Becoming - Michelle Obama (Robinson).- 2018

 

Props to Michelle for reading this herself. I listened to the audio and I thought she did a nice job. It is a long book. It is around 19hours on audio. I am not sure how many pages that is. 

Her dad had ms and her family lived in the upstairs part of her aunt’s house. I would say they were a low middle class family. She and her brother were both smart. They both went to Princeton. She later went to Harvard law school. She practiced law in Chicago but then decided she did not want to be a lawyer anymore. Is college really worth it? I am not sure. She did a lot of community outreach and was basically an accomplished person. She met Barack at her law firm. Barack spent the early part of his life in Indonesia. His dad was Kenyan. 

Michelle never liked politics and still doesn’t. Based on this book, I think she probably did not care that much that her husband was president. They had their kids through IVF. They are not religious really. Most famous people I read about are not religious which is weird to me because I grew up in such a religious family. I thought Barack was mostly cool but Michelle describes him as mostly brainy to the point of almost being aloof. She also describes him as athletic and as very optimistic. I voted for Obama. I think his presidency was ok. Maybe he did not have enough support from congress. 

An eye opening part of this book is how much work it is to campaign and how much security there is for the first family. Michelle said even their bathroom breaks were often planned out. There is some irony here. They were the leaders of the free world but were not that free themselves due to all of the security needed to keep them safe. Their kids went to Sidwell Friends and seem like normal people. 

Obama lost one election (I think it was for congress) but otherwise he ran good campaigns and mostly won (at least as far as this book shows). He was a US senator and a state senator in Illinois as well. He also attended Harvard Law. He also was a community organizer for a few years which was cool. He knew the streets of Chicago well. Perhaps Obama was too idealistic and not pragmatic enough. Michelle said Obama would always read letters from Americans at night in his office. That is pretty cool.

Michelle had many of her own initiatives as the First Lady, such as growing a garden at the white house to promote healthy eating habits for kids. She is a smart and active woman. 

The Chicago winters sound rough lol. 

This book is boring at times but overall it was good. It is not too politically polarizing. Yes, she says she does not like Trump, but she does not overdo it. I cannot stand people who get physically ill or can’t sleep over politics. To me the president has little control over your day to day life. In other words, if you do not like their policy who cares, you can still be successful through your own hard work. Maybe when I am older I will feel differently. 

Anyways if you are interested in this topic, page it or listen to it. Her reading voice is pleasant!