Becoming

I remember the first time I even remotely let myself believe that Barack and Michelle Obama could take residence in the White House. It was when I saw a photo of them flanked by Malia and Sasha in Ebony magazine. It was a beautiful photo wherein the first family were donning winter coats, their faces lit up with hopeful smiles. Could it happen? Would it happen? Do I dare let myself believe the unthinkable? I recollected being a child and seeing the walls plastered with the presidents of the United States—all white men. Who was this black man who had the audacity to believe he could become the leader of the most powerful nation in the world? Moreover, who was that beautiful black woman standing at his side and how did she get there? I, like many others, had never heard of Barack or Michelle. It seemed like a dream, like they had appeared out of nowhere. Who are these people?Well, it’s been a decade since I came across that photo in Ebony Magazine and that unfamiliar family as we all know became the first black First Family. Over the years I’ve learned a lot about these people, but it wasn’t until I read Michelle’s memoir BECOMING that I came to truly appreciate this family and all they’ve sacrificed to reach the heights that they have. Michelle, starting with the preface, pulled me right in, capturing my imagination with her eloquent narrative. When I came to the paragraph in the preface where she said she had heard about the swampy parts of the internet that questioned everything about her, right down to whether she’s a woman or a man, I knew this memoir was going to not just be a read, but an experience. I knew in that moment that Michelle had poured her heart and soul into this book and after reading all 429 pages I was right.BECOMING is a breathtaking, world wind, masterpiece. Michelle takes us back to the South Side of Chicago where she was raised by her devoted parents and protected by her older brother Craig. Michelle wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she was surrounded with immediate and extended family who loved and nurtured her and who stressed the importance of getting an education and who exposed Michelle to arts and culture.Michelle’s writing is so descriptive and intimate that you feel like you’re sitting across from her while she flawlessly reveals her life story. I laughed out loud and sobbed throughout the book. There are so many poignant and heartfelt moments. When Michelle described Craig’s teenage preventive phase which included him having their father lay on the floor so that he could practice hauling him out of the house in case there was a fire, I couldn’t help but laugh. No, if a fire were to have broken out, it wouldn’t have been a funny matter, but the way Michelle described the incredulous look on their father’s face, it provoked much laughter. Michelle’s father suffered with multiple sclerosis and it grew worst over time. She made me cry at her first recital when she became paralyzed at the sight of the perfect grand piano in front of her. She was used to playing on her Aunt Robbie’s upright with the broken keys. Aunt Robbie came to the rescue and placed Michelle’s finger on the middle C so that she could play.Michelle keeps you turning the pages as she takes us from her early years into her high school years and on to college, a journey that is fraught with challenges and insecurities. “Am I good enough?” Yes, that was a constant refrain. Like many of us, Michelle had doubts, but she kept forging ahead, even when the counselor at Princeton told her that she didn’t think Michelle was Princeton material. Michelle proved that counselor wrong when she graduated from Princeton and joined a top Chicago law firm where she became Barack’s mentor.I thoroughly enjoyed reading about their first encounter and subsequent courtship. It was comforting to read that Barack and Michelle weren’t the perfect couple I fantasized they were. And I applauded Michelle for revealing that they had gone to marital counseling where Michelle and Barack came to realize that it was not either of their responsibility to make the other person happy. I was also surprised to learn of their fertility challenges. The more I read, the more I realized that Michelle is so like many of us, with flaws, dreams, struggles and a whole lot of determination. I got so swept up in reading BECOMING I would read until the wee hours of the morning. Yes, it’s that good.She gives a bird’s-eye view of life in the White House and what a view it is. Being waited on hand and foot, living in opulence. But she also writes about the downsides—living in a bubble, restricted movement, guarded, the dark side of politics and meanspirited politicians, trying to raise and protect her children. Whew! You have to have the nerves of steel to be a first lady and Michelle did it with grace and style. I also loved how she outlined all of Barack and her accomplishments during their time in the White House. I knew the obvious, like The Affordable Care Act and Michelle’s fight against childhood obesity, but they did so much more.I can go on and on. So many memories and stories, woven together so well that it will inspire you to want to do more, to look outside of yourself, to want to make a difference, to want to make an impact on the world in a positive and tangible way. BECOMING should be required national reading.Thank you, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama for being enough. For BECOMING!

An amazing insight into a beautiful journey. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can get their hands on it.

I went through a time in my life when the only type of book I enjoyed reading was the Memoir. As a writer in many forms over the years, I find reading someone’s to always be fascinating and important, no matter what their history.This is one of the finest memoirs that I have read in many years. I say that because of where we stand in this country today.I have people close to me who could not read and respect Michelle Obama’s truth. They would spin over the political comments and history she touts. But, I noted that I was 2/3 of the way done with this book when I read the first anti-Republican remark that jumped out at me.But, by that point, I had read so much of Michelle’s voice that I connected with, that I felt I was learning a new perspective from some a whole lot like myself, despite our vastly different upbringings.She talks often about her hope for our young people and a new country built on tolerance, Grace and respect for differences. But I see a younger generation of kids who are quick to group think and shame. I think it will be up to my generation to continue to teach and reach for a more tolerant and loving tone.I don’t know how much help Obama had in writing her memoir. She credits a great many editors at the end. I probably highlighted 10 different places where the words really spoke to me with such Grace. And, a part of me is OK with the thought of a group of all types of folks working together to create something that has the potential to change minds. I think that is really the point of her writings.

First, let me say that while an avid reader, I choose historical fiction and an occasional mystery/legal thriller over memoirs/non-fiction, with just a few exceptions. Michelle Obama’s BECOMING is one of those exceptions. For one thing, I was intrigued by the title. Frankly, it could have gone either way — I could have been impressed with her honesty or annoyed by her arrogance; so, although I was very impressed with how she handled herself during her husband’s campaigns [for President] and adored her as First Lady, I didn’t really know what to expect from her memoir. Well, as you’ve guessed from the number of stars, it was much more than I expected – it was a deep, revealing and unvarnished dive into her life, written beautifully, with all the wisdom and grace she embodied during her eight years in the White House. And she has a knack for making you feel as if she’s talking directly to you, not as if she’s writing for a wide audience, but that she’s confiding only in you — makes you want to keep reading.There’s not a wasted word in this book, nor do I believe there is exaggeration or tomfoolery of any kind. Descriptions from her childhood, high school and college years are astonishing in their vividness and give testament to her extraordinary memory and gift for detail. Scenes from her marriage expose her struggles with loneliness while, at the same, supporting her husband’s political aspirations.All that said, maybe more important than anything else, Michelle sheds a bright light on what it means to be Black in America. Everyone over the age of 12 should read it.Needless to say, I recommend this book highly.

I usually don’t read memoirs, but I felt a need to remember when there were intelligent, competent, and compassionate people in the White House.This memoir, written by Michelle herself, is very readable. It’s not even that political, as she focuses on her own life, beginning with her childhood on the South Side of Chicago through her experiences as First Lady. A few takeaways:- Michelle recognized early on that education was the path to success. She was laser-focused on “checking the boxes”, as she puts it, striving academically until she achieved degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law. Yet after becoming a successful corporate lawyer, she realized that it wasn’t for her and that she needed to do something more meaningful. This led to jobs with Public Allies, the Chicago mayor’s office, and the University of Chicago.- She charmingly describes how she met Barack, and their subsequent courtship and marriage. They are obviously deeply in love. (Quite a contrast to trump cheating with porn stars and Melania slapping his hand away in public.)- She admits that she doesn’t like politics. She was a reluctant passenger on Barack’s political rise, but yet supported and campaigned for him. She mentions some of the criticism she received during the presidential campaigns. Although not a politician herself, her every word and action was scrutinized, and she was criticized for every perceived gaff.- I enjoyed reading her account of moving into the White House and being overwhelmed by its size and grandeur. We get an insider’s view of what it’s actually like to live there. While she acknowledges the privilege, she also discusses the challenges, such as keeping her girls safe while trying to provide them with a “normal” childhood, having to live in a Secret Service “bubble”, not being able to do something as simple as open a window or go on a date with her husband, and relishing anonymous trips to Target or the pet store.- Although being First Lady is not technically a job, Michelle welcomed the lack of a job description as a freedom to pursue issues that were important to her. The last part of the book details her causes, from the famous White House vegetable garden to working with military families.Throughout her life, Michelle would ask herself, “Am I good enough?” Yes, you are.

Before I begin my review, I must comment on some of the one-star reviews for this book on Amazon. A few make no critical remarks about the actual book, but complain about delivery or something else related to the physical quality of the book. Many of the one-star reviews that disparage this memoir, are not labeled “verified purchase.” Which makes me think that trolls are showing up on Amazon merely to say nasty things about the former First Lady without actually buying the book.Which, funny enough, gets to the heart of many things she talks about in the book. Those who would never accept either her husband or her as President and First Lady. There’s no pleasing such people, so please, please, please, when reading these reviews, consider the source.That said, “Becoming” is an honest and inspiring memoir. Michelle grew up on the south side of Chicago with a father who, even though he suffered from MS, hardly missed a day at his blue-collar job, a mother who was a guiding presence without being controlling, and a brother, Craig, a basketball star and scholar who was protective and encouraging of everything his sister attempted.Nothing was handed to Michelle. She worked hard in school, earning her place not only at Princeton but at Harvard Law School. (She was not given a free ride at either school and graduated with loans like so many young people today.) Even though she was a successful attorney in a prestigious law firm, she sought more meaningful work in the community. I’m not sure many people understand that, like Hillary Clinton, Michelle was successful in her own right, not just because she married Barack.She could easily have left out what she and Barack went through to have children, first miscarriages and then IVF. And she didn’t have to talk about the couples therapy they sought out when their marriage hit a few bumps in the road. She makes it clear that marriage is never perfect, but communication is key, something that so many people understand.Michelle never embraced the political life. She happened to marry someone who was destined to be president, but she had reservations. She feared the loss of her privacy and what being in the public spotlight would mean for her two daughters. But she felt that the country needed someone like her husband and so she signed onto the campaign.I have always admired Michelle but reading her story has helped me to understand this incredible woman even more.

