Review of First Ladies: Michelle Obama and Abigail Adams

Recently, I read two biographies about First Ladies. One because I find Michelle Obama fascinating and the other because I like the series and wanted to learn more about Abigail Adams. I am the daughter of a high school History teacher after all. I have always loved the Revolutionary period.

I wanted to know about the current First Lady's time in the White House, but this book is a prequel to those days. I should have looked at the publication date. So that was my fault for being disappointed in the book. What both of these books had in common was plenty of mentions of their famous husbands. While I liked hearing about their husbands, the books were about the women, not the men. Too often the focus shifted to the men, while giving few details of what these remarkable women were doing during that time. I love the DK photographic series; it's format is great, easy to read, and contains lots of pictures or drawings. In Michelle Obama: an American Story, the pictures were bundled together in two sections. I hate that format. I like seeing the photographs, artwork, or maps on or near the same page as the discussion. Overall, I enjoyed learning about these two women, but I wanted more.