Review: Becoming

Becoming by Michelle Obama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Becoming" was this year's celebrity autobiography choice for my book club. It took me a while to get through it, but it was a good read.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a book written by a former First Lady, but was pleasantly surprised to find this wasn't a book about politics. Rather, "Becoming" is a recount of Michelle's life from childhood through meeting and falling in love with Barack through his presidency.

I liked the frank candor in which she told her story. I was surprised to learn about her more humble roots and I found her first impressions of Barack to be hilarious. I love that she didn't sugarcoat her feelings about his political ambitions or the strain his campaigning for lower offices and eventually his two terms as president put on her own ambitions and more than that, their family life. It was interesting to see her initiative for healthier school lunches stemmed from her own daughter and the convenience food lifestyle they had fallen into during the various campaigns.

I did find the section after Barack was elected to be a bit repetitious and at times, it felt like it droned on. It also didn't feel as linear to me as the rest of the book. But as I read what her motivations were and what she and Barack both hoped to achieve, and how Michelle wanted to know the people in the White House as more than employees, I couldn't help but wonder how Melania Trump's autobiography would read and how the permanent staff is being treated now.

Michelle was not shy in her opinion of Trump being elected, so that is sure to offend some people, but those people probably aren't going to pick this up anyway. But she's also very down-to-earth and both humbled and appreciative of the life she has lived, fully admitting that she's been blessed. I don't know if I would have picked it up had it not been a book club book, simply because I generally stay away from anything even remotely pertaining to politics, but I'm glad I read this one.

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