The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

By Michelle Obama

Book Overview

#1 NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER - In an inspiring follow-up to her acclaimed memoir Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today's highly uncertain world.

There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life's big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?

Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles--the earned wisdom that helps her continue to "become." She details her most valuable practices, like "starting kind," "going high," and assembling a "kitchen table" of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness.

"When we are able to recognize our own light, we become empowered to use it," writes Michelle Obama. A rewarding blend of powerful stories and profound advice that will ignite conversation, The Light We Carry inspires readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593237463
• ISBN13: 9780593237465
• Release Date: November 2022
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent, inspiring, great to read with friends!

A friend gave me this book and I loved it. Michelle feels so authentic and true to herself. She brings her wisdom to all of us so that all of us can be uplifted and live a better life - individually and together.

A Positive Perspective in these Negative Times

I love this book. Michelle Obama provides wonderful advice based on her own experiences; including her fears. I found it lifted me up during these very difficult times. I highly recommend it for all; even Republicans. It is about all of us and the human experience.

Warm advice for growing up

This book is not groundbreaking, but it has all the warmth and good feeling of a series of lunches with a good friend. I had the feeling throughout that she was imparting the advice she hoped her daughters and other young people might need to know. While I am Ms. Obama’s age, I still appreciate her insightful and optimistic voice.