Becoming by Michelle Obama

This is a candid and engaging memoir of America's first African American first lady. Michelle Robinson grew up in an apartment above her aunt's house in the south side of Chicago.  Her parents were working class, but sacrificed to give her and her brother the best education they could manage.  Michelle worked hard at school, and got good enough grades to be accepted at Princeton and then at Harvard Law School. Soon after she started her career as a corporate lawyer, she was assigned to mentor a young law student with an unusual name, Barack Obama.  The rest is, as they say, is history.

This book sold more copies in 2018 than any other book, even though it wasn't released until November.  It has since sold more than 10 million copies and has been translated into 24 languages.  Ms Obama's story is engaging, inspiring and well written.  Her candor, attention to details and good humor come through in every chapter.  I loved how she described what life as a resident of the White House was really like, both good parts--like the world class chef cooking all their meals--and the challenging parts--like total loss of all privacy. But most interesting is her personal journey from someone who was always feeling that she was "not enough" to someone who was confident in front of thousands.

Not only has this book been a huge hit nationally, but also locally.  It has been one of the top five most read e-books/audio-books ever since it came out.  This is a great choice for anyone, but especially for any woman who has ever juggled a job and family, worried about raising kids in a challenging environment, or had a husband with pie-in-the-sky ambitions. (2018, 448 p.)