Barack Obama

n2doc

(47,953 posts) Sat Nov 29, 2014, 09:37 PM Nov 2014

Here are the 17 books Obama bought with his kids today

President Obama and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, visited a well-known independent bookstore named Politics and Prose in Washington on Saturday. The visit was meant to show support for small businesses and to mark a day sometimes known as "small business Saturday," when consumers are encouraged to follow-up the big-chain purchases of black Friday by patronizing small businesses.

The visit is perhaps of most interest, though, for the books that Obama picked up with his daughters. It's hard to imagine the purchases were entirely spontaneous — the White House knows presidential reading gets a lot of scrutiny — but it's still interesting to see. The two that most stand out to me are Evan Osnos's book on life in contemporary China — China is a major and quietly successful foreign policy issue for Obama — and Heart of Darkness. I would be very curious to know who in the Obama White House has taken an interest in reading about colonial depravation and horror in 19th-century sub-Saharan Africa.

Here are the books, largely a mix of young adult fiction (Sasha and Malia are 13 and 16), kids' books (probably a gift), and contemporary non-fiction.

Grown-up books

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, by Atul Gawande (non-fiction, about aging, death, and end-of-life care)

Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune Truth and Faith in The New China, by Evan Osnos (non-fiction, a National Book Award-winner about life in today's China, by the former New Yorker correspondent there, who now covers DC politics)

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson (fiction, a National Book Award-winner about growing up black in 1960s and '70s America)

more

http://www.vox.com/2014/11/29/7307289/obama-books

8 replies

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Highlight:

Here are the 17 books Obama bought with his kids today (Original Post) n2doc Nov 2014 OP

"The Barnyard Collection"..... llmart Nov 2014 #1

This is a family that reads. LuckyLib Nov 2014 #2

Way better than Sarah Palin or Bush Jr. shenmue Nov 2014 #3

But will these books... nikto Nov 2014 #4

Mahalo n2doc! Cha Nov 2014 #5

Heart of Darkness exboyfil Nov 2014 #6

very advanced sounding books treestar Nov 2014 #7

Pretty sure reading books is downright unAmerican SleeplessinSoCal Dec 2014 #8

llmart

(16,331 posts)

1. "The Barnyard Collection".....

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Sat Nov 29, 2014, 10:55 PM

Nov 2014

I think he bought it to give to G.W. as a Christmas gift. I hear he's worked his way up from "My Pet Goat".

LuckyLib

(6,891 posts)

2. This is a family that reads.

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Sat Nov 29, 2014, 11:13 PM

Nov 2014

I know adults that never pick up a book. It's sad -- there is so much to learn as we go.

shenmue

(38,537 posts)

3. Way better than Sarah Palin or Bush Jr.

Reply to LuckyLib (Reply #2)

Sun Nov 30, 2014, 12:02 AM

Nov 2014

They seemed to be proud to be dumbasses.

nikto

(3,284 posts)

4. But will these books...

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Sun Nov 30, 2014, 12:23 AM

Nov 2014

Help Obama's daughters achieve better scores on their all-important multiple-choice achievement tests
that are so vital to the operation of their school, and indicate whether they have qualified teachers, as well as
whether the school should remain open and be praised, or be closed.

If not, then it must be asked whether better books can be supplied for them by Texas-based book companies.

Surely, the Obamas are highly, intensely concerned with the achievement-test scores of their kids and their
school's scores overall--How could they NOT be?

Or, do the Obama girls go to a Charter School?

If so, my bad.