Book Review – Becoming by Michelle Obama

I recently finished Becoming by Michelle Obama. I saw that this was being released on Audible while I was browsing one day. I pre-ordered the audiobook and eagerly waited for its release. I’m not a big reader of memoirs if I’m honest, I don’t tend to find other people’s lives interesting enough to want to read them. Michelle Obama is very much an exception to that rule. I was drawn to the audiobook as opposed to the hardback because of one fact, it is read by the author herself.

Now, I’m a member of a couple of book groups on Facebook and, unknown to me until recently, there is a big polarised debate in the bookworm community over whether audiobooks count as reading. On one side you have the people who believe they don’t count as reading, the reasons ranging from the belief that you can’t give an audiobook the same attention as a hardcopy book to the notion that reading shouldn’t be an easy undertaking, that it requires work. On the other side you have people who believe they do count, the reasons ranging from the belief that you absorb the information just as readily from a speaker as you do from a page to the belief that believing otherwise is ableist, for some people (e.g. people with visual impairments or physical limitations) can only access books through the spoken medium. Personally, I do believe they count as reading and I enjoy listening to audiobooks while cooking, cleaning or driving. Actually, I’m listening to one right now while I write this.

Anyway, the audiobook is a little under 18 hours long, the audio itself is crisp and easy to listen to. I’m sure we’ve all heard Michelle Obama speak at one time or another so you’ll know that the narrator was enjoyable to listen to. The book covers the highs and lows of her life from her childhood all the way up to when the Obama’s left the White House. The book itself is really easy to follow. As a Brit, I don’t know a whole lot about the electoral system in the USA, but anything that could be confusing was explained so I could understand. It’s going to sound crazy but, as I was listening to this book, it felt almost like it was a conversation in progress with someone I knew. I was left with a much broader understanding of the lady herself, the US electoral system, the challenges and triumphs of being the First Lady and, most important of all, I came away feeling like I mattered. This is something Michelle Obama tries to instil in the people she meets and the message came through loud and clear. I can honestly say I would happily recommend this book to anyone.