Becoming by Michelle Obama

I enjoyed Becoming by Michelle Obama because it was a down-to-earth honest account of how Michelle Obama developed into a self-confident woman that grew into the First Lady position. Readers learn what life was like for a black girl from the south side of Chicago, where the likelihood of becoming a lawyer, let alone First Lady, was almost unthinkable. Obama writes about her obsession to become a top student, which earned her an admission to Princeton and later Harvard; her quest to become a lawyer and the personal dissatisfaction it brought; and her relationship with husband Barack Obama and how she shelved her dislike for politics to back his running for president.

The author provides generous details of family life, so readers come to know Barack as a loving husband and father, and someone who has a sense of humour, a quest for knowledge, and a capability for seeing the other side of issues.

It was interesting to read about the security details of presidential life, and how Michelle and her husband occasionally adapted the rules to allow their two daughters to have a more normal childhood.

But the book's real worth pertains to the story of how the author transformed herself from a shy and somewhat insecure girl into a confident woman who owns her story and has become a world role model for women of all ages.