Spurred by world’s ‘uncertainty,’ Michelle Obama announces new book

By Kate Bennett, CNN

Prompted by a series of national crises and global anxiety, Michelle Obama has written a new book, the former first lady announced Thursday via Twitter.

“These past few years, I’ve been thinking about how to stay centered in a world filled with so much uncertainty,” Obama said in her social media post, which included a minute-and-a-half long video of her explaining her motivation for writing “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.”

Obama cites the pandemic, the January 6 insurrection and what she says is a “rising tide of hate and bigotry and intolerance” as examples of what has been happening over the last few years that led her to look for solutions.

“It’s often left me feeling out of balance,” she said. “I felt vulnerable. And, yes, at times I felt afraid.” Obama added that her search for resolution ultimately became her new book, which she calls “a tool box,” and a “collection of some of the perspectives and practices I’ve gathered over the years to help keep me centered.” Obama said the goal of the book is to add positivity and balance in darker times. “Maybe we’ll be a little steadier with the understanding that none of us has to go through any of this alone,” she said in the video message.

“The Light We Carry” will be published on November 15 by Penguin Random House, which in a release said the former first lady “details her most valuable practices, like ‘starting kind,’ ‘going high’ and assembling a ‘kitchen table’ of trusted friends and mentors.”

Obama’s 2018 memoir, “Becoming,” became a global bestseller and spawned a journal, a ticketed book tour, a documentary and a Grammy-award-winning audiobook.

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