The Stranger by Albert Camus

LLP Week 247: “The Stranger” by Albert Camus

Today is my dad’s birthday. He died in the summer of 2016, so celebrating his birthday without him is not as shocking as it once was. He was a complicated man. He wore very expensive dress shirts but nearly every day carried a dime-store red duffle with the name of his high school, DeWitt Clinton. He drank Coors beer from a yellow can when I was in high school, but in his 70s would go to the Polo Lounge once a year to share a $400 shot of Cognac with a close friend. He was very sick as a child, but also overcame many ailments to compete in basketball and softball up until the week before he died. He flew first class but had a pen pal in prison who made him a wallet which he often carried. He was allergic to dozens of condiments, like mustard and vinegar, but found great joy in eating spoonsful of guacamole during the last few years of his life. He was a comedy writer, but a man who loved talking about books by existentialists. One of his favorites was this book: “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. The book opens, “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” The story follows the protagonist and narrator Meursault as he learns of his mother’s death, becomes tangled in a series of unfortunately events, and eventually commits murder. The story contains themes of indifference and insensitivity in the face of an absurd world. What is free will? And how do we pursue our own interests in the world we have been given? Garry often quoted Franz Kafka who wrote, “The meaning of life is that it stops.” But Garry also said, “family is important,” “learn to use a cash register,” and “you cannot die of embarrassment.” Like Camus and his fellow existential writers, Garry found stories with complicated characters and multiple layers of meaning, not only entertaining, but also thrilling and challenging. Perhaps the point of “The Stranger” is not to fully understand its meaning, but to debate it, too. Happy Birthday, Pop! Here’s to you and Camus. To buy this book on Amazon click here https://amzn.to/3ppUM1h

Across That Bridge by John Lewis

My friend and author Colleen Weems recommended this book on social medica this week, and I literally ran to my phone to download it from my library. Within minutes I was listening to the wise voice of the late, great, civil rights leader and statesman John Lewis, who passed away earlier this year. He served in the House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th district from 1987 until his death. He was one of the “Big Six” who organized the 1963 March on Washington, and he led the first of three Selma-to-Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. One of the highlights of pandemic TV for me was watching David Letterman’s Netflix show called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” and my favorite episode is in the first season when Letterman interviews Lewis. I didn’t know when I was watching the program that Lewis would die a few months later. I just knew I liked listening to him because he made sense in a world that does not to make a lot of sense right now. Lewis might be gone, but the hope that he outlined in this book is still possible. He broke his philosophy down into sections such as faith, study, truth, act, peace, love, reconciliation and most important of all, patience. Lewis recalled a time when a white woman and a black woman could not sit on the bus together. Things have changed, but there still is so much more work today. If you are looking for a book that gives you not only hope but also inspiration, then look no further than the profound words of John Lewis and this gem “Across That Bridge.” To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

Shade by Pete Souza

Last night, we finally watched the documentary “The Way I See It” about Chief Official White House photographer Pete Souza. He built his reputation as an ace photographer behind the camera, only to recently step in front of the camera to voice his opinions this year. We went to see Souza a few years ago when he was promoting his book “Obama: An Intimate Portrait.” I saw him speak in San Francisco and he described his eight years taking photographs in the Barak Obama White House. He spent nearly every waking hour with the president. What many people do not know is that he was a White House photographer when Ronald Reagan was in office, and shares fond memories of that experience, too. To have taken photographs during the presidency of not only an iconic Republican president, but also a Democratic living legend, is impressive in anyone’s career. What happens after Obama takes that final helicopter ride off the White House lawn is quite fascinating. Souza started posting his pictures of the Obama years on his Instagram account, and eventually paired them with Tweets, headlines and quotes from Donald Trump’s first 500 days in office. The juxtaposition is quite startling. Souza’s once silent photos and memories of the Obama years become a loud and biting conduit for throwing “shade,” or publicly criticizing the current White House Administration. His arc from a life-long photographer to an advocate for change is compelling and interesting to examine. No matter who you plan to vote for on November 3, just do one thing: VOTE. It is the single thing we can all do to make our voices heard. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley

Recently my sister, Kathleen, sent me a picture of a bottle of army green nail polish, and asked if it was a good choice for fall. Whenever I have a question about a style or a trend, I go right to my friend Jennifer because she is the doyenne of all things fashionable. I sent her the picture of the polish, and she texted “I wouldn’t do green. Too much!” without a moment’s hesitation. She not only knows about style, she also reads about it. Recently she let me borrow her copy of “The Chiffon Trenches” a memoir by Andre Leon Talley, an American journalist and former creative director of “Vogue” Magazine. Reading Talley’s book was like going to the hippest nightclub in New York and running into Andy Warhol, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar De La Renta, Anna Wintour, Diana Vreeland and more. Standing at 6 feet 6 inches tall, Talley started his writing career at Warhol’s “Interview” magazine. He then moved to Paris to be the bureau chief for “Women’s Wear Daily,” and was soon promoted to the creative director of “Vogue” under the notorious Wintour. His successful career in fashion was a far cry from his childhood in Durham, North Carolina, where his grandmother raised him and worked as a cleaning lady at Duke University. He never forgot where he came from and tried to approach life in New York and Paris with a kind, open heart and positive attitude. Unfortunately, people in the fashion world can be cruel, and Talley’s memoir details a series of broken friendships, cold shoulders, blatant racism, cruel body shaming and other disappointments. Despite the hard times he faced in fashion, you get the feeling he chose the right profession, rather than the French teacher he intended to become after getting his master’s from Brown University. At 72 years old, he seems to have few regrets. He is still standing tall, smiling and chic in his bespoke caftans. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"The Jetsetters" by Amanda Eyre Ward

We cannot travel like we want to right now, but we certainly can read about travel until it is time to fly again. “The Jetsetters” by Amanda Eyre Ward is the perfect travel-filled novel to read right now. The story centers around matriarch Charlotte Perkins, who is understandably sad when her best girlfriend dies suddenly. A long-time widow, Charlotte’s new-found loneliness propels her to take a great risk: to write a sexy essay and enter it into the “Become a Jetsetter” contest. When, much to her surprise, Charlotte wins the contest she uses it as the perfect opportunity to bring her family together. She convinces her oldest daughter Lee (a struggling actress), her son Cord (a venture capitalist with secrets), and her youngest daughter Regan (a married mother of two who wants out of her marriage), to all join her on a cruise through Athens, Rome and Barcelona. What Charlotte hopes is a blissful reunion for the Perkins family, of course, turns out to be far more complicated than anyone imagined. Old rivalries, new revelations and life on the open seas, stirs up deep emotions for all four of them. They must deal with not only their feelings toward each other, but also their memories of the father who died too young. I hope one day I can dust my passport off again, but until then, we just have to live vicariously through wonderful books like “The Jetsetters.” To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Wild Iris by Louise Gluck

This week American Louise Gluck was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature for her body of work, which includes 12 volumes of poetry. Previously, she won the Pulitzer in 1993 and served as the Poetry Laureate of the United States from 2003-4. The last American to win this Nobel prize was Bob Dylan in 2016. When giving her the award, the Nobel committee praised Gluck “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.” Her poems tend to be short, but extremely powerful, honest and true. The committee mentioned one of her books in particular: “Wild Iris,” first published in 1993. This book tackles the themes of time and mortality. One of the most famous poems in the collection is called “Snowdrops,” which is only 14 lines long. However, within those 14 lines is a story that metaphorically is pages long and filled with everything from fear and loss to joy and survival. There are other wonderful poems in this collection as well such as “Sunset,” “The Golden Lilly” and “Matins,” the last being about a service of morning prayer. As I was reading about the poet, I came across an interesting little fact about her. She thought in the beginning that a writer should just right, and not have another job. She believed a writer needed concentration and focus. But eventually, when she started teaching, she realized the opposite: It is important for a writer to have another job, so she can experience living while writing. Gluck is currently the adjunct professor and Rosenkranz Writer in Residence at Yale University. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

LLP Week #241: “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins

When I was very small, my dad started talking to me about story structure. This might seem an odd topic to pose to a little girl, but Garry liked to connect with people through creativity, and to him, understanding story structure was essential to life. He believed most plots could be broken down into three categories: Two people fall in love. A stranger comes to town. And one or more people get stuck in something – an elevator, a bathtub, a city or a bad situation with no easy way out. “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins falls into this third category which Garry called a “stuck-in-a.” Acapulco book-store owner Lydia and her 11-year-old son Luca, suddenly find themselves the only survivors of a family massacre, which includes Lydia’s husband, a local journalist reporting on the local drug cartel. Seconds after the knowledge sets in that all of their relatives have died during a family celebration, Lydia and Luca are faced with only one choice: to run. Thus, begins their odyssey as they attempt to migrate from Mexico to the United States on top of trains traveling north. The secret that Lydia carries along the way is that the leader of the drug cartel, Javier, was also a loyal customer at her bookstore, and a close confidant. I found this story fascinating and a suspenseful read from beginning to end. This book is, however, not without controversy. You can pause and Google it now. While a work of fiction, Cummins has been criticized for writing about the Mexican immigrant experience when she identifies as a American white woman. I will let readers form their own opinions about who can and cannot write fiction, but this book never pretends to be a memoir. It is a powerful, relevant, compelling page-turner of a story that explores what happens when a mother and her child must fight to survive and forge new lives for themselves. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy" by Eilene Zimmerman

For the second time in my life, I have had a close friend move from San Francisco to London, and I really wish London would stop taking my friends away. I walked with this woman nearly every Monday and Thursday for more than 12 years, and I think I’m still in denial that she has left. I was pretending she was just on a trip, until I read this book. Then I really missed her. She and I share a penchant for books about drug addiction. This is not because we have experience with drugs, it is rather an unnatural fear that we will suddenly, one day even in our 60s, fall victim to heroin. “Smacked” by Eilene Zimmerman is exactly the type of addiction story that we used to love to talk about on our walks. Eilene, an experienced journalist, was married to Peter, a lawyer, and they had two kids, a boy and a girl. For various reasons they grew apart and eventually got divorced. Their lives after their divorce began quite typically, with them sharing custody, and sometimes even time together with the children. However, shortly after their divorce, his odd behavior began. He grew thin, was late for events, and sometimes, even when he was present, he seemed distracted and distant. He rose to become partner at a prominent law firm, but still his erratic behavior persisted. The children and Eilene attributed his behavior to work stress and carried on with their lives. However, she soon comes face-to-face with the reality that Peter is living a secret life filled with pills, opioids, cocaine and methamphetamines. This revelation forces her to reflect back on the man she knew for 30 years, and yet didn’t really know at all. The book is a fascinating read, and a true behind-the-scenes look into what the life of a high-functioning drug addict really looks like. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Yesterday would have been Broadway actor Nick Cordero’s 42nd birthday. Last year, when he turned 41 years old, he had just moved to Laurel Canyon from New York with his wife, fitness guru Amanda Kloots and their baby, Elvis. Nick died of complications related to Covid-19 on July 5, 2020, in Los Angeles. I still follow Amanda on Instagram because I find her posts uplifting, positive and nothing-short-of-amazing. One minute she has this loving and talented husband, and the next minute he is gone. Yet, she is still working, taking care of her son and dancing as fast as she can. “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” by Josie Silver, presents a similar, fictional love story cut short. On the way to celebrate Lydia’s 28th birthday, her long-time love and fiancé Freddie dies in a tragic car accident. Her best friend Jonah survives the crash, but Lydia’s world is suddenly shattered in a single day.  While she is trying to move forward with her life, something magical happens: thanks to participation in a clinical sleep study, she suddenly has the ability to travel back in time and be with Freddie, periodically. Like the best time travel romances, the rules are unpredictable, but the ability to once again see someone who has died is insatiable. Lydia toggles back and forth between the past and the present, trying to figure out which world is real and which one is not. When she begins to feel uncomfortable in the past, she must make a decision about her future. I love books that explore not only romance, but also the different levels of grief and this books does both. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

