A review by kirkspockreads
Becoming by Michelle Obama

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

I appreciated this. Mrs. Obama is a good writer and listening to her narrate the audiobook was a pleasure. What sticks out the most to me is her thoughts/feelings of her husband verses the things he did as President I did not agree with (bombings, drone attacks, allowing ICE to deport more immigrants than any President before him). It was also hard not to feel a little nostalgic for the 8 years the Obama were in the White House, but then I had to remind myself of the things I mentioned above that occurred under his watch and remember that not everyone was thriving under his Presidency. However, I really did enjoy the story of how they met, fell in love, and started their family. It was all VERY cute.

My other issue was her championing of dealing with “the childhood obesity epidemic in America.” BMI is not a significant way to determine someone’s health. I could rant on about this but many other fat activists already have. I will say that her putting a garden in the White House (no easy feat) and her championing of gardening in general were commendable, as well as how she took on fast food corporations and highlighted the “food desert” issue. We all should certainly have access to fresh produce and good home cooked meals. I just wish it wasn’t all wrapped around in BMI and the weight loss industrial complex.

That said, this is definitely worth a read/listen.
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