Great for glasses reading

We start out in the South Side of Chicago where Michelle Robinson lived in a low to middle class racially diverse neighborhood. Michelle in her early years living on the second floor of her aunt and uncle’s home. Her older brother Craig was 2 years older shared a divided bedroom. Her high school was named Bryn Mawr’ is that not a suburb of Philadelphia ? From High School Michelle went to college at Princeton same as her brother 2 years earlier. Michelle and Barack warmed up to each other one summer in Chicago with kiss after ice cream cones. Around this point Michelle quotes something Barack use to say to his audience in community organizer Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?” The memories from campaigning in Iowa leading up to the Iowa Caucuses were both fun and exhausting to read about the amount of time and traveling needed to do those Iowa Caucuses. There is a few pages devoted to the time the Conservative media chopped up one of her stump speeches on the campaign trail and edited into the not infamous “For the first time in my life I’m proud to be a American” The same was done to the pastor of there Chicago Hometown Church The Reverent Jeremiah Right editing his speeches and taking out of content his racial remarks about whites and blacks in America. The section in the book about making it to The White House I learned something I never knew that The White House consist of 132 Rooms 35 Bathrooms 28 Fireplaces across 6 floors. She tells of a one time petting zoo brought to The White House for the girls where one of the animals lurched for Malia the secret service shot a tranquilizer dirt that hit Sasha in the arm. But it turned out to be a dream. It was frightening reading that part. The final portion of the book talks about the transition from the Obama to the Trump Administrations. I don’t wish to comment on that as it is very difficult to read. It’s a great read so you should read it. Just keep in mind at it is 424 pages long (Kindle Version)

Your visit to Chicago, In the middle of West Englewood, sat Harper High School. In the school library, you joined a circle of twenty-two Harper students – All African American, mostly juniors and seniors. They described a daily, even hourly, fear of gangs and violence and more family traumatic experiences. One student asked “It’s nice that you’re here and all; he said with a shrug. “But What ‘re you actually going to do about any of this?”“Honestly,” I began, “I know you’re dealing with a lot here, but no one’s going to save you anytime soon. Most people in Washington aren’t even trying. A lot of them don’t even know you exist.” I explained to those students that progress is slow, that they couldn’t afford to simply sit and wait for change to come.”You said “Use school” you pointed out to them the committed and caring adults inside that school who thought they mattered. I can’t imagine what that felt like for you. What a load to carry.I am an American Descendant of Slavery. I have witnessed and experienced first hand inherited traumas and Complex PTSD in my family as well as my community. I never expected a lot of change in the Black communities across America, during your family terms in office. The Office of the President is bigger than any President. I still love your family. It was you I related too, growing up in Chicago has a way of making sure you get a spit load of segregation and mishaps Black Privilege or not. I enjoyed your book and I hope a lot of people read it to know more about you and your family.

I see there are quite mixed responses to this book, not surprising given the age of extreme political polarization in which we find ourselves. Generally I don’t enjoy memoirs as much as well researched biographies, and I generally prefer some time to pass before I engage with any public figures, period. So I’m going to reserve my opinion on where Michelle and Barack Obama will reside in the pantheon of American political figures until a suitable leavening period has passed. But what I did find fascinating and immensely appealing about this book is Mrs. Obama’s willingness to share her early life experiences and her intimate feelings about them so openly with her readers. This isn’t my first “Memoir Rodeo”, and after a while it becomes fairly simple to detect when an author is “shading”, “positioning” or “selectively editing”. While I would say that her book is not without those characteristics from time to time, and does step on the editorializing podium occasionally, taken as a whole it has the ring of honest and sometimes painful truth. Her recounted reactions to her life experiences as she starts out into the world – joy, sadness, exultant celebration, confusion, anger, pride and everything in between – are, of course, on one level, simply those of a very talented and successful young woman. But of far more interest to the reader who sees the world with very different eyes from a person of color coming of age in the late 20th century are the deeper feelings she shares, often with a raw honesty we don’t expect from someone who was trained by her life experience to keep those feelings very tightly under control. It’s very much as though we have simply met a friend for coffee and are both in the mood to open up and share some things we don’t normally talk about, one of those intimate moments friends occasionally have with each other that becomes a permanent part of their friendship forever. It’s unusual in this age of fast moving, instant information and abbreviated emoticons to find such open introspection in a public figure. It’s refreshing, fascinating, humbling and disquieting all at the same time to have been invited for coffee with Mrs. Obama. She is a remarkable woman sharing her thoughts with us about a remarkable period in America.

Our former First Lady, Mrs. Obama, has been an enigma for me since arriving on the scene. Someone you think you know in a way, but yet never could know from a distance. She’s the product of life and people and choices and situations, like anyone, but her’s is a story that led to the most powerful role in the land: First Family.So how does a black woman from Chicago end up as First Lady of the US? Who is that person you see on TV, talked about in the news, and both revered and maligned every single day? She’s always seemed intelligent, well spoken, and interesting. But who is she? She was grace, poise, and beauty in a single package, but how in the world did she end up with POTUS?Without question, this is one of the most enjoyable non-fiction reads I’ve encountered. One of the best autobiographies I’ve taken on. Her prose are engaging, fresh, interesting, and bring you in until you realize it’s been an hour or more and you just cannot put it down.Mrs. Obama is one of the most interesting women I’ve “met” – in that I’ve never met her, yet now know more about her than many I have met in person. Her story is not just interesting, but it blew me away. Her ability to tell a story is not just unique, but gripping, holding your attention with a style of interesting prose. She brings you through her stories as a character in story, then brings the lessons, ideas, and thread full circle in a single chapter, or overall arch of the book.I’m not going to give away any of Mrs. Obama’s stories – she is the far better teller of her own story – but within these pages you’ll discover how her family influenced her, her love of family, how she and the future president met, how they developed as a couple, and how they raised their beautiful daughters. She shares behind-the-scenes stories of history in the making and her front row seat and participation.Without question if you enjoy a good autobiography this is a must-read. If you at all admire Mrs. Obama, read it. If you’re. fan of politics, or women, read it. And frankly, anyone who is interested in intelligent, interesting, and powerful women, this book will show you how one got there, earned her way in, and worked with dignity and poise for everyone because she thought it the right thing to do.

This a beautifully written and thoughtful. There are stories from birth in Chicago to the before and after of the White House years. I may even read it again.

I enjoyed every moment of this book. Michelle Robinson Obama tells us of her life growing up in Southside Chicago; meeting, dating then marrying Barack Obama; then campaigning with him and living in the White House. She mixes her personal story with national events. I loved the behind the scenes insights and details. She is truly an extraordinary woman with profound intelligence and warmth.

Despite my waning eyesight and the horrific pain that is part and parcel of living with a terminal illness, I couldn’t put this book down. For 2 straight days, every moment I was awake was spent with Michelle Obama’s written voice, reminding me of better times when I’d dared to feel emotions such as hope. The Obamas have only been retired for 2 years, but it feels like 20 lifetimes have passed. If there is anything even quasi-positive that can be said of the current, hideous presidency, it’s that trump has managed to make whatever time I’ve got left feel excruciatingly longer.”Becoming” is a bittersweet read, but excellent nonetheless. After finishing it (I even read the acknowledgments!) I closed the book and cried for a bit, allowing myself to wonder for the first time how different my illness might have turned out if the GOP cared even 1/100th as much as the Obamas did and do about the wellbeing of ALL Americans. Put bluntly, had the Republicans not put an axe to Obamacare, I might have stood a chance. I might have lived long enough to welcome my first grandchild into the world or travel to all the places I’ve only dreamt of experiencing. At the very least, were it not for a vestige of slavery known as the electoral college I’d be able to afford medical care and medicinal relief from the all-consuming pain.Beyond how the book personally affected me, there is so much to be learned from it. From little bits of trivia (I had no idea the 1st family has to pay for their own food and highly doubt the current occupants do) to the Obamas relationship with Queen Elizabeth II, “Becoming” was utterly absorbing. It was heartwarming and at times heart-wrenching to watch President Obama’s ascent through his wife’s loving eyes. You could tell how much it affected the 1st Lady to see her husband grieve over the death of his mother, a doting mom who–had she been able to hold on just a couple months more–would have seen her son elected to the US Senate. And then to watch the very same thing happen all over again to his grandmother directly prior to being elected President of the United States… lets just say you really feel for all affected parties when reading the story through Mrs. Obama’s eyes.What was especially refreshing was the candor with which the book was written. She didn’t gloss over her personal imperfections in the hopes of coming across as saint-like nor did she whine about the unfairness of things Republicans and the media did to her even though it would be understandable if she had. (She’s definitely a stronger woman than I am!) All in all, the beauty of the book was in the realization that Michelle Obama unfiltered is just as inspiring, hopeful, and dignified as the Michelle Obama who’d been constrained by the office of 1st Lady for 8 years.It’s impossible to finish this book without remembering how truly lucky we were as a nation to live under the loving, devoted leadership of a man wholly dedicated to serving our country with every fiber of his being. He gave 110% of himself even to those who’d made up their minds to despise him. I have to say it broke my heart reading about all the Obamas did with and for the military when that same military all too often talks of him like something they stepped in. O’Neill, for instance, the Seal who happened to fire the kill shot at bin laden, frequently disparages President Obama on Twitter. (He also makes sickening references to the way he killed 1 of bin laden’s sons.) O’Neill looooves trump of course–a treasonist, KGB loving coward–but disparages the very man who gave that Seal his opportunity to go from an unknown soldier to a recognized somebody. Unfortunately, O’Neill is neither the 1st nor last seal I’ve heard discuss President Obama in a negative light. That newly elected congressman with the eyepatch who got into it with SNL recently said on “New Day” that seal morale is high under trump, but was low under Obama. I don’t know what the hell is being taught to the seals, but the vast majority of the ones I’ve heard speak have been blatant racists. What has trump done for them other than be white? He doesn’t visit combat zones, he disparages gold star families, and he couldn’t be further up Putin’s ass if he tried to be, but morale is high? Ooookay.Despite 8 years of watching Michelle Obama be called everything from an ape to a “tranny” she still believes in going high when others go low. Pat Robertson was scandalized when she dared to wear sleeveless dresses, but claims melania trump’s nude lesbian photos are “art.” This alleged Christian man saw neither grace nor beauty in Michelle and her daughters, but insists that the KGB plant living in the white house (aka Svetlana “I Don’t Really Care Do You?” trump) has both of those attributes. Umm… really?! The woman has had so much plastic surgery that she barely has eye sockets left. But melania is a white, racist, unapologetic birther so the “good” pastor apparently finds grace and beauty in her anyway. (Come to think of it, Pat Robertson is probably the seals’ official spiritual advisor.)I don’t give a damn what the racists say; Michelle and her daughters are gorgeous inside and out. Their beauty isn’t bought in stores or under a plastic surgeon’s scalpel. Their toned physiques and radiant skin pay testament to lives lived healthy, happy, and well. Their regal features are striking in their elegance and beauty. And come on now, Michelle Obama’s ever so slight overbite is downright adorable!Michelle Obama remains my 1st Lady just as President Obama remains my president. I genuinely admire their ability to go high, but I don’t think I’m capable of becoming that person again. Every day I grow a little weaker, every day the pain becomes a little less tolerable, and every night I go to sleep knowing the odds of waking back up become less favorable each time. This book took me back to a better time and place, to the person I’d been the whole of my life prior to 2016. I thank Mrs. Obama for that parting gift. I’ll sleep tonight feeling more at peace.*****UPDATE 9/24/19*****I’m happy to say I’m still ticking (knock on wood!) After almost dying in the hospital, I was able to get an in-state waiver which—long story short—allowed me to receive Medicaid. Medicaid doesn’t pay for as much as one would hope so I still struggle to get the care & meds I need, but at least I have some level of care and some meds now. A big thank you to those of you who reached out to me with your uplifting words filled with genuine kindness 🙂

Before reading “Becoming”, I only knew Michelle Obama as the First Lady of The United States (FLOTUS), that she is the first black woman in this position, that she looked elegant – smiling every time I saw her in a photo, and she made eloquent speeches in Presidential Campaigns and in Democratic National Conventions.After reading “Becoming”, I felt as if a neighbor and friend had just shared the details of her remarkable life story with me, in down-to-earth prose, with occasional wit and humor. Her narratives include deeply moving passages about tragedies, interesting personal traits and amusing episodes, words of wisdom, as well as personal reflections. Even though her life is unique, some of her reflections may find resonance in many readers’ own experiences. Several examples are given below as inducements for reading the book. (Skip the examples if you have already read the book.)A. Moving passages about tragedies:1. When Michelle was only in fifth grade, one of her classmates, a boy named Lester McCullom, who lived nearby, had died in a fire that also killed his brother and sister.2. Her fun-loving friend and roommate from her Princeton days, Suzanne, was diagnosed with cancer and died at the age of 26. When Michelle got to her hospital bedside, it was too late, missing the chance to say good-bye. On her trip back from Maryland to Chicago, Michelle wondered: “How the world just carried on. How everyone was still here, except for my Suzanne.”3. The good-bye scene at the deathbed of her father, who suffered from the debilitating disease of MS for decades, steadily impairing his mobility. Over the years, her father never complained, never gave up and did not miss a day of work, giving his all to the family.4. Hadiya Pendleton, a 15 year old girl from South Side of Chicago, who came with the King College Prep marching band to perform in President Barack Obama’s inauguration parade in January 2013, was shot and killed in a public park in Chicago, not far from her school, eight days after the inauguration. This was around the time of the Sandy Hook School shooting, during which twenty first graders and six educators were killed by a gunman firing a semiautomatic rifle. President Obama went to the Memorial for Sandy Hook, while Michelle went to the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. The pages describing these two events were painful to read but extremely moving.B. Interesting Personal Traits and Amusing Episodes:1. Barack Obama stored his belongings in heaps and felt no compunction to fold his clothes.2. Barack was always late, starting with the first time he reported for work as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin. This caused Michelle, already a lawyer in the firm and assigned as Barack’s mentor, to wonder about the audacity of this young man. Later, during political campaigns, Michelle learned that, when Barack telephoned to say he was “almost home”, it was not a geo-locator but rather a state of mind. He may still want to talk to a colleague for some 40 minutes or to go to a workout in the gym.3. In Barack and Michelle Obama’s visit to Windsor Castle in April 2016, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip came to pick them up when their helicopter landed, with Prince Philip driving. The protocol folks had told Michelle that she was to sit in the front of the car, and her husband in the back with the Queen. On arrival, The Queen gestured Michelle to sit with her at the back, telling her that the rule the protocol folks made up was rubbish. C. Words of Wisdom:1. “I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child – What do you want to be when you grow up?” (To find out why the author says so, read the preface of the book.)2. “You may live in the world as it is, but you can still work to create the world as it should be.” – Barack Obama3. “Kids care about fame, it turns out, for only a few minutes. After that, they just want to have fun.”4. For politicians: “The more popular you became, the more haters you acquired.”D. Reflections that resonate with this reader:1. Her family (parents, brother and herself) lived on the second floor of a bungalow in the Southside of Chicago. It reminded me of the 300 or so square feet room my family of four lived from 1950-1955, in Hong Kong. The room had just enough space for a double bed, a bunk bed (for my brother and me), and a couple of small desks. There was a common kitchen, toilet and bath facility nearby, shared with several families.2. Their uprooting from Chicago to the White House reminded me of our uprooting from the U.S. to Hong Kong in 1973 (with a baby) and again from Hong Kong back to the U.S. in 1985 (with three school-age children).3. “You’ve got to be twice as good to get half as far”.This is intended as advice for African Americans. However, it resonates with me, an Asian American.4. “Hard work didn’t always assure positive outcomes”. Probably many readers had experienced this.While the book covers almost all periods of the author’s life before she became First Lady, from her childhood to the various stages of schooling, through her professional careers as a lawyer, vice president at a hospital and the director of a nonprofit, there appeared to be a gap. Detailed accounts were given of her experiences in elementary school, high school, and Princeton. However, not a word about her life as a student at Harvard Law School. On p. 355, when she listed all the people who had helped build her confidence, there was no one associated with Harvard. Makes the reader wonder why.In conclusion, in reading “Becoming”, I experienced again the recent history of this country through the eyes of a former First Lady, learning about the power and limitation of the presidency, and the good and ugliness of politics. I learned the agonizing balance of her career plans and those of her husband, the intensity of Presidential Campaigns, the pros and cons of living in the White House, the challenge of raising two teenage girls when their father was the President of the United States, the projects she initiated for improving the health and education of children, the dismay she felt when Hilary Clinton was not elected President in 2016 but maintaining her optimism about our country nonetheless. After learning her story, I have the feeling that Michelle Obama is someone who, if a reader has the opportunity to meet her, she would also be interested in listening to his/her story. For this reader, it is the story of an immigrant who grew up in the countryside of Hong Kong, somehow managed to obtain a degree from an Ivy League University, led a career in higher education in Universities in the East and West Coasts, the Mid-West, as well as the Deep South of the United States of America – nothing glamorous, but in the spirit of the American Dream nonetheless.

When I heard Mrs. Obama was going to write a memoir about her life, I knew at once that I was going to read it. I was excited to read the details of how she and President Obama met and fell in love, what it was like being a busy working mother of two on multiple campaign trails, the intricate details of living in the White House and how the first family executed their 8 years in office with grace and dignity.Politics aside, this family is an inspiration, Mrs. Obama is an inspiration. I cried when she told the story of the only time the President needed her during the work day, and I laughed when she talked about their girls antics on the campaign trail. I was inspired to expand my own home garden after reading about the garden Mrs. Obama had built on the White House lawn, and will strive to make sure my children have healthier options as they grow.Some of the things she wrote about shocked me, like the federal funding for redecorating for each new first family, or all that is actually included in the presidential motorcade. I have a new respect for all past, present and future Presidents and their families – they really do have the hardest job in the world.The worst part about this book was the end; the fact that it had to end. I wish I had known some of this information while the Obama’s were in office and I wish they could have more time. I’m grateful for all they did for our country while they were in office and I wish them all the best for the future.

I attended Barack Obama’s first inauguration. It was coooooold! After the swearing in ceremony, we tried to escape early and beat the metro traffic but I didn’t know DC well and inadvertently tried to cross Pennsylvania Avenue, where the President always walks to great folks (good to know for next time!). So inevitably we couldn’t cross and were stuck for hours… I already mentioned it was cold right ? Well, silver lining was that we got to see the Obamas strut and do their “we in this bish!” thing. I smiled and waved as Obama turned in our direction, but when I saw Michelle Obama…I went BANANNNNNAS ! Something came over me and I turned into an adolescent girl at an Immature concert (circa 1994)…and then… she noticed me & laughed because of my excitement. I.Made.Michelle. Obama.laugh! No lie, this is one of my most cherished memories and I have been BEYOND BLESSED in this life with lots of other incredible memories and experiences so this says something.So of course, when her book came out I was exciiiiiited. I signed up for the waiting list at my local libraries (yep, I use two accounts, shout out to supportive friends and fam!!). I was like #10 of 50 on one list and like #200 of 400 on another. In the meantime I watched interviews on YouTube where all the spoilers reinforced the fact that this wait list thing just wasn’t the business so I ended up buying the book on Amazon (if I’m going to give my money to anyone, then Michelle Obama can taaaake it!).What I read was far more than I’d expected. All the videos and interviews online focused on marriage counseling, in vitro and trump drama (spoiler alerts!) but those are nothing compared to the depth of what this woman shared with the world. I didn’t know it was possible to love and honor her so much than I already did (although admittedly I didn’t know much about her except for what she represents as the first African American First Lady – that info was enough for this great grand daughter of the Great Migration!). Reading Becoming was the first time I learned her story and that’s just it: she is a woman wedded to her husband but separate from him. Living her life, doing her thing, inspiring us all while she strives to honor herself within her particular social and historical context.While reading, I cried, laughed, and basically highlighted the ENTIRE book. I sent screenshots of passages to friends who are going through their own human challenges bc her life & inner reflections are so applicable to millennials in our 30s trying to find purpose in life, children who have lost parents, new mothers, people trying to disentangle ourselves from the validation of others and striving to discover the best way to be of service to the world.I highly highly recommend this book! It is raw, honest and compassionate. Highlighting that we are all in the process of becoming and can constantly work toward higher levels of authenticity and love.

Buen producto

A few of my friends and relatives (very few) who have NOT read Michelle Obama’s book have asked me if it’s worth buying. How many ways can I say “Yes?” Hell yes! Absolutely! Without question!With four of the 24 chapters remaining, I am nearly finished reading “Becoming.” To say that the book is a page-turner is an understatement. I started out reading it like some folks dive into a box of chocolates. Now I’ve slowed my pace because I don’t want the book to end.I am a crier. I admit it. Sad movies. Sad songs. Sad things, in general, make me cry. I also turn on the waterworks when I’m happy. There are things in this book that made me shed sad tears, but there are numerous disclosures that produced happy blubbering.It is NOT a book about politics, though political involvements are inadvertently part of her story. Michelle reiterates numerous times that she did not want or pursue a life in the political arena, but she fell in love and married a man who brought her with him into the limelight.Michelle is honest and inspiration when she talks about growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law Schools and pondering the decision to give up career choices that she enjoyed in return for getting married and later struggling to maintain that marriage. She talks about motherhood, her miscarriage and finally birthing two beautiful daughters.If you ever wondered, as I often have, what happens behind the scene when a married couple gets on the campaign trail, she lays it all out there for you. The good, the bad, the challenging, and the ugly experiences of becoming a public figure. Michelle exemplifies her motivational mantra, “When they go low, we go high.”“Becoming” is a powerful book. It is inspirational to anyone who reads it, but it is a gift especially to Black women who often feel that we are frequently unfairly portrayed as the angry black woman. You will draw fortitude from this book. The former First Lady is intelligent, funny, and can write her a** off. I’ve read a lot of books, and this is the BEST one I’ve read in a long time.

On January 17, 1964, a baby girl was born to Marian and Fraser Robinson. They named her Michelle LaVaughn Robinson. The family, which also included older brother Craig, lived on the second floor of a small house on the south side of Chicago. The house was owned by Mrs. Robinson’s aunt who lived on the first floor, where she gave piano lessons during the day. Mrs. Robinson was a stay at home mom, but Mr. Robinson never missed a day of work at the water filtration plant where he was employed, in spite of suffering the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. There was never a lot of extra money, but the home was filled with love, books, and music, and the kids were surrounded by a close knit extended family.No one would have imagined that the little girl living in this house would go on to graduate from Princeton and Harvard Law School. Or that she would fall in love with and marry a man named Barack Obama, and the two of them would one day become President and First Lady of the United States.I enjoyed this book immensely. There is so much to admire about Michelle Obama. I will just mention a couple of them. In her role as First Lady, she advocated tirelessly for children. She fought to get more nutritious meals in school cafeterias and more physical education to combat childhood obesity. But what I admire the most is her grace and dignity. In spite of the vitriolic crap thrown at her, in spite of the lies told about her and her husband, and the overt racism, she never lowered herself to their level. “When they go low, we go high” may or may not have been the best policy politically, but it is who she is.Michelle Obama has made a positive difference in so many lives. She will be turning 55 in a few weeks. I don’t know what her future plans are, but I know one thing for sure. She, and her husband, will continue to make this world a better place.Five stars for her book. A whole sky full of stars for her.

In Becoming, First Lady Michelle Obama, not only gives us a detailed look into the night of the November 4th, 2008 Presidential election, but she steps back in time after the introduction and gives us layers of her personal life from childhood to puberty and from puberty to adulthood. We walk the blocks of Euclid Avenue on the Southside of Chicago. We meet her parents Marian and Fraser Robinson, and her elder brother Craig, as well as extended family members, like her Uncle “Southside,” who introduces Michelle to jazz and Motown artists such as, Stevie Wonder. We would return to Michelle’s small house that was shared with her great Aunt who taught her piano. We would feel Michelle’s angsts from her first piano recital to her big decision to fight to get into Princeton.Early on, we could tell that the young Michelle Robinson, who was filled with curious questions, would grow up to be an intelligent and independent woman. Without question, you could foresee her breaking White House traditions as First Lady, not disrespectfully, but in a way that awakened a new dawn and era.Socially, it seems Michelle chose her friends and boyfriends as wisely as she chose her career. She never lowered her standards. Her every move seemed calculated and driven by a checklist until she met Barack Obama. Obama was a man who helped Michelle to relax her shoulders, have some ice cream, and breathe and appreciate the spontaneity of life. He also helped her to find her true passion in order to discover genuine happiness.In this book, Michelle lays out a plate of honesty that spills over human imperfections that we all contend with on the day-to-day basis. She didn’t hide her flaws or pretend to be someone she is not. Thus, my favorite quote is: “Barack and I told our stories and shared our stories because too often people focus on stats. Stats do not tell us who people are.” It is therefore not surprising that Michelle and Barack Obama won the 2018 Most Admired People, despite not being in office anymore. People feel connected to public figures who are honest, compassionate, forgiving, and sincere.I hope that whatever Michelle Obama continues to “become,” that it will be for the good will and purpose of living a fulfilled life that satisfies her soul and helps others.

This was a good read, and I like Michelle Obama for her ability to keep it real and inspirational for young women of the 21st century – and for not glossing over the challenges she faced along her journey with and without Barack Obama. I highly respect and admire the position she held as First Lady (and the first African American one at that). I believe she is genuine, has a strong work ethic, and is an excellent role model for professionalism and parenting. However, there were many Black women who came before her whose work is substantially, in my opinion, significant. For example, in 1973, Marian Wright Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund as a voice for poor children, children of color, and children with disabilities. She was the first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar. She graduated from Spelman College for Women and Yale Law School. Her father died when she was fourteen. She was/is a phenomenal activist whose accomplishments/visibility were not, in part, due to the political attainment made by her husband.To that end, I am not one of the readers who “couldn’t put the book down” as I read about her accomplishments and goals. What moved me, and what she did well, was write about the passionate and endearing commitment of her parents to her and to her brother. Her father was the epitome of manhood. I felt as I had lost my father all over again when she wrote of his final days and of his passing. Even as Michelle ascended to the White House, her mother was there for her to assist in caring for her children. A large segment of the population did not/does not have that level of support. I am happy she took the time and space in the book to acknowledge her privileged upbringing – which had nothing to do with materialism. Well done!

I can only imagine the dedication, dignity, and sacrifice one gives to be in office while raising a healthy, happy family and staying true and authentic to inspiring, leading, and striving for the American people, and really, the people of our world, to have better, to come together, to recognize the world as it should be. Ms. Michelle Obama has instilled an honesty and spirit into making change right along Barack Obama, and the force of them both remains everlasting. It saddens me, this game of politics, how it tries its darnest to break one down, all for an agenda that says my side wins. That’s not how it should be and the presidency of the 44th family proves that a way exists to work for what’s right, as simple as that. I admire the Obamas and appreciate the reflection that Ms. Michelle instills in this memoir of women, black women, minority women, women who have been oppressed, who feel stuck or unfulfilled, not enough, or taken down, that we all have a voice, and we all matter. We ARE enough. Ms. Michelle brings life to her words through her remembrance of early childhood, that old piano sticking out to me, but so beautiful for the possibilities it delivers. I see my dad in Mr. Fraser Robinson, his strength, determination, and bravery. I see that in my mom, in the optimism to hope for better and know that there is better, despite where one may come from. I love seeing the family bonds, how the family grows, their appreciation for their circumstances through the eyes of Ms. Michelle, but as well, all that it cost mentally, emotionally, because I can now have a better understanding and appreciation of just how much their work has meant. Of its magnitude. And that, I will never take for granted.Through Ms. Michelle’s words, I see her as she has always been on my t.v. screen, without artifice, but human, smart, compassionate, empathetic, passionate, hard-working, motivated, honest, and fun. The perfect partner to our 44th president, and someone that makes me feel hopeful that it will be okay, perhaps even when it’s not.I find myself wanting to do more, to find my own voice, my own becoming, and simply appreciate the moments in life to let myself to just live.

