Barack Obama's Favorite 2019 Books Includes A Takedown of Facebook and Google's Business Model
Former President Barack Obama on Saturday afternoon released his favorite books from 2019. Among the many on the list was The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, written by Shoshana Zuboff, a Harvard Business School professor who calls for the fighting the economic dominance of Facebook and Google.
Obama tweeted his list of books, saying his favorite movies and movies will soon follow.
"As we wind down 2019, I wanted to share with you my annual list of favorites that made the last year a little brighter. We'll start with books today — movies and music coming soon. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did," the 44th president wrote.
As we wind down 2019, I wanted to share with you my annual list of favorites that made the last year a little brighter. We’ll start with books today — movies and music coming soon. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. pic.twitter.com/l5qTGkAPok
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 28, 2019
The first book on the list by Zuboff details the cost of placing prices on private data, and she says leaders should pay close attention to companies that simultaneously have power over the economy and society. She outlines how big tech companies like Facebook and Google profit off of personal information spread throughout multiple devices by its users.
"Zuboff's book is the information industry's Silent Spring," wrote Chris Hoofnagle of the University of California—Berkeley
Here's the full list of Obama's favorite books, sports recommendations and books suggested from earlier this year.
Favorite Books of 2019
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Solitary by Albert Woodfox
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
We Live in Water: Stories by Jess Walter
Books for Sports Fans
A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney's Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule by Jim Rooney
The Sixth Man by Andre Iguodala
Books Obama Recommended Earlier in 2019
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Finding My Voice by Valerie Jarrett
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu
Inland by Tea Obreht
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
Toni Morrison's collected works
Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice
The Warmth of Other suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel