Michelle Obama Has A New ‘Becoming’ Book That Will Get You In Your Feelings
Whether you were one of the millions who immediately bought a copy of Michelle Obama's bestseller, Becoming, back in 2018 or you're still waiting for an excuse to finally read it, a new journal accompaniment to the memoir promises to make the experience all the more personal. Michelle Obama's Becoming follow-up book, which will be titled Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice, basically encourages you to get in your feelings and reflect on your future with a journaling companion to the OG memoir.
On Monday, Oct. 7, Penguin revealed that it will be releasing a special-edition version of Obama's bestseller on Nov. 19. Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice switches the narrative from Obama to her readers by encouraging them to write about "what moves them and brings them hope." Considering the former first lady got raw and real about everything from her marriage to President Barack Obama and her relationship with her daughters Malia and Sasha to what her life was like in the White House, it's fitting that Obama is now encouraging readers to turn the introspective lens inward as they read Becoming.
According to an excerpt of the new book captured by People, the author reflects on how she'd decided to keep a journal during her late twenties while going through an uncertain time in her life when it felt like everything was changing around her. While the time that she kept the journal was brief, she said she was "transported back to that earlier version of myself, with all the warmth, heartbreak, and frustration flooding in" when she picked up her old journal when she originally began writing her memoir.
Explaining how journaling helped her "navigate all the transitions" of a budding relationship with her future husband as well as a career change, she said, "Looking back, I wish I’d taken more time to write down what I was thinking and feeling. I didn’t journal much because I talked myself out of it — journaling can feel a little intimidating and layered with implication, the idea being that once you put pen to paper, your thoughts have extra weight and meaning."
She continued, "What I recognize now, though, is far more simple: We don’t have to remember everything. But everything we remember has value," adding that she hopes that readers will use the accompany journal to write down their "experiences, thoughts, and feelings, in all their imperfections, and without judgment."
The accompanying journal itself contains plenty of words of wisdom from the former first lady herself to help you ease yourself into the process. According to Penguin, Becoming's companion includes "more than 150 inspiring questions and quotes that resonate with key themes in Mrs. Obama’s memoir and that are designed to help readers reflect on their personal and family history, their goals, challenges, and dreams, what moves them and brings them hope, and what future they imagine for themselves and their community."
Again, the follow-up book is set to go on sale on Nov. 19, meaning you can re-experience Becoming with a much more personal touch in just a over a month, so I'd set a reminder if you're interested in purchasing this follow-up to Obama's memoir. On a side note, President Barack Obama has also been penning his own post-White House memoir, so I'm hoping it's only a matter of time before his highly-anticipated work can join Becoming on bookshelves around the country.