Many of us feel like we truly know Barack and Michelle Obama from their eight years in the White House. We grew to appreciate and love them both. But in this memoir, this treasure, Becoming, Michelle Obama not only relates her life but manages to inspire and show us that she and her famous husband are full, rich, mostly ordinary folks. Michelle lets us know how passionate she is about the welfare of kids, especially her own. She gives details of her accomplishments in that arena as FLOTUS, First Lady of the United States. But she makes it clear that her primary focus is being a good mother, good daughter, and good wife. Note that good mother is the first thing I listed here, for she is, above all else, dedicated to her girls. Her main objective as a mother in the White House was to see that her daughters led as normal and as spontaneous lives as possible in that fishbowl with all America looking in. With clarity, structure, and fine writing, Michelle Obama tells her story, from growing up in a middle class African American family on the south side of Chicago, where love abounded, common sense was instilled, and education stressed, to her becoming a lawyer, a public servant, a wife, a mother, and the First Lady. She did it all cheerfully, finding ingenious ways to tamp down stress, have a career, and raise her girls whose father was absent some of the time because of his political ambitions. In Becoming, she tells sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching anecdotes of her meetings with famous figures, wounded soldiers, young people, and mothers who lost their children to violence. She also makes it very clear that she hates politics. She did a lot of politicking to support her ambitious, brilliant, and beloved husband. But she, herself, is glad she is “out of the game” except for an occasional stump speech. And surprisingly, she lets us know that this man she adores has his own warts. The Obama we know as a public figure and love as a down-to-earth but somewhat god-like figure does indeed suffer some human traits that drive his wife up against the wall! And that’s what makes this book so wonderful. I read Barbara Bush’s autobiography, and although I still think of her a gracious, great lady, her long-winded, mostly gushing accounts of everyone she ever met made for a sluggish, often boring book. But Becoming is lively. Michelle Obama is brilliant, wise, educated, a talented writer, and her book is indeed a treasure—as is she.

For me, Becoming adds another meaning to the phrase”the grass is greener on the other side.” NOT! !! I have the book a five star rating because I believe that it depicts the true scenario of what being the first black president and first black family in the history of the United States of America was like, not only for Mr. Obama, but specifically for Mrs. Obama and their entire family. The glamor and the glitz is what one generally sees, what the media and society chooses to focus on. The behind the scenes anxieties and their impact on the family are rarely highlighted. The honesty with which Mrs Obama highlights the behind-the-scenes tensions that existed was also refreshing to read. It makes me wonder why any person of color would want to subject themselves to this type of pressure. Would we be better off trying to affect change in smaller, more measurable ways. Will the United States of America ever be ready for a person of color who has visions and principles and a sense of oneness for alk. I wonder sand I wonder.There was nothing about the book that I did not like. Reading it felt like anticipating the emergence of a butterfly from it cocoon. It felt good inspiring for someone like me who has also felt that invisible sense in a room is people who should already know who you are and why you are. The book is a testament to why education is important; it may not make you a millionaire in that monetary sense of the word, but it could make you a billionaire in many other respects. I would recommend this book to everyone but most assuredly to young black women everywhere. Becoming is a process that one has to be equipped and prepared for; a process, as we can see by Mrs. Obama’s examples, that is never completely done. WOW!!!

“Becoming” by former First Lady, Michelle Obama is my book for the month of February. It tells the story of a young black girl born and raised on the south side of Chicago, by struggling but hard working parents who gave her and her brother, Craig the gift of love, security and education. The parents spared no expense when it came to education so as to give Michelle and Craig leverages in life and open them to opportunities the parents never had.Obama chronicled her experience growing up in a poor neighborhood, attending public schools where students were not expected to be Ivy-league bound, yet she persevered, worked hard and disregarded the negative remark of a guidance counselor who told her that she was not suited for Princeton University.She ended up attending Princeton University for her undergraduate degree, then to Harvard Law School for her law degree. “Inspiration on its own was shallow; you had to back it up with hard work,” she writes.While she was a junior associate at a prestigious law firm in Chicago, she was assigned to mentor a second year law student, who was interning at the firm that year. That intern was Barack Obama. Their professional relationship, blossomed into friendship, then they fell in love and eventually got married, creating a formidable union of Ivy League educated intellectuals with shared values of hard work, altruism, self-respect, respect for others and the vision to make the world a better place.“Becoming” reveals both the strength and vulnerabilities of Obama’s marriage, she recounts their inability to initially conceive and miscarriages they experienced , and their resort to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to create their two daughters. It tells of the couple’s marital issues brought on by the changing dynamics of parenting, professional life and politics and the solution they found through marriage counseling.“Becoming” gives insight into the marriage of the former first couple, the political rise of Barack Obama, the eight years of the historical presidency, the challenges and accomplishments.“Becoming” is inspirational, it engenders faith to strive for more in spite of the negative factors. In the writer’s own words, “becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end…Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.”This best seller is a must read with fluid writing style that arrests the reader from the first page to the last.

Michelle is not just the wife of Barack! She is so much more than that. At the moment I am writing this review, I notice that there are 11,946 reviews of this book at Amazon. I am joining this lengthy list not because I want to convince people to buy and read this book. As an author, I earn royalties on each book I sell, but I didn’t write this one. So, I don’t get any money from its sales on Amazon. I just want to share some of the glimpses that I got into who this author is. What follows are some of the “Aha!” moments I experienced as I listened to Michelle tell me about her life and the things that really matter.Michelle is bold. She looked back on her experiences in second grade and called her teacher “incompetent.” Wow! That is quite an assertion. Was she? I don’t know. I was not there. As an educator for twenty years, I saw how students behaved in response to a lack of leadership, a lack of organization, lack of discipline and order. Chaos, and little/no learning. I get it. I have seen this first hand in nearby classrooms working with very poor minority children. Michelle was fortunate that she had a proactive mother who did something about it by bringing it to the attention of the administration. Michelle had an advocate as a parent, someone fighting for her. Cool!Michelle notices things. She told a story about visiting the Stewarts, friends who moved out to the suburbs, what her brother did (play sports all day), what she did (follow the older girl around), and what happened to their vehicle while it was parked outside (keyed with a sharp object by someone living nearby). What I noticed in this story, though, is that Michelle recognized the effects that being “light-skinned” could have on an individual. She didn’t get all preachy or angry or cynical, but merely wove a concept into a story and let the reader notice (or not notice). In noticed, and I have seen this in the real world. So, I wonder. How must a dark-skinned person feel, a black person whose skin is chocolate-brown, seeing how television shows and movies and advertisements showcase light-skinned black people as “beautiful” and “desirable” (and villains often as very dark-skinned actors). Hmmm. Something to think about in a world where white people dominate, and black people are valued and trusted if they are “light-skinned.”Michelle asks questions. She talks about having two white roommates in college, yet not spending much time with them. Did she hate them, envy them, or just not have a lot in common with them? I wonder. And when Michelle shares details of the parents and grandparents of a roommate, and how horrified they were that their white daughter/granddaughter was rooming with a black girl (Michelle), wow! This is real. Life. Being different, feeling different and uncomfortable. I can’t help but wonder what effect this had on Michelle’s roommate, and if she ever grew to feel more comfortable with being different and with different people. Have we moved past that? Do kids have to keep things secret from their racist and ignorant parents? And worse, are those kids feeling that distrust and angst toward people who have a different skin color or different experiences or are from a different part of the country? I wonder.Michelle endures. As she spoke about having to endure the frustrations that a structured and organized person does who lives with a slob (sorry, that’s my word), I saw parallels to my own life and roommates that I have had. You just have to deal with some things, accepting people as they are and not trying to change them into a clone/copy of you. Good advice, though I am still working on that.Michelle is perceptive. When she spoke about her friend that attended a predominately black university (Howard) while she attended one that was predominately white (Princeton), I understood her comment “she didn’t have to feel that everyday drain of being in a deep minority.” I am the majority almost everywhere I go (except when I donate plasma). I rarely feel like I don’t belong there. I fit in. Being a black girl in a class/room full of whiteness? I don’t know how that feels. That was Michelle’s daily life. And the effects that it had on her, the changes that it made in who she was, how she felt, and how she interacted and reacted to others, is real. That she is able to see this and talk about it says something about her depth of intelligence and character.Michelle notices. When she talked about a lack of hope in the black community, with “a cynicism bred from a thousand small disappointments over time,” that woke me up. It’s some-thing that I haven’t had to deal with in my life. I can’t under-stand it, because I haven’t lived it. I haven’t been judged or critiqued or looked at or discriminated against again and again and again, so I don’t know what this means. I try, but it’s all cerebral. I lack real-world experience.Michelle is responsible. When she talked about the days when her father’s health literally crippled him, yet he lived by the mantra that he and Michelle’s mother had taught them, “handle your own business”, I marked that page so that I would remember it. Handle your own business, and let others handle theirs. That’s a good way to live life.Michelle connects. When she talked about the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and how she looked up to this white female character, I wondered who I followed and admired when I was young. Which characters were independent and funny to me? So many female characters have been portrayed as finding meaning and happiness as wives or mothers, instead of being individuals and entrepreneurs, explorers and adventurers. Supporting roles, roles no longer defining women or femaleness in the modern age. What effect does that have on people? I wonder how many young girls looked up to Mary Tyler Moore.Michelle is strong. When she admitted that she and Barack went to counseling, I thought that was smart. And when she set her own limits and expected Barack to meet the expectations, and moved on whether he did or didn’t, that was good parenting. I love that she didn’t teach her kids that “life began when the man of the house arrived home.”So, what shocked me? The cascade of vehicles and support staff that ride along with the President, her husband, whenever he leaves the White House was something I did not know (page 287). So many people and vehicles and just-in-case emergency response units. Wow!What made me laugh? “Yammering.” “Inexpert critiques.” “Loud and reckless innuendos.” Yep, she called out Donald Trump loud and clear, not mincing words. And, it is true. By the way, a funny thing that the news media noticed about the sales of her book were how in a week she had passed decades of the sales of Trump’s book. A week…decades. Ha! We all know who won that contest!One of the saddest parts of this book related to her husband. For the entire time that her husband was President, the opposition party (Republicans) spoke openly and loudly about keeping him from being successful. The successes that he achieved were successes for Americans, so Republican efforts to minimize and eradicate these successes hurt voters all across this great country. I am still sad at the intensity to destroy the steps forward that he took to make America a better and kinder country. It’s just sad! And when citizens whitewash and ignore all this vitriol and vote for candidates who proclaim that they are going to do even more to destroy Obama’s good work, it saddens me. Michelle is his wife, his partner, the person he talks to and listens to. It saddens me that she must endure this hate from the Right. Her husband was/is a good man. I hope that her kids avoided this negativity.Finally, I wonder if there is still hope for America. When I read about how Michelle (and her husband) consoled staff (and the nation) after the election in 2016, letting them know that hope is always alive when it is acted upon by people who want to make the world a better place, I believed her. One election cannot erase the eight years we just had. One person cannot ruin America or my life. I must have hope that the good people of America will elect a thoughtful and kind President again, one who stands up to injustice and who doesn’t tolerate hate and greediness in her/his administration. Yes, I just said that. Her.If you are interested in learning something about Michelle, then read the book. She wrote it (not a ghost-writer). Read her words, her story. You’ll find out how Michelle dealt with life’s challenges and uncertainties, and get to know a very good per-son.

