Audible vs. reading - My Review of Becoming

"In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare."

My thoughts on this book and this author:
Instead of buying the hard cover memoir, Becoming, by Michelle Obama, I purchased it on Audible. She narrated her book which made it all the more authentic. She was a very unique First Lady. In her book, she explains why she did what she did and how she felt as the first lady and the first Black First Lady.  Much pressure was on her to be extra good at her job! 

She was in the public eye all the time and she tells in her book how difficult it was sometimes to be locked in the White House at night and unable to just go outside for a few minutes. Her great sense of humor comes through and her ability to laugh at herself. I liked that about Barrack Obama also. I can't imagine spending time with a man who has no sense of humor and who cannot laugh at himself.

Michelle Obama

In the book she lets the reader in on how she met Barrack and how they became friends before they developed a personal relationship. She tells how he proposed, and it was so cute. I can visualize them as young college students and then trying to decide what their paths would be. Obama seemed to know what he wanted from the time he was very young, but Michelle took one path, the one her parents had planned for her, before she realized what she was really called to do.

She is so down-to-earth and easy to relate to because she could be any of us growing up with working parents who hope their children will have it better than they did. Michelle and her brother were extremely good students, and they ambitiously sought the highest goals. They applied to the best schools and Michelle was accepted to Princeton. She had her own problems with the question we all ask ourselves -- Am I good enough? With other students arriving at school in limousines, she arrived in the family sedan driven by her father.

I remember how I used to feel in high school when some girls arrived in cars driven by their parents' employees, and I arrived on a big yellow school bus. That must have been how Michelle Robinson felt. Being smart is good, but that will not make you popular. Michelle overcame her insecurities because of the confidence instilled in her by her family. She pushed on, not discouraged. She graduated, went on to Harvard Law School, and got a job in a prestigious law firm. Little did she know that the lanky young man who kept dropping in at her law office would one day make her the most famous woman in the world.

I now know I must have this book, the paper back at least, in my hands. It matters not what political party you support. It is not a political book. I think all women, young and older, will appreciate this book and learn good lessons from it. 

Wish I could go and hear her speak in Atlanta in May, but the days of standing in lines surrounded by hordes of people are over for me. That kind of event is for younger people who have the stamina.

If you have read this book, let me know what you think.

I am really curious to know what someone who votes republican thinks.

Leave a comment. It is easy to do. 

Thanks.

Thoughts on George H.W. Bush

It is always sad when someone who is a good person and has done good work leaves this earth.

George H.W. Bush was a good man and although he was not a member of the party I usually support, I liked his humble ways, his caring personality and his love of family. I voted for him for president.

I like that the he was not a man to boast of his success as some are in office today. He gave his entire life to serving the United States of America and, although he was a part of the big oil corporations, he seemed to be a genuine person. I liked his wife, Barbara, and I think their love story is what young people today should look to for inspiration. They experienced a sad loss early on when their three-year-old daughter died from leukemia. Instead of this tearing them apart, it strengthened their marriage. That seldom happens in today's world.

We recently watched the funeral of John McCain and found that many Americans admired and mourned for him. I have more admiration for George H.W. Bush than for John McCain. President Bush's comments heard today on the TV shows proves to me he was the man I thought he was when I voted for him. He was not a braggart or a show-off. He did what he thought was necessary for the good of this nation and not for himself. I heard it said today that we would never see his like again and I am afraid that might be so. Politics has changed so much in the recent years that I am not sure I can trust anyone who runs for office. I wish that was not true.

I recently listened to Michelle Obama's autobiography on Audible. She is one of the humble and honest people in the public eye today. I feel sure she and President Bush, the forty-first president, would have gotten along fine because she gave up a high paying job as an attorney with a big firm to work for non-profits to try to help others. (one of the thousand points of light) I hope that all the good we hear about the late president Bush will resonate in the minds and hearts of Americans and when they go to the polls to vote in future elections, they will think more carefully about the kind of person we want to run this country, to be a role model for others and to represent us in the world today.

I am sorry for the family of this man who was so dear to his children and the grandchildren who will remember him with admiration, but, like Jenna Bush said, he will now be with his beloved Barbara and their baby, Robin.