What would Obama read

Washington Monthly asked a range of writers, reporters and academics which books they would recommend to Obama. They make for a nice reading list for anyone looking for thoughts on how to get the country back on track. It is a list of policy big think books, histories, reports and literature. While it may be among the less pressing, I was happy to see that George Pelecanos recommended Edward Jones' Lost in the City, perhaps my favorite short story collection. Pelecanos wants Obama to remember that there is more to DC than the what goes on in government buildings and this collection is one to show that clearly.

I have seen this book in the remainder stacks, which is a shame. After the success of the Known World, I suspect it had a large print run, but didn't sell. Short story collections don't seem to appeal as much as novels.

James Fallows recommends a report called America's Defense Meltdown which highlights a number of defense problems with which Obama will need to deal in the coming years. It's quite long, but it is provided in PDF format.