Where the Light Enters - Building a Family, Discovering Myself by Jill Biden (2019) was the next to last book for my self imposed First Lady book project. (Note - this was not actually a First Lady Memoir! See below.)
This audio book was only available in Audible in an abridged format. I was fine with the abridged format, which I normally avoid. I listened at 1.2 pace. This book was only 6.5+ hours long, increasing the speed slightly trimmed about an hour off of it, which was also fine with me.
I mentioned previously, *I knew very little about the Biden’s. This made this book a bit of a rough listen. The writing was fine, but I was not engaged. I simply finished it as part of my project.
*I know nothing about Biden’s presidency because I stopped watching the news long ago. I know Jill is Joe’s second wife. I know Joe’s first wife and baby daughter died in a car crash. I know one of Joe’s sons died of cancer. I remember Joe questioning Anita Hill.
It wasn’t until I got to the very end of Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself by Jill Biden that I realized - THIS IS NOT A FIRST LADY MEMOIR!
This book is about Jill Biden’s early life, marriage to Joe, their family life, and their son’s death.
Bits are mentioned about Joe’s life in the senate, an early presidential run, eight years as Obama’s vice president. But this is not a political book. It is a story of Jill’s joining the Biden family.
Had I looked at the dates, and thought for a moment, I would have realized this was an earlier publication. Joe Biden was vice President from 2009- 2017. Beau Biden died in 2015. Where the Light Enters - Building a Family, Discovering Myself by Jill Biden was published in 2019. Joe Biden was President from 2021 - 2025.
What did I think of this book? For me it was very slow going in the beginning when Jill discussed her childhood. I just did not care. It was too slow for me. The rest of the book was better. I found the writing to be just a little unsophisticated. Also the timeline jumps around a bit; I did not like that (and there was no reason for it, in my opinion).
Would I have read this book had I realized it was not a First Lady Memoir? Nope. But now that I have read it, I am counting it toward my project. And if an actual Jill Biden First Lady memoir is published, I will likely not read it. This one will serve.
StoryGraph -
Biden’s books were not listed on my regular website. It appears she writes her memoir and also a few children’s books.
