Becoming by Michelle Obama
Becoming by Michelle Obama
This book is mostly about a talented woman's life. It's about her growing up poor and black in Chicago's South Side; about getting married and the difficulties of then living with and loving someone very different from you; about motherhood; and ultimately about being thrust into an influential and very public position that she never wanted to begin with.
I enjoyed the majority of this book and learning about Michelle Obama's early life growing up in a 1-bedroom apartment with 3 other people in the South Side of Chicago. She could have been on the other end of the statistics, but instead she had several people telling her she mattered and thus she did a lot with her life. This was a very important focus of Michelle's message, to show our next generation that they matter so they believe they can achieve anything they set their mind to. I wholeheartedly agree, just because you offer better classes or teachers, if the students aren't told they can do it, if no one shows belief and trust in the children, why would they expect anything else of themselves?
The reason I didn’t fully love this book is although it was an interesting memoir, I didn't feel in awe or inspired like many others. She had a very successful career in law and then created amazing non-profits to help kids grow and find better opportunities. She then continued some of this work in the White House with healthier school food for kids and pushing healthier eating in general. She is an amazingly talented woman, absolutely. But the book was about those successes and then about trying to cope with being the first lady. All of that was interesting and honest, but I guess I was expecting something a bit more profound rather than another well-known person writing a book about their successes. Towards the end it also got very political and there were some negative comments about Trump which I felt were unnecessary based on the main focus of the rest of the book. I get she was in politics because of Barack for many years and of course there was tension with Trump, but it turned me off a bit that she threw multiple digs in there almost to sway readers. Do it at other times or another book, not this book where it was completely out of place.
Synopsis: 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.