Most political memoirs are bad, cliche, and use life experience as a means of getting to a talking point. Fortunately, Michelle Obama’s Becoming, much like Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father, avoids these pitfalls. Michelle is a fantastic author who comes across as consistently authentic despite the loaded nature of “authenticity” as a concept and the difficulty of embodying it in a position of mass scrutiny. Strip away the entire second and third sections of the book, which detail the development of her relationship with Barack and her experience as First Lady, and you would still have a beautifully rendered portrait of American life in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago that would put many memoirists to shame. Ironically, the least interesting part of this book is her description of her tenure as First Lady, which offers little in the way of political opinions and follows the traditional stylings of the “person whose life has been upended by fame and power” narrative. Luckily, the majority of the book more than makes up for this. Michelle Obama has a gift for humanizing herself and relating to people in a non-superficial way, one that no doubt propelled the political superstardom that came to a zenith in the “They go low, we go high” speech at the 2016 DNC. She makes you believe in fundamental values of civic engagement and kindness without every descending to kitschiness. This trait, shared by the Obamas, doesn’t guarantee flawless leadership or decision-making, but it’s so, so rare (rarer than we think!) and a precondition for pushing a moral agenda successfully. This book is well constructed, empathetic, and human despite appearing in a genre where humanity is hard to find – I’d recommend it to anyone with any level of interest in politics.

The new autobiography of the former first lady, Michelle Obama chronicles her family’s journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House, with wisdom, kindness, and wit. She puts the breaks on where she could and conquered her anxieties to become one of the most famous first figures in politics. She isn’t naive enough to take it for granted. On the other hand, her tone is one of bewilderment at how her life has been quickly changing. .She puts the brakes on where she could. This creates a peculiar sense of tension throughout the novel’s early half, which covers the part of her life about which we know the least. She reflects on her adolescence through the eyes of a little girl from Chicago, speaking in the confident style we’ve come to know from her campaign speeches. By sharing her tale, she accomplished specific goals with her book. We see the true intimacy of the relationship between her and former President Obama. She was a woman who doubted the true form of these politicians and he was a man whose life was heavily involved in politics. We see them admire each other throughout this book. Two opposites who were ready to change the future of our nation. We see the struggles and hardships that they both have had to go through. She is taking the nation on an intimate tour of everyday African-American life and ambitions, documenting her ascent from humble roots to the closest thing this country has to nobility. “I tried not to be intimidated when male students dominated classroom debate, which was often the case,” she recalls. After hearing them, I knew they weren’t any smarter than the rest of us. Michelle Obama describes herself as “determined,” which seems like an understatement given her academic accomplishments and possibilities to change her life through education. As the book proceeded to the Obamas’ final term in office, I was fascinated to know Michelle’s viewpoint on one of the country’s most critical issues. As the book proceeded to the Obamas’ final time in office, I am curious to hear Michelle’s opinion on one of the most significant running topics of her husband’s second term: police shootings of African-American men, women, and boys, which were regularly filmed on camera and prompted the Black Lives Matter movement. Though she covers these topics, this becomes clear that she tends to focus on personal tragedies, such as the 2013 shooting of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old high school kid from Michelle’s hometown. Her book will make you believe that you can accomplish anything.

Serious readers do not, I hope, expect that the memoirs of First Ladies will be filled with scandalous tidbits about life in the White House.”Becoming” by Michelle Obama certainly isn’t, and that is, I think, to her credit.Instead, this is a book that explains what it’s like to grow up poor and succeed despite the odds. It’s a book that explains what kinds of pressures Mrs. Obama faced as the wife of the first African-American President of the United States and how she – and he – coped with those stresses. It’s a memoir that talks not only about successes but also about failures, about challenges that were met and those that were not.In short, it’s everything that I could hope for in this kind of book.Mrs. Obama writes in a clear voice as she talks about growing up in Chicago in a small upstairs apartment, discusses her drive to become a lawyer and how, once she had attained that goal, found that it was not as satisfying as she had hoped. She also writes, in detail, about meeting the young Barack Obama and how he, without really seeming to try to do so, captured her heart. This, then, is a very personal book: It is not a book that delves into foreign policy, the global economy, her husband’s influence on the world stage, or similar issues.It’s because it is that kind of book that I enjoyed it so much. Historians and political scientists will discuss those issues over and over again. Some will proclaim Barack Obama one of America’s greatest Presidents. Others will hold a contrary view. None, however, will be able to tell future readers about the personal lives of Michelle Obama and her husband, the personal stories about her childhood and the impact her father’s degenerative illness had on her emotional well being. None will discuss – or be able to discuss – in any great detail the reasons she decided to leave the law and go into more socially relevant work. She alone can do that and, again in my opinion, she does it well.Just a side note: I personally believe that Mrs. Obama was one of America’s greatest First Ladies because, like Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy – to name just two, she had an enormous impact on both domestic and foreign societies. Her sense of style, her grace under pressure, and her willingness to do so much more than simply host the odd White House dinner made the First Family accessible to Americans and the world in general in a way that few occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have been or will be now and in the future.If you want to know what motivated her to do that, read this book.

I loved this beautiful story of the life of First Lady Michelle Obama. I appreciated her honesty- always threaded through with optimism and hope- about her childhood, her feelings about the political realm, her marriage, her parenting journey, and her determination to make a difference with the “soft” power with which she was entrusted. There were so many things I had never before known, especially about her powerful & long-standing career that she gave up in order to support President Obama in his successful bid for the presidency and the many causes that she personally spearheaded throughout her time in the White House. I close this book with a better sense of the weight of the office of president, on both the man/ woman themself, and on their family and staff. Finally I, even more deeply than before, grieve what we lost in 2016 when America chose fear over hope, and am more determined than ever to do everything in my own power to ensure that we do not make that choice again this year. Thank you, Mrs. Obama, for your dedication to, and sacrifice for, our country and the world, for fighting to elevate those with no platform and amplifying the voices of those who might otherwise never be heard. You are beloved. I honor you. Thank you for this book.

I love Michelle Obama but did not think I wanted to read her book. After watching so many of her interviews I thought there was not much I would care to read in the book. Boy was I wrong. She lets us, the readers, take a so intimate look into her life. We as a country are so lucky to have had her as a FLOTUS. I truly, really, honestly enjoyed reading Becoming and highly recommend it.

BecomingMichelle ObamaRandom House, Nov 2018429 pages, Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audio book, Audio CDMemoirs/Bios, Women’s Lit, History, Ethnic/Cultural✮✮✮✮✮PurchasedThe cover is perfect with its large, captivating close-up of the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, who is the author and subject of this book. It shows her smiling, as I always think of her, but with her hand on her cheek and her arm across the front of her body as if in protection. Perhaps after all the nation put her through, she learned to protect herself and her family, but she still maintains her sense of fun and humor through it all.The story is of her life from the time she was a young girl growing up on the Southside of Chicago as part of a poor black family. She knew they were poor, but it didn’t seem to be the defining sense in her young life. A sense of family, love, and the ability to be and do whatever she wanted was more the rule. And Michelle liked rules and guidelines. They gave her a path to follow, and follow she did. All the way through school and into college and law school, Princeton and Harvard Law School. She strived to follow the rules, and the rules said to succeed, so she did. All the way to a top law firm where she was successful, too.Then along came a different sort of success story. A young black lawyer who didn’t seem to follow the rules, but who seemed to be seen as super desirable by all the law firms, including hers. She was his mentor for awhile as he tried out the firm. Then he shocked her when he suggested that they go out together as a couple. The rest, as they say, is history. Barack and Michelle became.Michelle Obama shares the story of her relationship with Barack, her parents and friends and then their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, as if we were sitting in her living room drinking lemonade with her on a hot summer day. She shares painful memories and happy memories. She shares the highs and the lows of the journey from successful lawyer to former First Lady. From first date to last looks at the White House and saying goodbye to the staff. She shares it all in a very open way. There is no finger pointing here, just memories of things that took place and the feelings that went with them. A husband in the oval office and the sense of isolation that went with living in the White House…not being able to open windows or got out on the lawn for fear of security breaches. Trying to raise two daughters as normally as possible and still satisfy the security services people without scaring the people around the girls at school. Slipping out with Bo and going to Petsmart to buy him a dog toy without security. The many trials and tribulations, successes and satisfactions that came with the efforts and events planned and carried out during the Obama years. The many friends she made that remained close, life-long friends.No matter your political position, this woman’s story is fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys reading about people, especially women, strong women and how they make their way in life. Tears, smiles, and high fives, this is a great book for anyone!

