Present at our first meeting since summer are Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley. The book to be discussed was Colette's choice, Becoming by Michelle Obama.
Most of us enjoyed the book and found that it was written as if she was talking to friends about her life. It was easy to read. Those of us who listened to the audio version read by Michelle Obama herself found it to be especially evident. She talked about her life as a child with her parents and brother, life on the east side of Chicago, the support she received from her parents and family, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Being close to family and neighbours in a mostly black neighbourhood, when she went on to university and found herself in the minority, with few students who were black, it was difficult for her to participate in social activities. We found her description of campaigning fascinating and it was obvious she did not enjoy it but she described how Barack, her husband relished the challenge of the race. She described life in the White House a bit like living in a fish bowl. Nothing could be done on the spur of the moment, everything had to be planned and their security detail was always present.
It was easy to admire her as a person; strong, energetic, kind, and supportive of her kids and her husband. We would have liked to know more about life after the White House. What were her plans? What is she doing now? One member who read both this book and Barack Obama's book thought this one was more enjoyable. We did find that there was some repetition in the book, about her dislike of politics and we found that she described many of life's experiences as black and white, or black vs white?
Thank you Colette for suggesting this interesting autobiography.
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