Happy Holidays!
Every once in a while a book comes around that gives you water in the middle of the desert. For me, and others I’ve spoken with, in 2019, Becoming by Michelle Obama was that book. Though it technically came out at the end of 2018, in 2019, this book was everywhere. When I read it at the beginning of the year, I felt like it was the black girl magic memoir I had been waiting for, necessary reading to the empowerment of the black femme soul and insight into a living icon.
For so many reasons, Becoming is an absolute gift to the universe. The memoir reads like intimate letters from a best friend, unpacking everything, sharing the truly juicy details, making her personal universe transparent to the audience. This book was so intimate and brought up so much from my own memories and life. And this is what strong writing should do, take you in so deeply that you, yourself are cracked open. I also loved how it was divided, per chunk of her evolution into her full self. As the stories stacked upon each other, the vision of how this incredibly inspiring person came to be is made so clear.
As a writer, I feel I learned so much from how this memoir was presented. This book is so easy to recommend as the author is obviously well known, but her personal insights are such a treasure and come from such deep resounding wisdom, that this book is easy to pick up, read only a few pages, and find value. If you have not, you must read Becoming by Michelle Obama.
