5 books from Obama's shelf to add to our summer 2018 reading list

Barack Obama, the former president of the United States of America, is known to be an avid reader. Sometimes he even suggests the books he found particularly interesting. Recently, Obama shared a list of five books and an essay he's been reading or has read, along with how he felt about them on Facebook. They're not easy light beach reads but many deal with relevant topics for the American and even the global political climate today. Here are the five books and an essay from Obama's recent reading which you can add to your summer reading list for this year.
(Photo: obamawhitehouse.archives.gov)

The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti
The books talks about how the employment in different regions of America has changed over the past 30 years and the way such potential should be maximised. Obama describes it as "a timely and smart discussion of how different cities and regions have made a changing economy work for them – and how policymakers can learn from that to lift the circumstances of working Americans everywhere."
(Photo: Mariner Books)

Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
This is a controversial book where the author argues the dangers of liberalism, describing how it is based on a foundation of contradictions. Obama said he, "found this book thought-provoking. I don’t agree with most of the author’s conclusions, but the book offers cogent insights into the loss of meaning and community that many in the West feel, issues that liberal democracies ignore at their own peril."
(Photo: Yale University Press)

Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging by Alex Wagner
The book is a true account of a journalist travelling across the world to understand her ancestry and thus find herself. Obama describes it as "a thoughtful, beautiful meditation on what makes us who we are – the search for harmony between our own individual identities and the values and ideals that bind us together as Americans."
(Photo: Penguin Random House)

In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu
Part memoir, part history this book tackles racism and how it has persisted since the civil war. Obama describes the book as, "It’s an ultimately optimistic take from someone who believes the South will rise again not by reasserting the past, but by transcending it."
(Photo: Viking)

Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life by Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael D. Rich, RAND Corporation
As the title explains, the book is about the blurring of the line between opinion and fact now-a-days especially in political and civil discourse in the United States. This report explores the causes and wide-ranging consequences of Truth Decay and proposes strategies for further action. Obama described it as, "A look at how a selective sorting of facts and evidence isn’t just dishonest, but self-defeating to a society that has always worked best when reasoned debate and practical problem-solving thrive."
(Photo: RAND Corporation)

The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy by Matthew Stewart
Matthew Stewart, the descendant of a corrupt oil executive, wrote an essay on the 1% who have accumulated a massive share of America's national wealth. He writes about the inequality which "has reliably ended only in catastrophic violence: wars, revolutions, the collapse of states, or plagues and other disasters."
Sharing his thoughts about the essay Obama said, "Another thought-provoking analysis, this one about how economic inequality in America isn’t just growing, but self-reinforcing – and what that means for education, health, happiness, even the strength of our democracy."
(Photo: theatlantic.com)