Book Review : Becoming By Michelle Obama

I loved this book and it is everything that I thought it would be.  The fact that I have heard a lot of Michelle Obama’s  interviews gives me the edge to hear the sentences from the book being read in her own voice in my head.
It might sound funny, but I feel close to the family after knowing them through this book. The book is a sincere attempt by the author to tell us that life ,though might look different in pictures, it’s the same roller coaster ride everyone takes and it’s our choices about who we decide to be ,makes us who we are.

It’s an irony, that people whose existence is challenged becomes the greatest crusaders for various causes and people who have nothing to fight for take their own existence for granted. This is my second book after Trevor Noah’s ,about people who are made to feel awkward because of their race. Michelle Obama admits many times in the book about how this factor made her question herself and how she could get through ,with the support of her parents and a bunch of good people whom she met along the way.

I must admit that it is for the first time that a book has evoked such strong emotions within and there were so many times when I had to fight my tears. For those who have watched her interviews with Jimmy Fallon or Ellen would know that Michelle Obama is humorous. And hence with some pages in the book, I was laughing out loud.

The first few chapters are dedicated to her life in South side Chicago where her personality got shaped. She says her parents always encouraged questioning and their dinner time always meant everyone on the table and their questions answered however juvenile.

Michelle describes how meeting Obama changed her life forever. She could see her thoughts shifting from being a career women in law to somebody who wanted to do something more meaningful in life. I am sure many of us would relate to this, as I saw this happening with myself and a lot of people around me .  Michelle admits how this was difficult for her and convincing her mother about this was beyond possible. I can very well understand this as I cannot imagine any of my parents going through a phase of finding meaning and purpose in life when you have debts to payoff and loans to repay.

It’s a known fact that the Obamas loved kids. As a first lady, she was part of a lot of initiatives involving constructive changes in youth’s lifestyle and personality development. She says “Kids will invest more when they feel they are being invested in.” This is so true.

Her humble beginnings always made it difficult for her to cause even the slightest public hindrance due to their movements as first lady. She goes to the extent of breaking protocol when it comes to the expression of her full self. One example is when she hugged Queen Elizabeth when they visited the Royal family in UK.

With the book, Michelle opened doors to some deeply personal ordeals in her life from going to a marriage counselor to her struggle with infertility.
The book by all means achieves her purpose which is “You matter and if I can do it, so can you.”

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A heartfelt gratitude to this amazing human being, Ms. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, who is a personification of warmth, gentleness and much more. I love you and thanks a zillion for keeping us inspired.

Published here first.

Image is the cover of the book

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