Michelle Obama

This is not a famous person autobiography giving us the recipe how she did it. Not at all. This is the story of a gifted girl growing up in the South Side of Chicago who, against all odds, is accepted into an Ivy League school and becomes a lawyer. It is the story of an intelligent woman who has to make choices to do what is best for her family and her children, while also finding ways to grow herself. A woman who, despite all of her accomplishments, keeps asking herself ‘Am I good enough?’ Her story is well written and there are many inspirational lines. I will cite one section that I especially liked.

“Hamilton touched me because it reflected the kind of history I'd lived myself. It told a story about America that allowed the diversity in. I thought about this afterward: So many of us go through life with our stories hidden, feeling ashamed or afraid when our whole truth doesn't live up to some established ideal. We grow up with messages that tell us that there's only one way to be American - that if our skin is dark or our hips are wide, if we don't experience love in a particular way, if we speak another language or come from another country, then we don't belong. That is, until someone dares to start telling that story differently.”… (mere)

In this follow-up to her memoir, former First Lady Michelle Obama writes about living through uncertain times and how we get through these difficulties. In a wide-ranging book, she talks about her personal experiences with everything ranging from her family to navigating time in the White House to managing friends to when you feel like you're not good enough, you're anxious, you're down because of something going on in your life, etc. It's not quite a memoir (although there is a lot of her personal life in here) but rather a mix of how she dealt with various things ranging from her relationship with the future president to being a parent to being a public figure, etc.

Depending on your point of view this may be a great book and it may be a disappointment. In some ways it felt far more personal (which was probably the point) than her memoir and was geared towards a different audience or towards an audience that hoped to see a more personal side of her, etc. As MO is part of an extremely select club and is currently the only Black woman to ever be First Lady, she definitely has some unique perspectives on things that no one else can have or share.

For me it was okay. I was unsure of what to expect. I thought her memoir was also okay and was glad to see a follow-up like this. I would argue I am probably not the audience for it, but I already knew that after having read a bunch of memoirs this year this might be a case of me just being "memoir"-ed out. All the same I am glad I read it and needed something like this right now as, well *waves at everything going on*.

I would recommend this to people who are interested in reading more from her, maybe did not feel the memoir was right for them, those who might be going through a tough time right now. This would probably made for a great gift and I can see this as a supplemental reading on say a class on First Spouses or something like that but this is very much approachable for a layperson (her memoir would probably serve better for a class anyway).

I bought a hardcover and did not mind, especially as I knew it would probably take me awhile to get to it (and it did). I would guess for most people a library borrow or maybe bargain buy would be best unless you think you want a copy for your own personal library.… (mere)