Book Review Club - February 2019

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

This month I will be reviewing Michelle Obama's Becoming. 

The thing about autobiographies is that sometimes you learn things the author didn't intend you to learn about them.  It may be in what they say, what they didn't say, or how they said something.

What I learned from reading Becoming is that Michelle Obama is the warm, welcoming and inclusive person she seemed to be when she was First Lady.

Becoming tells her story from a young age through her years in the White House.  It's not the story of a black woman - it could be anyone's story.  She does note observations she made growing up about where certain family members seemed to complain about being passed over for promotions in work because of the color of their skin but it wasn't something she dwelled on and never seemed to consider it a hindrance to achieving her own goals in life.

She went to Princeton and Harvard.  She was making her way as an attorney at a successful law firm and was on the path to partnership.  But she felt unfulfilled, wanting to be involved in things that produced meaningful change in the world.

And then she met Barrack. 

Barrack was (is?) a lot more laid back than Michelle but their vision for things was similar.  She left the law firm and went to help put together programs that helped kids and families get a better education and medical assistance where it was desperately needed.  Barrack went into politics.

They were both having positive impacts on communities and loving their work.  But when Barrack said he wanted to run for president, it wasn't something she was excited about.  She didn't want to hold him back though and agreed to campaign with and for him, all the while believing he wouldn't get elected.

While in the White House she implemented programs slowly so that it wouldn't appear she was trying to affect policy - something Hillary Clinton had cautioned her about (from her own experience as First Lady).  She talks about things she was able to accomplish and the impact she believes she had on the people she was trying to help while her husband ran the country and the two of them were trying to raise two well adjusted daughters.

In my mind, before reading this book, I felt that Michelle Obama was someone who carried herself with grace and dignity and her story is told with grace and dignity.  I liked her before I read this book and I like her more since reading it.  There were stories that made me laugh and stories that made me cry.  And it wasn't always pretty.  It made me appreciate the privileges that I have and left me wanting to help others that don't share those same privileges.  It was an inspiring and interesting book about an inspiring and interesting woman.

I highly recommend it. 

For more book reviews click on the icon at the top of this post or go to barriesummy.blogspot.com.