One of my most memorable experiences of the year was when I went skiing with my family, and my uncle and I discovered we were reading the same book, 'Becoming' by Michelle Obama.
But just because someone has had a remarkable life; not only as First Lady of the United States but also as an ambitious young person who had bigger ambitions than expected of someone like her, a working-class black girl from South Side of Chicago; is no guarantee of a captivating story or a good read.
There's much more to Michelle than Barack, but the insights into his remarkable journey in the words of my uncle put it "kept me up all night". Not only does she have something to say, but her way of saying it is just so darn compelling.
I've moved into the kindle+audible combo with most of my reading, and she reads the book herself. Hearing herself share her compelling story made it feel like she was telling it directly to me as if she was there.
Michelle is very frank in her book about the realities of having an "overcommitted" husband ("He was a serial over-committer, I was coming to understand, taking on new projects without much regard for limits of time and energy."), especially as a mother of two young daughters and the realities of campaigning, life on the road, and eventually the White House with its ever-present secret service personnel.
Now that her book is out, she is (as is becoming increasingly common in the publishing industry) taking the book on tour. I guess on account of blockbuster sales and the book being excellent, not to mention written by the revered former First Lady, the venues are not so much libraries and bookstores, but arenas such as London's O2.
PS. This collection of photos is amazing
A part of needing to sell tickets is that the PR machine gets put on full blast; meaning there are countless appearances and videos by Michelle showing up on YouTube and elsewhere. One of my favourites was when John Green (also an author) interviewed her and they talk about marriage and writing and being #relationshipgoals even though as she stated bluntly in the book:
If you like her frank discussions and sharing personal details, this tour is being promoted as "An Intimate Evening with Michelle Obama" where she continues conversations like these, but live. It seems like people are enjoying the show, because a new batch of tickets *just* been released for the cities listed below.
