Reasons to Read Becoming by Michelle Obama

Summary

In case you have been living under a rock and did not know, Becoming is former first lady Michelle Obama’s autobiography. Her origin story. Starting from childhood, growing up on Euclid Avenue in the southside of Chicago and spanning through her time at White House. 

Michelle Obama studied sociology and African American studies at Princeton University where she earned her bachelors and thereafter attended Harvard Law School earning her law degree. 

She has worked as a junior assistant at Sidley and Austin, specializing in intellectual property law; an assistant to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; and as the assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. 

She is married to Barack Obama (44th president of the United States) and they have two children, Sasha and Malia. 

Review

First of all, this book reads almost like a fiction novel at times. It was so easy to escape into her world. Teleported back into time, walking hand in hand with Michelle Obama as she takes us on a step by step tour of the people, circumstances, and challenges that molded her into the woman she is today. 

Below are 3 themes in Becoming:

Identity

“Now I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.”

― Michelle Obama, Becoming

That question of what we want to be when we grow up plagues some of us for our whole lives. And it’s the fact that we first get bombarded with this question in kindergarten. We can barely read or write or do basic math but we are supposed to have this innate ability to know exactly what we want to do in this world. 

This book brilliantly handles the theme of identity. As if identity is not something that you land on, but something that you are always in the process of identifying.

Throughout the book, you can see the internal struggle as she tries to discover who she is and what she wants out of this world. And how those things change during each season of her life. 

“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

― Michelle Obama, Becoming

Grief

“It hurts to live after someone has died. It just does. It can hurt to walk down a hallway or open the fridge. It hurts to put on a pair of socks, to brush your teeth. Food tastes like nothing. Colors go flat. Music hurts, and so do memories. You look at something you’d otherwise find beautiful—a purple sky at sunset or a playground full of kids—and it only somehow deepens the loss. Grief is so lonely this way.”

― Michelle Obama, Becoming

She is vulnerable in the way that she walks us through her grief for the loss of not only important people in her personal life; like her father and her college roommate, but also the losses that this country has experienced as a whole; like Hurricane Katrina and Sandy Hook. 

Love

“Barack intrigued me. He was not like anyone I’d dated before, mainly because he seemed so secure. He was openly affectionate. He told me I was beautiful. He made me feel good. To me, he was sort of like a unicorn—unusual to the point of seeming almost unreal.”

― Michelle Obama, Becoming

Lets be honest. This is why many of us read this book, to get the juicy, inside scoop on how this power couple, Barack and Michelle Obama, came to be. The book does not disappoint. 

She walks us through how they first met, her first impressions, how they got to know each other, etc. She also shares details about some challenges that they experienced inside of their marriage. 

Marriage is hard work and it is helpful to see not only the highlight real, but the nitty gritty not so pleasant thoughts, hurts and feelings and how to navigate through those emotions as well. Not in a self help kind of way but she truly expressed how she felt about certain things and how she was able to overcome or deal with them. 

Why Read?

Actually, I recommend listening to this as an audiobook 😲

I know there are book purists out there who don’t count audiobooks as reading. I used to be one of those people 🙋🏾‍♀️….until I had kids. But there is no way I would have been able to read this book in a timely manner without listening to the audiobook.

Also, to have Michelle Obama read her own story, in her own voice, with her own vocal inflections, felt way more intimate.

But I digress.

5 Reasons to read Becoming include:

1. A come up story- Everyone loves a good rags to riches story. Not that Michelle Obama grew up dirt poor or anything, but she did come from humble beginnings. Like most of us. You get to see those beginnings. You get to have a seat at the table as she tells you stories about her family, friends, and life as Michelle Robinson.
2. A love story- I already mentioned this above in my review, but who isn’t just a tad bit curious on how this couple met. Told from Michelle’s perspective.
3. Marriage and Parenting- What this book is not, is a marriage and parenting advice book. What this book is, is a first hand retelling of how she felt about her husband being in politics, running for president, working mom struggles, and raising kids in the White House, among many other things.
4. Insider White House details- I have to admit this is one of the things I was looking forward to most in the book. Calm down, no secrets are shared but we do get a closer look at what everyday life was like in the White House. 
5. A beautifully written, compelling story- If for no other reason, this book is a beautifully written memoir of Michelle Obama’s life, in her own words.

“Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

― Michelle Obama, Becoming