"This is San Francisco" by M. Sasek

It is going to take a lot more than smoke in the air to make me break up with San Francisco, because you see, we go way back. I moved here in August of 1989, two months before the Loma Prieta earthquake. The day the Bay Area shook, I was on the second floor of a building on the corner of Grant and Geary, working as an editor at a travel magazine. My co-workers and I clung to each other, and then gingerly tip-toed out of the building, watching each others’ backs. In the days that followed the earthquake, I knew I was not going anywhere. I had already decided that this was my city, and soon it would become my daughters’ city, too, because it is quirky, funny and friendly, just like us. I came into The City yesterday to walk with a friend, because that is what we do in San Francisco, we walk, a lot, even when there is smoke in the air. I then did a zoom yoga class in my apartment and in the middle of a triangle pose, I spotted this book smiling at me from Lily’s books case. “This is San Francisco” is a beautiful children’s book by M. Sasek with iconic images of The City. After my yoga zoom, I opened the book and read through it for probably the first time in at least 10 years. I smiled at nearly every page, and marveled at the drawing of the Embarcadero freeway that is no longer standing. There is a picture on page 44 of some telephone poles and it says “300 days a year the western sky is blue.” That figure might not be accurate any more, but there is still no other city I would rather live in. When the pandemic is over, when the heat wave is done, and when the fires have been tamed, I will still be on Turk, heading out on another walk. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

LLP #237 "100 Things Phish Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" by Andy P. Smith and Jason Gershuny

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I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan

LLP Week #236: “I Almost Forgot About You” by Terry McMillan

The author Terry McMillan once said, “I write about what breaks my heart. What I don’t understand. And what I wish I could change.” What important words to live by during this very uncertain time. McMillan discovered her love of literature when she was shelving books at the local library in Port Huron, Michigan. At 17, she moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a secretary and took a class in African American literature at Los Angeles City College. She has gone on to become an extremely prolific writer, publishing such blockbusters as “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” (1996) and “Waiting to Exhale’ (2012). “I Almost Forgot About You,” published in 2016, is a book of hers you might not have read yet. It is about a Bay Area optometrist named Gloria Young who decides to shake up her life, sell her house and track down all of her ex-boyfriends. I know my close friends are saying right now, “Yes! This is Lori’s kind of book,” because it is. This story touts the fact that it’s never too late to change, find love, start a new job and move to a new city. But it is also about how your past strengthens and informs your future. I love the premise that change can feel good, and right, and even hopeful rather than scary. With a posse of children, ex-husbands and great girlfriends by her side, Gloria carves a new path for herself, different than where she was stuck before. McMillan has written more than a dozen books, I encourage you to read one you have not read before, and enjoy her wonderful storytelling. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant with photos by Andrew D Bernstein

 When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad told me, “You have to learned about all the sports, because this will help you in dating and in life.” I took this advice very seriously. I studied the Dodgers, rooted for the Rams and cheered the Los Angeles Lakers to every one of Magic, Kareem, Kobe and Shaq’s championships.. So, when that helicopter went down on January 26, 2020, I knew that the world lost one of the greatest basketball players it had ever seen. Over the course of his 29-year-career, Kobe played every season with the L.A. Lakers, winning five NBA championship rings. “Mamba Mentality: How I Play” is a gorgeous book full of colorful photographs by Andrew D. Bernstein along with Kobe’s words. He shares his thoughts on the game, the players and coaches he worked with, as well as the opponents whom he fought against. His philosophy was that you have two hands, so you need to learn to use both. When he was younger he started brushing his teeth with his left hand to make it as strong as his dominant right hand. When he was a Laker he found out his ankles needed strengthening, so he took up the best activity to strengthen them: tap dancing. And, while others were designing traditional, high-top basketball shoes, he designed a low-top version to give basketball players more flexibility. With four daughters at home, he even found a way to work out when they were sleeping. He designed midnight workouts for himself so he could train after he put his girls to bed. He details how he played through injuries, and studied his opponents plotting different choreography for each one. You can tell by his words that he not only liked playing the game, but also hoped to teach the game for many years to come. What a loss for all of those players who could have studied under him. “Mamba Mentality” is his legacy to the sport that he loved so much, and his strength and determination resonate from every page. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

