Second paragraph of third chapter:

I learned about this not from Ron but from his wife, Matrice.

A follow-up to her earlier autobiography, this is much more of a self-help book drawing on lessons learned from Michelle Obama’s family, her friends, her career and her experience of being First Lady for eight years. Most of us can relate to all but the last of these. It’s a very affirming message of self-help, self-confidence and compassion, which rather restores one’s faith in humanity. I am not in the audience that the book is primarily aimed at, but I found a lot to like and admire here, and it actually succeeded in cheering me up a bit about the state of the world. You can get it here.

An interesting thought from a parallel universe: a POLITICO journalist interviewing two senior Trump campaign managers last month asked if they had investigated popular support for alternative candidates to President Biden, other than Vice-President Harris, to see what would happen if he were replaced on the ballot.

Trump adviser: Yeah, we tested them all.
POLITICO: Who was the strongest?
Trump adviser: Strangely enough, Michelle Obama.

This was the top book on my unread pile that was non-fiction, by a woman, and acquired in 2023. Next on those stacks respectively are The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, by Serhii Plokhy; I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman; and A History of the Bible, by John Barton.