Becoming

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of audiobooks, certainly in fiction. It depends very much on the narrator's voice and as I also tend to scan ahead and speed-read any sections that I sense are slowing down the pace, this is impossible with audio as you have no way of knowing what lies ahead in the text. Non-fiction and autobiographies can be a different matter and when I saw Michelle Obama's own reading of her book available through my library, I took up the offer.

​There is not much more one can say about a book that has been read by millions and has around 60,000 reviews on Goodreads alone, so I won't repeat here what can be read elsewhere, save to say that it has to be one of the best autobiographies I've read (listened to) in years.

Although I was already biased in favour of the Obamas, her wisdom, warmth, generosity and honesty came through to me loud and clear in her distinctive and laidback speaking voice, and I am even more of an admirer of her than I was previously for how she coped with the challenges she had no idea lay ahead of her when she fell in love with Barack Obama.

Her life on the Southside of Chicago in a close-knit family that encouraged education, hope and dignity is just so beautifully related, as is her later life as a lawyer, her early days with Barack, the birth of her daughters and then later how they lived in the White House. (Anyone who makes a kitchen garden where there was none before always gets a big tick from me!)

There were passages that nearly brought me to tears, quirky bits of humour, and an overall sense of someone who admitted to her mistakes but always tried her best to do things right, to help people and bring fractured communities together. It is still baffling that America chose to replace this wonderful couple with a bully and a thug to lead them. Michelle doesn't pull any punches on what she thinks of him!

This book is a great testament to a remarkable woman who is a credit to her country and is thoroughly recommended.

Five stars.

amazon.com (audio)

amazon.co.uk (a new younger readers version)

booktopia

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