestic box office alone since its November release, according to Box Office Mojo. “Black Panther” made the list of Obama’s favorite movies in 2018.
When it comes to the 44th president’s favorite music for the year, songs from Beyoncé and Lizzo made the list.
Check out the full list of Obama’s favorite movies, books and music for 2022:
Favorite Books
“The Light We Carry” — Michelle Obama
“Sea of Tranquility” — Emily St. John Mandel
“Trust” — Hernan Diaz
“The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams” — Stacy Schiff
“The Furrows: A Novel” — Namwali Serpell
“South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation” — Imani Perry
“The School for Good Mothers” — Jessamine Chan
“Black Cake” — Charmaine Wilkerson
“Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands” — Kate Beaton
“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” — Ed Yong
“Liberation Day” — George Saunders
“The Candy House” — Jennifer Egan
“Afterlives” — Abdulrazak Gurnah
Favorite Movies
“The Fabelmans”
“Decision to Leave”
“The Woman King”
“Aftersun”
“Emily the Criminal”
“Petite Maman”
“Descendant”
“Happening”
“Till”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
“The Good Boss”
“Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy”
“A Hero”
“Hit the Road”
“Tár”
“After Yang”
Favorite Music
“The Heart Part 5” — Kendrick Lamar
“Tití Me Preguntó” — Bad Bunny
“POF” — Ari Lennox
“Something in the Orange” — Zach Bryan
“Last Last” — Burna Boy
“American Teenager” — Ethel Cain
“Communion in My Cup” — Tank and The Bangas ft. The Ton3s
“Pull Up” — Koffee
“Saoko” — Rosalía
“Rush” — Ayra Starr
“Break My Soul” — Beyoncé
“Life is Good” — SiR ft. Scribz Riley
“That’s Where I Am” — Maggie Rogers
“Dodinin” — Leyla McCalla
“Sunshine” — Steve Lacy ft. Fousheé
“Calm Down” — Rema
“Problem With It” — Plains
“Feelings 4 You” — Xavier Omär
“Belize” — Danger Mouse and Black Thought ft. MF DOOM
“Tamagotchi” — Omar Apollo
“Home Maker” — Sudan Archives
“Where I Go” — NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge) ft. H.E.R.
“Shirt” — SZA
“About Damn Time” — Lizzo
“‘Round Midnight” — Adam Blackstone and Jazmine Sullivan
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CNN’s Sonnet Swire contributed to this report.