I noticed Michelle during ‘her’ first presidential campaign, really liked the way she handled herself and instantly became enthralled with her. A beautiful wife and mother suddenly thrown into the spotlight and rocking it! I grew to love not only Michelle but her husband (of course) and her two beautiful daughters. This entire family was the picture of (stealing a title from a book I read eons ago) “How It’s ‘sposed To Be!”I loved every word in Michelle’s book.Born as the daughter of a poor farmer in the 1940’s, my story starts maybe even poorer than hers. Though I didn’t have the issue of color, there were so many other things the ‘better offs’ found to look down their upturned noses. Also being from the 1940’s, I did witness the hardships and atrocities laid on the African Americans not only the words used but the treatment as well. I also am sad that these things are still present in our society today. I am retired now with a small pension and have thankfully moved past the outhouse of my childhood home.Michelle laid out her story that sounded like a fairy tale complete with the princess going off to ‘live happily ever after’ with the prince. I am so happy for Michelle, thank her for sharing and hope and pray she never stops being positive.

This book feels important. It reminded me of my favorite classics I read in school. Michelle Obama is a great writer. She may say her husband is better, but she has her own voice. Her masterful use of language and themes, makes this book feel almost like a fictional story. I love her description of her early years in Chicago, her piano lessons, her family. She has a gift of being so relatable while being so truly exceptional. Reading her book made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm hug. I couldn’t put the book down. Her struggles of giving up her career while still trying to make her mark as first lady, her frustration with politics, how she dealt with all the constant criticism and cruelty aimed at her. She is such a strong person. How she balanced being a mom while needing secret service and being so public. Honestly, both she and Barack are great story tellers. I will read any new books either of them come out with. If Sasha and Malia choose to write books, I’ll preorder those now, too.I saw some reviews who were expecting more gossip etc. Why you would expect that, I have no idea. Michelle Obama said “when they go low, we go high.” So if you are expecting a lot of trash talk you won’t find it. But you will find an inspirational book that connects her personal stories with the greater social and political context. I’ve always been a huge fan of hers and now I love her even more. If you are feeling cynical and depressed by current events, her book will help you feel hope again. Thank you Michelle Obama for this honest and beautiful story that took a lot of courage to tell.

I learned a lot, reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming. I learned, first–being neither of these two myself–something about being a woman and being black. Ms. Obama–I can’t bring myself to call her by her first name, which would feel presumptuous; nor by her last alone, which would feel cold–is unsparingly honest and deeply personal in exploring both these fundamental aspects of her life.I learned, too, something about growing up in modest circumstances on the South Side of Chicago, at a time, to be sure, preceding the tragic, daily gun violence we hear about today, but a time when even middle class black status meant lesser educational opportunity and greater social insecurity. (Curiously–and I thought about this often as I read–I visited the South Side during her early teenage years as I worked on a research project into the life and work of the African American artist Charles White, who was brought up in that area in the 1920s). As Ms. Obama describes it in eloquent and compelling detail, it required the loving, often exacting support of a close family and community, as well as an abundance of grit and determination on her own part, to emerge from that circumstance as she did–an enormously self-confident, accomplished, and compassionate human being.As for being a woman and being black, she is honest–though without self-pity–about the obstacles she had to face as she navigated her way through her undergraduate days at Princeton and later Harvard Law School, and landed a job at a prestigious Chicago law firm where she first met… well, you know who. The “becoming” in this part of her story is the transition from girl to woman, from the security of a protective African American community to a world where the privileges of white and male most often went unquestioned, where she confronted herself constantly with the question: Am I good enough? She invites us to accompany her through a daunting series of “firsts”–first woman to, first black woman to…–as she works through sometimes agonizing doubts and critical self-appraisal with unfailing and disarming honesty. We feel her inner struggle even as we admire her brilliant success.As honest with herself as she is with her reader, Ms. Obama leads us through the early stages of a relationship and marriage which are extraordinary only because of the outsize character of its two protagonists. They experience the same illusions and disappointments as the rest of us, the same moments of shared bliss and the same nasty marital disputes. Together, like so many couples in America today, they struggle with their desire for children and the refusal of nature to collaborate without medical intervention. With the eventual joy of motherhood, she confronts the dilemma of so many women who are constrained to make the choice between family and professional prospects. With the growing realization of her husband’s political aspirations, she has to find within herself the willingness to make huge sacrifices–career, privacy, family life–in order to accommodate the potential that she sees in him. We find her torn between personal happiness and supporting her husband in the fulfillment of his goals.And finally, once this man has stepped, against all odds, into the highest office to which any politician could aspire, once he moves into the Oval Office and his family into the White House, she invites us to accompany her as she learns to become something else again, adjusting her first obligation as the mother of two growing girls to those of the–first black!–First Lady of the United States. Through her eyes, we catch riveting glimpses into what it means to live in the presidential bubble, surrounded constantly by men with guns and the eyes of the curious, and required to accept both adulation and vilification with equal grace.”Becoming” is an eminently readable book by a wholly admirable woman. While its background is of necessity the grand canopy of world history, it remains an intensely personal account of a remarkable journey–a journey that starts in modest origins and ends, provisionally at least, at the peak of fame and power. She leaves the reader wishing her well, and confident that she still has much to contribute to the country that, no matter the personal sacrifice, she has served so well.

As with all political memoirs, people are going to judge this book by its cover. There are those writing reviews that want to dismiss it based on principle. I appreciate that, but also feel the need to provide a counterbalance.This is not a memoir about politics per se; it’s not a platform for Michelle to use in a campaign or to bring in a bunch of money. (According to Publisher’s Weekly, she and Barack already received a $65 million dollar advance that they likely won’t ‘earn out’ of – meaning there’s no more money to be had here. They’d have to sell more books that you can imagine to do that.)Becoming is a story about sacrifice. The sacrifices Michelle’s grandparents and parents made for her and her brother, the sacrifices Barack made for his country, the sacrifices Michelle and their daughters made for him. It’s the human-view of the Obama Whitehouse.When it comes to political figures and celebrities, we are quick to dehumanize. We forget that behind every campaign dream, every policy change, every speech, every declaration of war – there are hard working human beings, pushing themselves to make the right moves. These are people who’ve had heartbreak, who are unsure of themselves, who get upset when they are criticized on Twitter.Sacrifice is a big and powerful word, one that often is tied to the negative aspects of our experiences. We think of sacrifice as something we choose out of spite. And often times that’s true. But not in this story. Not completely, anyway. For every sacrifice made in Michelle Obama’s journey to FLOTUS – was one made out of a deep sense of purpose. We all have something to learn from that.This is a beautiful story that helps us reconnect to the humanity in politics. It reminds us that people are not cogs or talking heads; people are people.Michelle’s memoir will be read for generations. It’s by the first ever memoir by the first ever black First Lady of the United States. Let that sink in a little. Buy a copy and curl up. I don’t think you will regret it.[PS – This book is 400+ pages long, which means most people won’t read it all the way through. Especially those who’ve received it as a gift this year. Keep that in mind as you continue scrolling through reviews.]

To be frank, it’s been a rough few years for my progressive values and liberal heart. It’s been painful to see the progress that was made toward more balanced women’s and human rights, toward racism and cultural diversification, representation and respect to be systematically and deliberately undone. I’ve often wondered how the Obamas could stand it. Now I know, because Michelle’s voice tells me herself. If she can maintain her faith, then I can certainly try harder to find mine again.”Becoming” is a book beautifully written. Mrs Obama- Michelle- generously unfurles her personal story of the journey we all take, from the childhood discovery of our strengths and cringing awareness of weaknesses to the formation of our adult sense of self. It’s a story for women and the men who love them, whether husbands, fathers, sons or brothers. It’s a story for white women like me to recognize the many commonalities but unique challenges our sisters of color face so that we can be allies and not “others” to them. I’m grateful to have been invited into Michelle’s South Side Chicago upbringing. I hope millions will take the open door and find much to empathize with in her story. The ability to empathize is surely God’s greatest gift to the human race. If anything can save us from destroying ourselves, it will be empathy.I want to believe I’ll see a better America come back in my lifetime (I’m 59). Reading the words of this woman of great integrity, intelligence and action, who has seen the best we can be firsthand and helped, with her remarkable husband, break barriers and pave new roads forward, is just what I’ve needed to gird myself for the year to come. I hope another leader will rise from the current cesspool to pull us forward again.

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.My Thoughts: As an iconic woman who has redefined the meaning of First Lady by her behavior, her ideals, and her ability to rise above the challenges she faced as part of the First Black Presidential Couple, Michelle Obama showed us even more as we watched their eight years in the White House. But as I read Becoming, I loved glimpsing an insider’s view of her life growing up and becoming the woman who showed us an example of how to lead and serve as a role model.A smart and savvy woman, Michelle revealed much about how to compromise and see the best in those who criticized her, showing her own ability to perform with those qualities.In the end of this impressive story of one woman’s journey, I liked how she left the reader with these thoughts: “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end….“It’s all a process, steps along a path. Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done….“It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”A five star read from a truly authentic woman. Read for the 2020 Nonfiction Reading Challenge.

