Barack Obama names his favorite songs, films, books of 2018

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Barack Obama is sharing his annual year-end list of favorite songs, films and books.

The former president enjoyed rapper Cardi B, the Marvel movie Black Panther, wife Michelle Obama's book Becoming and other media in 2018.

"As 2018 draws to a close, I'm continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists," Obama captioned the list on Instagram. "It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books, movies, and music that I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved."

"It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors, artists, and storytellers - some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before," he added. "Swipe through to see my best of 2018 list - I hope you enjoy reading, watching, and listening."

Obama's favorite songs include "I Like It" by Cardi B, "Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monae and "Wow Freestyle" by Jay Rock. He also included the album The Great American Songbook from Nancy Wilson, who died at age 81 this month.

Black Panther starring Chadwick Boseman, Annihilation with Natalie Portman and the Netflix movie Roma were among Obama's favorite films of 2018. He also liked the South Korean movie Burning, which has yet to open in the U.S.

Obama named Michelle's memoir Becoming as his favorite book of 2018. Other favorites included American Prison by Shane Bauer, Feel Free by Zadie Smith and Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar.

Obama visited Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., last week ahead of the holidays. He wished the public a merry Christmas in an Instagram post Tuesday featuring himself and Michelle.

"Enjoy the holiday season with the ones you love. Michelle and I wish you a very Merry Christmas!" the former president wrote.