Author: Michelle Obama

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 448

Publisher: Crown Publishing

I don’t think that I need to tell anyone who the author of this memoir is. Michelle Obama, a brilliant, beautiful former first lady, but she is so much more. She is a wife, mother, Princeton and Harvard Law graduate; a very accomplished woman well before she ever in the public eye as the First Lady of the United States. Inside this memoir, Mrs. Obama opens up her world and tells the readers of her life experiences, both good and bad, and how they molded her in to the woman that she is today. 

I have long admired Michelle Obama as a woman of intellect, grace, and integrity. I can truly say, after reading her memoir, that I admire her even more. She opened up in this book about her whole life. We learn about her upbringing in Chicago, where she was encouraged to use her intelligence to move forward and make a difference. She speaks about her married life, which hasn’t always been roses and butterflies but they worked through it and it is real. She tells us, of course, about their time in politics and the White House and the highs and lows of that life. And we learn what her life is beginning to look like now, as she is settling in to “normal” life again. 

I loved this memoir, because Michelle Obama was so real in it. She told her truth in no uncertain terms. She was raw, honest, witty, poignant, funny, and relatable. There were criticisms of those who followed she and President Obama, but they were measured and not unwarranted or nasty. She made me feel that it was ok if “leaning in” didn’t necessarily work to get me where I needed to be, and I had to go a different route. She, overall, left me with a feeling of hope- not false hope- but hope that we can become more.