As President Obama’s term comes to an end you get a sense of the wellspring of goodwill toward the President. It’s in stark contrast to Bill Clinton and George Bush, whose presidential legacies were tainted by tawdriness and disastrous foreign expeditions respectively. Obama is seen by most as an honourable person who despite being frustrated by a resistant legislature has managed to push through some of his key policies. Obama is also a reader and is a regular at Washington’s leading independent bookseller, Politics & Prose. I’ve seen delightful pictures of Obama and his family shopping at Politics & Prose, surrounded by excited staff. It would be a bookseller’s dream come true to have the President of the United States as a customer! Each year around this time Obama takes a few weeks off and the White House releases a list of books that he’s going to read on his vacation; it’s always an interesting list, nothing too challenging but intelligent and diverse – what you’d expect for holiday fare. This summer’s list is no exception with a couple of my favourites on it. Top of the list is William Finnegan’s terrific surfing memoir, Barbarian Days. The book won the Pulitzer Prize earlier this year and I met Finnegan last month when we were in conversation at our Hawthorn shop. He’s a charming, literate man obsessed by surfing; he’d tried to go to Bells the day before our event but couldn’t get hold of a board or wetsuit. The book is not just about surfing; it’s about growing up and male friendship too – a perfect gift for any man. Also on the list is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, a novel loosely based on the network of safe houses and people who’d get American slaves to the slave-free north. The New York Times described it as ‘a brave and necessary book’. Helen MacDonald’s H is For Hawk, about a woman training a goshawk, became an unlikely bestseller. Obama also reveals a penchant for crime and science fiction in selecting the bestselling crime novel The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Stephenson has a reputation for producing gripping, literary science fiction and has deservedly developed a cult following.

One of my favourite charities is the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). Founded in 2005 by Brisbane bookseller Suzy Wilson, it has developed an impressive and effective suite of programs to encourage literacy in remote communities around Australia. Each year it donates thousands of culturally and developmentally appropriate books to remote communities around Australia; it’s developing an early literacy program for toddlers and preschoolers; and is working with communities and Australian authors to publish community stories. Although I’m now on the board and slightly biased, I believe the ILF is on the road to making a real difference to children’s lives. Wednesday 7 September is Indigenous Literacy Day and Readings will be donating 10% of our book sales to the cause. In addition, Readings donates $15,000 per annum to the ILF. Imagine what we could achieve if every person reading this gave $10 on the 7th? You can donate online and help by coming to our fundraising event with Stan Grant and Richard Flanagan. Thanks in anticipation!

Mark Rubbo