President Barack Obama Releases 2026 Summer Reading List

The list includes Tayari Jones’s novel Kin and Colson Whitehead’s Cool Machine, according to reporting from Essence.

Obama has maintained this tradition for 17 years, beginning shortly after he took office in 2009. The annual release has continued into his post-presidency and has previously featured authors such as Toni Morrison and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Essence reports.

Featured Authors and 2026 Book Selections

Tayari Jones, a Spelman College graduate, topped the 2026 list with her novel Kin. The story focuses on Black Southern women and their familial bonds and friendships. Essence notes that the book was also selected as the 121st pick for Oprah Winfrey’s book club.

The list also features Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead. This work serves as the final installment of a crime trilogy set in Harlem. Whitehead previously wrote The Nickel Boys, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that was adapted into a feature film, according to Essence.

Obama shared the full 11-book selection via Instagram, where he also asked his followers to provide their own reading suggestions. The curated list includes a diverse range of themes, including 1980s New York City crime and a scientific examination of data tracking from antiquity to the age of artificial intelligence, Essence reports.

Complete 2026 Summer Reading List

• Kin by Tayari Jones
• Cool Machine: A Novel (The Harlem Trilogy) by Colson Whitehead
• Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate by Roopika Risam
• A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness by Michael Pollan
• History by Beverly Gage
• Vigil: A Novel by George Saunders
• Whistler: A Novel by Ann Patchett
• The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
• One Sun Only: Stories by Camille Bordas
• Transcription: A Novel by Ben Lerner

The selections include both narrative fiction and analytical non-fiction. For example, Roopika Risam’s Data Empire explores how information has been used as a tool for power and domination across different eras, according to the list details provided by Essence.