This week, let’s look at some memoirs that were written in the last few years.

Becoming by Michelle Obama 

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s the power of using your voice.”

Michelle Obama – one of the most exemplary women of our time got to serve as the First Lady of the United States. She was not only able to ” [help] create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history” but also create the world around us a better place for everyone around us.

This autobiographical memoir includes a profound observation and allows the readers to get a deeper understanding of all of the events that shaped her to become the person she is today. Her experiences extend from her childhood in the South Side of Chicago to her time spent in the White House being the First Lady of the United States. This memoir has been written in all of her own words and own terms, discussing her achievements but also her setbacks.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

“We realise the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”

When she was 15, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head, while riding the bus from school. Not many expected her to survive this. Her extraordinary journey from obscure hometown in northern Pakistan to the United Nations in New York. This allowed her to become “ a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest -ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.”

This book is a breathtaking story of her family displaced by global terrorism, of everyone’s fight for girl’s education, of her father who was a school owner — encouraged his daughter to write be educated — and also of strong parents who immensely loved their daughter in a world where only sons were valued.

Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery

“When I look around, all I see is black. Maybe I’m looking right at the Earth and not seeing any lights because we’re passing over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, or perhaps I’m just looking at space.”

Scott Kelly has experienced things very few people have. Being the American record holder for most consecutive days spent in space and have been on four flights to space, he is one of the greatest experts of our time.

In this memoir, he allows us to visit another dimension of things many would never actually see in their real life. He discusses the challenges faced by the crew during space-flight, being alone and away from their loved ones, the risks of colliding with space matter and being unable to help those back at home.

Kelly’s humor, empathy, kindness, and dedication are all seen throughout the novel. He discusses his childhood and inspiration to go to space, and also his faith in the greatest feat of our time — Mars being the next step in American spaceflight.

Have fun reading these memoirs, and you might want to come up with one of your own!