I thought she did a good job of showing us the human side of who she and Barack were. If a buddy of yours grew up to become the president or first spouse, and it was sort of a fairy tale, a book like this would show the underside, or the real side, of the process.Just like Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, who was not at the time unhinged, this book shows us how some Americans “make it” from the ground up, but that it’s not easy. Making it is a quicksilver process, requiring such ingredients as intelligence, timing, hard work, luck, happenstance….it’s scary how many things can impede the chances of good, smart kids. Michelle Obama chronicles how she managed to make it, and she deserved her good fortune, but she would be the first to tell you a lot of it wasn’t up to her. Which makes you sad about all the kids left behind. Obama is frank with kids who’re struggling against the odds, but in this as in so many other issues, she doesn’t get down and helpless over the burdens. She encourages us to accept what is and work around the challenges. I found that empowering.Her description of meeting and getting to know, then falling in love with, Barack, is really interesting. It was not love at first sight! They became friends, and then sweethearts, and then, over time, deeply in love. We get to see what Barack is like–truly, that’s the stellar aspect of this book, it’s so candid! Michelle isn’t afraid to complain and speak honestly; she struggles as a young adult and a working mother, then as a political spouse. You really see the sausage-works of political campaigns.The book wasn’t gripping, but it was interesting. I’ve always thought she was super-smart and clever, and when she said publicly that she’s not overly introspective, I didn’t believe her. However, by the end of the book, I wondered if it was true, because she minimized some events in her life that would have been compelling had she gone deeper. She was the first / only black woman to do X, Y, and Z. I feel quite sure she ran into a hell of a lot more obstacles than she shares, and in that sense, she kind of minimizes her astronomical climb. How many kids from less-privileged circumstances get into Princeton and Harvard, and then succeed as well as she did? And when she got hired at the white-shoe law firm, what did that really feel like? She doesn’t say. A missed opportunity.There is so much to like about this book, the little vignettes about life in the White House, for example. The policy issues were less interesting; the human issues more so. All in all, a worthwhile and enjoyable read.

She let us in. Decade by decade, she lays it out. She’s just like all of us. You will get to know her better than you know even your closest friends. It’s captivating and enlightening. Her childhood in Chicago and young adult life at Princeton and Harvard were filled with family, friendship, loss, love, community, dignity, ambition, laughter, and great memories for us all to enjoy. She painted the pictures so well. I loved her stories about Barack Obama and her mother. I learned quite a bit about POTUS. What a well-written, first-class memoir!Going doing in history as the best FLOTUS ever, mainly because she had a full 8 years to engineer so many initiatives and touch so many lives and also because she is still young and motivated. She has many more years of impact, including her initiatives—Let’s Move!, Reach Higher, Let Girls Learn, and Joining Forces. The day she and President Obama left the White House, forty-five million kids were eating healthier breakfasts and lunches; eleven million students were getting sixty minutes of physical activity every day through our Let’s Move! Active Schools program. Through Joining Forces, they’d helped persuade businesses to hire or train more than 1.5 million veterans and military spouses. On education, she and Barack had leveraged billions of dollars to help girls around the world get the schooling they deserve. More than twenty-eight hundred Peace Corps volunteers were now trained to implement programs for girls internationally. And in the United States, she had helped more young people sign up for federal student aid, supported school counselors, and elevated College Signing Day to a national level.All this and they managed two terms in office without a major scandal. They held themselves and the people who worked with them to the highest standards of ethics and decency.I must add that I was a tad set back regarding her comments regarding her speech stating ‘she was proud of her country for the first time as an adult’ and of comments about Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama seems to not take accountability for this statement, seemingly backpedaling and blaming the media. I was hoping she would own up to it. When your great-grandparents come to America greeted with ease, new opportunities and wealth creation, you are very proud of America. However, when your great-grandparents come to America greeted with chattel slavery, family separation, and murder, well, the proudness is a “stretch goal”. This should be understandable for all those who know true American history. It adds context of the shameful history of black people in this country. Juxtapose this with the Rev. Wright headlines and it’s like crying foul on one move and chastising someone else (Rev. Wright) for a similar move. She wrote that, “Barack and I were dismayed to see this, a reflection of the worst and most paranoid parts of the man who’d married us…”. Obama’s extreme judgment on Rev Wright’s “spitfire” preaching, and “narrow-mindedness” seamed very dismissive. She recognizes that this is the mindset of those who’d come of age in a time of segregation, yet used language such as “absurd” and vitriol” to him. When her senior thesis was discovered as to be a black power manifesto, however, she called it “small-minded” and “ludicrous” of the media. She said she was young and naïve. They listened to scores of his sermons throughout the 1990s, yet it’s not until 2008 that they are appalled. They distanced themselves for political reasons in 2008 from the man and continue the same narrative and direction. This was, as I believe, to pave the path for their standards of decency. I concluded that her perspective has evolved at a level that none of us will fully understand. She’s sat in kitchens of Iowans, had adorable conversations with the Queen of England and has heard stories of tens of thousands of everyday people. I put this all in perspective…no doubt, and love her like a big sister nonetheless.Her experiences at 54 are incredibly rich, like none other, and we should all be wholly inspired by this memoir.

What do you get a friend who has everything? This was a very special gift that was really appreciated.

This a book that is difficult to resist, the writing is sublime. Michelle Obama has a way with words, this is one of the most fascinating and informative books I have read this yearThere is a great deal to admire about Michelle Obama. A young woman brought up on the other side of the tracks in Chicago, went to Princeton and then Harvard for her law degree, and became the First Lady Of The United States. Some of her success was due to luck, but most is due to her intelligence and her hard work. As a woman and a black woman, she had to work three times as hard as a man, and she proved her worth.Michelle Obama tells us she is writing this book to inspire the next generation. She knows how important role models are, especially for young women of color in a culture that isn’t changing fast enough. She says in her book , ‘Here I am, I have got a lot to say.’ Her book is divided into three sections-:’Becoming Me,” “Becoming Us”, and “Becoming More”. What we find in these pages is a woman opening herself and her world to us. This is a book so well written, with such honesty and integrity, I felt like I was trusted with her secrets.She starts by talking about her upbringing, her life in Chicago, a family who showed such love and at the same time showed her that using her intellect to move herself forward was the right path. Off to Princeton where she was a minority for the first time, learning to navigate in a white world. Then to Harvard to study law, and her first job, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama.Then the life of a married woman, working full time, wanting a family and finally succeeding via InVitroFertilization. Her husband was into politics and was often not home, so Michelle was the parent. Some resentment, and couples therapy helped them through their rough spots. Political life is difficult and the statements by some were hurtful, and she names names. The scrutiny and constraints were a lesson she quickly learned, and went onto become one of the most beloved First Ladies.Now, Michelle Obama, has her real life back, and she is discovering who she wants to be. Malia and Sasha are settling into their lives with plans of their own. Michelle Obama has no love for politics, and she will never seek a political office. Michelle, Barack and the girls are llooking toward to the future.Michelle Obama is telling the truth of her life, she grew up surrounded by love in a city, Chicago, she loves, onward to an education that took her far. She has everything she wanted, family, a husband she loves, and now she is looking at her next adventure. An autobiography I urge everyone to read. This is a book of the year.

Great to see behind the scenes and hear the motivations connected to much of the history you witnessed. Especially from someone that never lost their light.

I am one of the 175,000 people who bought Becoming Michelle Obama in its first week of publication. I am not going to review the book–it feels unnecessary. But I am going to talk about my personal reaction.My interest in the book is part of a long-held interest in the First Ladies dating to the creation of my redwork quilt Remember the Ladies. I read books on the president’s wives and individual biographies and memoirs while developing my patterns. I find the role of First Lady fascinating and at times even familiar.The president’s spouse is thrust into the limelight. The layers of expectations and the deluge of attention and isolation, criticism and idolation, are unsought and unwelcome. The president’s spouse is not elected and garners no salary and yet is expected to represent the country as an ambassador, hostess, and representative. The president’s spouse cannot choose the family’s home. Their spouse works long hours and travels a lot.Michelle honed telling her story on the campaign trail, a way to forge bonds with diverse groups of people. On the surface, Michelle has nothing in common with people like me. But I felt a connection over and over.Michelle’s dad was a blue-collar city employee with MS. My dad was an auto mechanic who worked in his dad’s gas station. He lucked into a job in the auto industry as an experimental mechanic. My mom was crippled with Psoriatic Arthritis.Michelle grew up in a multi-family home, shared with her aunt and uncle. I grew up in a multi-family home, shared with my father’s siblings and his parents. When I was five my grandmother moved in with my family. Michelle shared a bedroom with her brother, separated by a wall and enclosed with folding doors. My grandmother and I had side by side bedrooms, once a larger room that was divided, and enclosed with folding doors!Michelle had piano lessons. So did I. She has a brother. So do I.Michelle had children in her thirties. I had my son in my thirties.When Michelle’s husband went into politics it meant he was away much of the time, leaving her to juggle a career, running the home, and raising their kids. My husband took a job where he spent four hours a day commuting and was home only a few hours a day. He frequently traveled across the states and several times a year was abroad. I juggled the homefront and raised our son.Michelle’s husband’s career left her with difficult choices between stability for the family and being together. She found herself thrust into the spotlight, but also in his shadow with her own accomplishments sidelined to her role as Barack’s wife. My husband’s career as a minister meant frequent moves, some dictated, with no choice of the house we lived in or the school district our child was in. At gatherings, people surrounded him and ignored me. It was expected that I attend events and take on leadership and act as a figurehead. I often did not meet expectations as I tried to be true to myself.When Michelle wrote that she and her husband had always been sounding boards for each other and how Barack had perfected the ability to set boundaries between work and family, being fully present even when they “lived above the shop” my respect grew deeper than ever. Living in a church-owned home with a husband on-call 24-7, parishioners’ happiness dictating housing needs and raises, it was hard to have boundaries between our family life and my husband’s career. When churches were in crisis it affected us all deeply.Michelle Robinson Obama may strike you as someone charmed and glamorous. But, I related to her. I got it.After all, she grew up in a divided bedroom with folding doors.