Title: A Promised Land
Author: Barack
Obama
Read by: Barack Obama
Publisher: Penguin
Random House Audio
Length: Approximately
29 hours and 10 minutes
Source: Overdrive
through the Kewaunee Public Library. Also,
a hard cover copy of the book from my Mom for Christmas. Thank-you!
I have loved
reading biographies about First Ladies and Presidents since I was a kid. Even better are being able to read autobiographies
from the First Ladies and Presidents themselves. I have found the autobiographies vary in
quality, but A Promised Land was a top-notch presidential autobiography. Barack Obama is a great writer and while this
book had a lot of facts, he made it very interesting and personal.
It was fascinating
to listen to Obama’s perspective on modern history that I lived through. His presidency
started during the worst financial crisis the nation had faced since the Great
Depression. It was interesting to learn
how he entered the presidency and learned what was going on and how he worked
to turn things around. I liked to ponder
what I was doing at the time and how it impacted my work. I am an engineer and was working on “shovel
ready” projects that received funding from the federal government. It was interesting to find out how the process
worked from the top down for this funding. I’m in the environmental field and loved his discussion
on the environment and especially the Deep-Water Horizon incident. The most thought-provoking
section in this book was his description of the mission to take down Osama Bin
Laden. The book ended at this time
period. I’m looking forward to reading
his next book about his second term in office.
I was also
intrigued that Obama discussed frankly how he couldn’t live up to the idea of
himself. People had very high
expectations for him and thought that all racism would be solved with him in
office. After a couple of years in office,
the shine was off, and people were not as enthused about him as they used to
be. This makes it difficult as he starts
his reelection campaign.
I also enjoyed
that Obama included personal information.
He was very relatable. I loved
the moments of humor in the book as well as the other moments where he
questions whether his work is getting in the way of spending time with his
family. I have had those moments myself.
I loved his love for Michelle and their girls. I also loved his love for his Grandma Toot and
talk about how his Grandma and Mother inspired him in what he set out to do in
life.
I both listened to
the audiobook version of A Promised Land and followed along in my hard back
copy of the book. I loved that Barack
Obama read A Promised Land himself on audio.
I found his voice to be very soothing and enjoyed listening to it. I love the pictures that are included in the
hardcover copy of the book.
Favorite Quotes:
“Enthusiasm makes
up for a host of deficiencies.”
“There are people
in the world who think only about themselves. They don’t care what happens to
other people so long as they get what they want. They put other people down to
make themselves feel important. “Then there are people who do the opposite, who
are able to imagine how others must feel, and make sure that they don’t do
things that hurt people. “So,” she said, looking me squarely in the eye. “Which
kind of person do you want to be?”
“But you don’t
choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be
the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the
knowledge that the chance has passed you by.”
Overall, A
Promised Land was a fascinating personal look into the presidency of Barack
Obama.