I had a great catch up on the phone yesterday with one of my best friends from college. It was so fun to share updates on our children, husbands, summer road trips and twin passion for walking fast. I was so excited to hear what was new in her life, but I was also flooded with memories of our time together at Northwestern. I remember the night she kindly, without judgement, put a bathrobe over me as I threw up into a trash can after drinking too many Kamikazes at a fraternity party. I remember how she introduced me to Havarti cheese and bean sprout sandwiches on whole grain bread. I remember how she bravely continued to take German, while I took one Spanish Lit. class and then let it go. And I remember how much we both loved then, and still love now, curling up with a good book. Our conversation took me back to a classroom in Fisk Hall on the shore of Lake Michigan, talking to my fellow journalism students about this book: “Slouching Toward Bethlehem.” It was the first time I remember eagerly speaking up in class about a book, because I loved it so much. From that point on everything Joan Didion wrote would speak to me, but it all started with this book. First published in 1961, it is a collection of essays about American life in the 1960s, exploring everything from murder and hippies to movie stars and politics. Some of the articles first appeared in the “Saturday Evening Post.” Collectively, they tell the story of a California writer trying to report on her times, while also lifting the lid on objectivity, and deftly inserting her own perspective onto the page. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

Comfort by Ann Hood

I take a 45-minute walk around Larkspur Landing on my lunch break on the four days a week that I work at my hospice. I have been doing this same walk for about four years now, so the route is pretty familiar. While I walk, I listen to an audio book. The other day I was zipping around a tight corner and my headphones got tangled up around a bush. The more I tried to de-tangle myself, the further the bush seemed to be tugging me toward it. And all of the sudden, there I was, face to face with the bush’s bright purple flowers. Purple. My dad’s favorite color was purple. It felt like my dad was just saying “Hi.” It had to be. I finally pried my headphones from the prongs of the bush and said, “I miss you too, Dad.” Then I walked back to work. My dad died four years ago, and that painfully sad time has passed like the blink of an eye. “Comfort: A Journey Through Grief” is one of several books Ann Hood has written about her five-year-old daughter Grace who died in 2002 from a virulent form of strep throat. This book is about the time after Grace’s death when Hood, her husband, Lorne, and son, Sam, had to learn how to live again. A well-known novelist, Hood could not find comfort in writing or even reading after Grace’s death. She was, as you can only imagine, paralyzed by the memories a daughter who has suddenly vanished. One day, a friend suggested Hood should learn how to knit. That simple suggestion was one of the things that brought her back to life. “Comfort” is a small book packed with heart, wisdom and so much soul.  It gives great insight into grief, and how to find the road back from loss to comfort. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

The Opposite of Certainty" by Janine Urbaniak Reid

LLP Week #231 “The Opposite of Certainty” by Janine Urbaniak Reid

In 1995, when my daughters were born three months early and were later diagnosed with cerebral palsy, everything changed for me. Some of those changes felt hard, but other moments were enlightening and uplifting. Whenever I meet another mother of a disabled child, it still, to this day, feels like meeting a friend in a dark cave. I want to know how they cope, manage, struggle and persevere. So that is why I took “The Opposite of Certainty” by Janine Urbaniak Reid to read recently, while I was on a beachy trip to the Russian River. I wanted to read another mother’s story about what it is like when your child faces a struggle with a disability or illness. The fact that this author lives in Marin County interested me even more. Reid belongs to St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City, where author Anne Lamott is also a member. In fact, Lamott wrote the foreword to this book and the two women are friends. “The Opposite of Certainty” is Reid’s account of her son Mason’s life after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Along with her husband Alan, and siblings Austin and Sarah, Reid wages a reluctant journey into the world of cancer, chemotherapy, MRIs, rehab facilities accompanied by a maze of insurance claims. I found her writing beautiful and her story heartbreaking because of the way she shares her fears and hopes for Mason with such honesty. In an interview with Lamott, Reid explained, “Writing and living the story, I began to recognize the improbable good that shows up, and notice the strength I’m able to tap, especially when I’m exhausted and it all feels like too much.” In these uncertain Covid times, it is important to remember how to tap into your strength whenever possible, and read stories written by those still waging that daily battle. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

