Barack Obama shares favorite books, movies from 2021

The end of the year is often a time of reflection for many — and former President Barack Obama is no exception.

Adding on to his personal tradition of sharing his pop culture favorites, Obama released a list of his favorite books and movies for the year on his Instagram on Wednesday.

“Art always sustains and nourishes the soul,” Obama captioned his post on his favorite reads. ”But for me, music and storytelling felt especially urgent during this pandemic year — a way to connect even when we were cooped up.”

Some of Obama’s literary favorites were Lauren Groff’s “medieval masterpiece,” “Matrix”; the “domestic epic,” “Crossroads,” by Jonathan Franzen; and Ann Patchett’s essay collection “These Precious Days.” Other featured titles included Amor Towles’ “absorbing” 1950s road trip tale, “The Lincoln Highway,” as well as the ‘60s-based crime novel, “Harlem Shuffle,” by Colson Whitehead.

Thursday the former president added a list of movies to his annual round up. Questlove’s acclaimed documentary “Summer of Soul,” Steven Spielberg’s latest “West Side Story” and the upcoming movie “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” starring Oscar-winning actors Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, held space on his list.