A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Tags

2020, 5 stars, america, autobiography, english, memoir, non fiction, politics

Title: A Promised Land

Writer: Barack Obama

Publisher: Crown (First Edition, 2020)

Pages: 751p

Bought at: Periplus.com (IDR 472k, disc 20%)

Barack Obama is a good writer. That’s one of my main impressions after reading his memoir. He can write about a very complicated period in his life, with many complicated issues, in a really clear, organized way, easy to understand but not oversimplified everything, and in between those packed topics, he can still write in his style, with lots of humors and sarcastic comments here and there.

This book covered the first half of his presidency, but started way before that time, with a hint of his family background and unconventional childhood, how politics creeped into his life and changed who he became, and of course, his fateful meeting with Michelle. Reading this part reminded me of Michelle’s memoir, Becoming, that also told story of his meeting with Barack, and how their relationship changed her life. But if Michelle wrote in more personal, emotional way, with many reminiscing of her childhood and talked a lot about her personal identity, Barack didn’t write that much about his personal life. I think his main purpose is to record his path in politics and how his presidency helped changing America into the state that’s getting closer with his ideals. Even though, of course, the reality is not that easy.

Although I have been working with American government program for more than 10 years now, there are still many things, especially related to social-politics-economy of the country that I don’t understand. Reading this book, I learned a lot about the issues that are important to American people: the economy gap, racial issues, universal healthcare, justice system, and even the relationship with other countries in the world, especially in the Middle East area (with the never ending wars), Russia, and China, and how the dynamics of their relationships shaped the global world situation.

Obama wrote in a very detailed way, thoughtful, with step by step guidance on his decision making process, very useful for younger generations who are interested in working in politics. He is a natural born leader, with very sharp mind, great decision making skills, and outstanding ability to choose the right people for the right position. I think even for those who are not interested in politics, this book still teaches a lot about how to become a great leader.

Another interesting thing is how detailed Obama described his daily life in White House, including his favorite room, his routine, and all the people he met, from the gardeners to the world leaders. What he and his team usually did inside Air Force One (playing cards!), their obsession with basketball, and the Dad stuff he still did even though his life was very busy.

And Obama is a fair writer. He wrote about his failures and bad judgments with the same precisions and details with his writing about his successes. And every time he wrote about his success stories, he always mentioned in detailed the roles of other people to bring the success.

Overall, this is a really good memoir, a bit long, but necessary, and better to savor it slowly. Like Obama said, he planned to write a 500-page book about his two-term presidency, but he failed tremendously XD This is only the first volume of his journey, and it already reached 700 pages, hahaha.. I can’t wait for the second volume though, and learn more from his journey.

Also – it’s good to read this book right after the US election, so at least I was not too frustrated with the fact that every achievement that Obama made – already ruined or canceled by Trump. Hopefully Biden and Harris will bring back some of the good policies that Obama has started. We’ll see.

Rating: 5/5

Recommended if you like: good memoirs, world leader autobiography, politics and social issues, American history, long book but not boring, serious issues tackled with understandable language and great sense of humor

2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge

Tags

2020, challenge, popsugar RC 2020, reading challenge

Oh boy! It’s been a while (or forever) since the last time I updated this blog. I focused too much on fulfilling my Goodreads challenge (100 books!) and neglected reviewing the books here :(

And the bad news is I won’t be able to finish my Goodreads challenge anyway XD (I changed the number from 100 to 90 now). So next year I think I will not be too ambitious in number, but decided to join (again) the Popsugar Reading Challenge to spice up my game.

So here is the list of the challenge:

1. A book that’s published in 2020: The Glass Hotel (Emily St. John Mandel)
2. A book by a trans or nonbinary author: Nevada (Imogen Binnie)
3. A book with a great first line : Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
4. A book about a book club: The Agatha Christie Book Club (CA Larmer)
5. A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics : The Alice Network (London) (Kate Quinn)
6. A bildungsroman: Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery)
7. The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed: TBD
8. A book with an upside-down image on the cover: Fleishman is in Trouble (Taffy Brodesser-Akner)
9. A book with a map: Winnie the Pooh (AA Milne)
10. A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club: The Snowman (Jo Nesbo)
11. An anthology: Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption (Daniel Jones)
12. A book that passes the Bechdel test: Beloved (Toni Morrison)
13. A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it: Inside Out (Demi Moore)
14. A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name: Crenshaw (Katherine Applegate)
15. A book about or involving social media: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed (Jon Ronson)
16. A book that has a book on the cover: Harriet Wolf’s Seventh Book of Wonder (Julianna Baggott)
17. A medical thriller: Unwind (Neal Shusterman)
18. A book with a made-up language: TBD
19. A book set in a country beginning with “C”: The Painted Veil (China) (W. Somerset Maugham)
20. A book you picked because the title caught your attention: TBD
21. A book published the month of your birthday: The Starless Sea (November 2019) (Erin Morgenstern)
22. A book about or by a woman in STEM: The Signature of All Things (Elizabeth Gilbert)
23. A book that won an award in 2019: The Overstory (Pulitzer Prize) (Richard Powers)
24. A book on a subject you know nothing about: From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death (Caitlin Doughty)
25. A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics: Franny and Zooey (JD Salinger)
26. A book with a pun in the title: Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston)
27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins: The Middlestein (Glutony) (Jamie Attenberg)
28. A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character: TBD
29. A book with a bird on the cover: The House of Birds (Morgan McCarthy)
30. A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader: The President is Missing (Bill Clinton and James Patterson)
31. A book with “gold,” “silver,” or “bronze” in the title: The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Alan Bradley)
32. A book by a WOC: Children of Blood and Bone (Tomi Adeyemi)
33. A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Michael Chabon)
34. A book you meant to read in 2019: Pachinko (Min Jin Lee)
35. A book with a three-word title: The Clockmaker’s Daughter (Kate Morton)
36. A book with a pink cover: Milkman (Anna Burns)
37. A Western: Inland (Tea Obreht)
38. A book by or about a journalist: She Said (Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey
39. Read a banned book during Banned Books Week: The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: White Chrysanthemum (a book with a plant in the title cover – 2019) (Mary Lynn Bracht)

Advanced, 2020 Edition

1. A book written by an author in their 20s: The Luminaries (Eleanor Catton)
2. A book with “20” or “twenty” in the title: Twenty-four Days Before Christmas (Madeline L’Engle)
3. A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision): Because of Winn Dixie (Kate DiCamillo)
4. A book set in the 1920s: The Secret Adversary (Agatha Christie)
5. A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics: Convenience Store Woman (Sayaka Murata)
6. A book by an author who has written more than 20 books: Enid Blyton (TBD)
7. A book with more than 20 letters in its title: The Bookshop of Yesterdays (Amy Meyerson)
8. A book published in the 20th century: Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
9. A book from a series with more than 20 books: Hercule Poirot (TBD)
10. A book with a main character in their 20s: The Story of a New Name (Elena Ferrante)

So– 50 books for the challenge doesn/t seem so bad, right? And hopefully I can read few other books as well so the final number wouldn’t be too disappointing 😀

I’ll make a separate page for this challenge and update the progress there.

Wish me luck for 2020!!!!