"Brother & Sister: A Memoir" by Diane Keaton

LLP Week #230 “Brother & Sister” A Memoir by Diane Keaton

For the last 10 years or so, my sister, brother and I have had a monthly conference call. My dad loved this so much because he wanted nothing more for the three of us to be as close as he was to his two sisters. Whenever my dad heard about people fighting with their siblings, he would get a sad look on his face. Garry felt that life is hard enough, and having siblings to help you battle the storm is essential. Actress Diane Keaton, I believe, would agree with this philosophy. “Brother & Sister” is the story of Diane reflecting back on the relationship with her younger brother, Randy. Growing up in the Los Angeles suburbs in the 1950s, Diane was a raised with Randy and her two younger sisters, Dorrie and Robin. The early years of a relatively happy family life quickly turns into a predicament, plagued with confusion and pain when they all realize that Randy is struggling with a mental illness. This brutally honest and brave book shows Diane combing over Randy’s journals, poems and collages, looking for clues to his story, while it also reveals her own inner story and strength. She wants to know why and how her brother ended up living on “the other side of normal.” While her career was taking off with starring roles in critically-acclaimed movies directed by Woody Allen, he was dealing with divorce, alcoholism, depression and eventually a move to an assisted living facility. A talented photographer as well as an actress, this is Diane’s third book and a fascinating read. We don’t get to select our parents or siblings, but choosing to support them is often a leap of faith and love.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Mostly Plants 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes from the Pollan Family" By Tracy, Dana, Lori & Corky Pollan

My husband Jeff is a natural cook and can create his own delicious meals out of thin air. When we are on our big family vacations in North Carolina, everyone at breakfast literally waits for Jeff to wake up and make breakfast so they can copy his creation.  I am cut from a different cloth. I am a visual learner when it comes to cooking. I need pictures as well as very detailed directions on how exactly to prepare a meal, and the precise timing of every step. I’m not a spontaneous fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of cook. So what a delightful read I found “Mostly Plants” by the Pollan Family. Author Tracy is, of course, the wife of actor Michael J. Fox, and her brother, Michael, a journalist and activist who coined the phrase: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” This time Tracy and her mother, Corky, along with sisters Dana and Lori, take to the page to share their favorite recipes through wonderful text and gorgeous pictures. Jeff and I recently had two friends over for a social distancing brunch and we made the Pollan’s recipe for Rainbow Frittata. With its sliced cremini mushrooms, single red bell pepper, zucchini and Gruyere cheese it was a real winner. I even made the mistake of buying smoked Gruyere instead of regular, and the recipe was very forgiving.  The 101 recipes included in the book are geared toward flexitarian eating, which is a diet of mostly vegetables, but occasionally meat or fish. I look forward to making more of the recipes including Crispy Kale and Potato Hash with Fried Eggs, Vegan Thai Red Curry with Tofu, and the Salmon Farro Bowl. With so many of us huddling close to our families, this is probably the perfect time to treat yourself to a new cookbook for inspiration. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Becoming" by Michelle Obama

My friends Gordon and Bob told me about a show I had not heard of before called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” with David Letterman on Netflix. Jeff and I watched our first episode, an interview with Barak Obama. During the interview, the fact that first ladies do not get a salary came up. My jaw dropped. For all the work Michelle Obama did in the White House, she didn’t get paid?! What a crime. But the wonderful interview with the President reminded me how much I loved Michelle’s memoir “Becoming.” There is a realness that comes through during her television interviews that permeates nearly every page of this book. She grew up on the South side of Chicago with her older brother Craig, mother Marian, and dad Frank, who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis. Frank worked hard to support his family, despite his disability. She went to Princeton and later Harvard Law School, and then got a job as a lawyer in Chicago.  It was at her law firm that she met a new associate named Barak Obama. She describes how they fell in love, got married and then started to raiser their two daughters as working parents. We get to see during their early married life how different they are. Michelle is always on time and organized, while Barak is disorganized with his things, and often unapologetically late. There are so many great moments in this book including this one: When she was working she tried to cram all of her mom errands into her lunch break, while eating a Chipotle burrito bowl, in her car, in between stops. “I excelled at the lunchtime blitz – the replacing of lost socks, the purchasing of gifts for whatever five-year-old was having a birthday party on Saturday, the stocking and restocking of juice boxes and single serving apple sauce cups.” The honesty and richness of her story, before and after their time in the White House, are fascinating. The only problem with this book is that it had to end. I hope she will write more. In the meantime, after you read the book, follow it up with “Becoming” on Netflix, which chronicled her history-making book tour. She is riveting to read, and even more so to watch.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.