My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

★★★★★

Sonia Sotomayor is a remarkable woman and an exemplary role model for all of us. Her journey from a humble upbringing to Supreme Court Justice is impressive, but it's really her down-to-earth humility, work ethic, and pursuit of life-long learning and self-improvement that make her so inspiring. Sotomayor is reassuringly human.  

In the preface, she writes, "I would not have considered myself unqualifiedly happy as a child... though, I realized I did have sources of deep happiness, and these bred in me an optimism that proved stronger than any adversity." Reflecting on a happy childhood does not sound very noteworthy, but the quote becomes striking after reading a few chapters and learning that Sotomayor had an alcoholic father who died when she was young. There is sadness and hardship in her childhood, but it is clear how meaningful her family was to her, and how she drew strength from her roots as a Puerto Rican.

Always a keen observer, she realized at age 15 a truth that I didn't discover until I was an adult; that so much of what is wrong in the world boils down to this: "[P]eople can't imagine someone else's point of view." (p. 123)

I especially appreciated her insights and observations on race and injustice as they applied to Hispanics and Latinos, and the larger non-white community in general, at Princeton. Very frequently, conversations of race are limited to Black and white issues, but in writing of her own experiences, Sotomayor broadened the discussion to include non-Black people of color as well.

Sotomayor seems so full of wisdom and love that the more I read, the more I wished she were my Titi Sonia. I could use someone in my life to encourage me to be more forthcoming, with maxims like, "[V]irtue in obscurity is rewarded only in heaven" (p. 279); or to reassure me about big life decisions with profound statements like, "To say that a stay-at-home mom has betrayed her potential is no less absurd than to suggest that a woman who puts career first is somehow less a woman." (p. 296)

Reading this book against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter, when district attorneys across the country are being scrutinized for their role in cases of police brutality, it's notable that Sotomayer was able to convey the integrity and gravity of her work as a prosecutor.

Spanish words and phrases are sprinkled throughout. Frequently the meaning can be inferred from context, or the words were translated directly in the text, but when in doubt, there is a glossary!