President Obama doesn’t really get the whole “vacation” thing. While in Martha’s Vineyard this week he has appointed officials, received daily briefings, held a press conference, played copious amounts of sports, and is working on a reading list that certainly does not resemble proper paperback beach reads. Someone should give him a few good chick-lits.

Want to get a closer look at our commander-in-chief? Check out the list of books he’s planning on breezing through this week, according to USA Today:


The Way Home, by George Pelecanos

A crime thriller involving a father who sent his teenage son to a juvenile prison near DC. Years later the son tries to reform his life, but gets dragged into a world of murder and greed.

Lush Life, by Richard Price

A look at survival in the NYC jungle.

Hot, Flat and Crowded, by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman

Friedman delves into the upcoming Energy-Climate era, explaining how 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the internet have combined to bring climate and energy issues to the forefront.









John Adams, by David McCullough


A 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of John Adams, who rose to become the second president.










Plainsong, by Kent Haruf

The lives and struggles within a small Colorado town.



















What’s on your summer reading list?

Labels: Barack Obama, summer reading

I’m not calling him the black sheep, but George Obama isn’t exactly the Harvard-educated family man who’s running our country right now. And Barack Obama’s half-brother certainly will have a different story to tell when his book comes out next January.

George, 27, the youngest of seven children, has only met Barack twice in his life. He lives in Kenya and was in the news most recently for being arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession.

George’s memoir, tentatively called Homeland, will detail his fall into crime and poverty as a teen and his rise up in community organizing and advocacy for the poor.

"Even had George Obama not been our President's half brother, his story is moving and inspirational," Simon & Schuster publisher and VP David Rosenthal said. "It is an object lesson in survival, selflessness and courage."

According to one source, George’s story was worth six figures to Simon & Schuster – a lot of money for a man who reportedly lives in a shack and earns a dollar a day.


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Labels: Barack Obama, George Obama, Homeland