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Becoming - Michelle Obama

Hello!


Ever since I head that former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama was writing a book, I have been waiting to get my hands on a copy and I did on Christmas day. I started reading Becoming and it was so good, I finished it in five days. Here, I am going to share my thoughts on the book but First, let me tell you what it's about.


Becoming is an autobiography in which Michelle Obama tells readers about her life in a deeply honest and heart-warming way. She talks about her childhood and growing up as Michelle Robinson in a small apartment in Chicago with her parents and brother, her education, meeting Barack Obama for the first time and marrying him, juggling her demands at work and as a mother to two daughters and being the US first lady.





Now I'll start with the cover. I love how simple it is. Just the title and her name in white capital letters and a beautiful photo of Michelle dressed in white and looking so happy against a light green background.


I think Becoming is a great title for the book because it's a memoir and she talks about various events in her life which helped her become who she is today like becoming a university student, becoming a wife and mother and becoming the first lady.


The book is divided into six parts - The introduction, three large chapters about the most important parts of Michelle's life, a conclusion and finally a section where she acknowledges her family and people who have helped her. I prefer this layout for autobiographies and biographies rather than having many different chapters. The first part is about Michelle's childhood and education, the second is about her jobs, meeting Barack and marrying him, having her daughters Malia and Sasha and Barack's campaign and election as the 44th president of the United States and the third and final part is all about the presidency and life as the first lady.


Like I said earlier, Michelle recounts her life in a deeply honest way. She doesn't just talk about the great moments, she also talks about all her disappointments, stresses and fears such as arguments between her and Barack and considering marriage counselling. Before getting the book, I watched a few interviews with Michelle where she mentioned that and I was surprised and maybe there are a lot of other people wo are too. When I look at photos of the Obamas, they look so happy and lovey-dovey so it's hard to believe they went through a rough time in their relationship but really, they are just like everyone else. All couples argue and disagree on things sometimes, right? Michelle also talks about her fertility issues and being upset when the media edited an interview she did and made something she said into something completely different and worse than it really was.


One thing she talked about a lot was her daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her fears and concerns for them during their eight years in the White House. The girls were only ten and seven when Barack became the president and they grew up in the spotlight, with the media and people watching their every move. Michelle had concerns and hopes for her daughters just like all parents have for their children but having to do daily tasks differently like go to school and hang out with friends with secret service men carrying guns following them would have increased those concerns and fears. She also has said that she is proud of them and how, despite living in a grand house with butlers, travelling around the world and getting to see and do things no other children get the chance to, they are still normal teenagers who study and do things like any other teenager. They don't think they are privileged in any way. The Obama's are like other families who, for eight years, lived under extraordinary circumstances.


She has included a lot of photos inside the front and back covers and in the middle of the book. I love that she has used photos from her family's personal album and official published photos taken by the media and White House photographers,




In this book, Michelle gives us a first hand account of life as the first lady and goes into great detail about every aspect of her life and talks about what inspired her to take on the 'Let's Move' health initiative. She is still continuing the work she started in the White House. She didn't really want her husband to run for president but she knew he wanted it so she supported him. In Barack's farewell speech he said, 'You took on a role you didn't ask for and you made it your ow with grace and with style and with humour.' I'm sure a lot of people agree with that. Michelle Obama was a great first lady and is a wonderful role model and advocate for girls and women all around the world.


Becoming is a truly heart-warming story and I highly recommend it to everyone.


Have a lovely weekend!


V xx

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