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Desai mother-daughter duo and Ganavya feature on Obama's 2025 list
Obama has been annually releasing the list since his days in the White House and kept up with the tradition.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Fri, 19, Dec 2025
- 23:46 EST
- 12
Barack Obama / Wikimedia commons
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has released his annual list of favourite books, films and music, featuring multiple Indian artists.
Obama has been releasing the list since his days in the White House and has kept up with the tradition over the years. A man of varied taste, his lists of global artists has featured many Indians over the years.
He remarked on X, “As 2025 comes to a close, I’m continuing a tradition that I started during my time in the White House: sharing my annual lists of favorite books, movies, and music.”
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He added, "I hope you find something new to enjoy—and please send any recommendations for me to check out!"
Obama's list of favourite books features Indian-origin author Kiran Desai for 'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny'. Desai ranks on a list that features Beth Macy, Susan Choi and his wife Michelle Obama, among others.
Kiran Desai is an acclaimed Indian-American author, daughter of novelist Anita Desai, best known for her novel The Inheritance of Loss, which won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award.
In 2025, she published her long-awaited third novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a sprawling multigenerational love story that has garnered significant praise.
Her mother, novelist Anita Desai, was also mentioned as a reminder of Obama's summer reading list.
A three-time Booker Prize shortlistee, Anita Desai is renowned for psychologically insightful works like Clear Light of Day and Fire on the Mountain.
In 2025, her novella 'Rosarita', a haunting exploration of a young woman's discovery of her mother's hidden past in Mexico, was featured on Barack Obama's favorite books list.
Obama's 2025 favorite songs list also features "Pasayadan" by Ganavya, a Tamil Nadu-born Indian-American vocalist whose rendition reimagines a traditional Marathi prayer. The selection places her alongside international stars like Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga.
She is a New York-born, Tamil Nadu-raised Indian-American vocalist and multidisciplinary artist, renowned for blending South Indian classical traditions with jazz, experimental, and devotional music.
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