memoir audiobook
Becoming by Michelle Obama narrated by Michelle Obama is about 19 hours and 3 minutes long at normal speed. At 1.5× that drops to about 12 hr 42 min, and at 2× to about 9 hr 32 min.
Runtimes are approximate and vary slightly by edition and retailer. Check the length shown in Audible, Libby, Spotify or Apple Books for your copy.
| Playback speed | Total time |
|---|---|
| 0.8× | 23 hr 49 min |
| 1× | 19 hr 3 min |
| 1.25× | 15 hr 14 min |
| 1.5× | 12 hr 42 min |
| 1.75× | 10 hr 53 min |
| 2× | 9 hr 32 min |
| 2.5× | 7 hr 37 min |
| 3× | 6 hr 21 min |
Plan your listen
At one hour a day and normal speed, you'll finish in about 20 days. Speed it up to 1.5× and the same hour a day finishes it in about 13 days. At 45 minutes a day and 1.5×, plan on about 17 days.
The table below shows whole days needed for every combination of speed and daily listening time.
| Speed | 15 min | 30 min | 45 min | 1 hr | 1.5 hr | 2 hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1× | 77 | 39 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 10 |
| 1.25× | 61 | 31 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| 1.5× | 51 | 26 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| 2× | 39 | 20 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 5 |
How long, really
At 19 hr 3 min, Becoming is about the length of a drive from Chicago to Washington, D.C. and back. That's longer than about 83% of the 169 popular audiobooks we list.
Spoken at an average narration pace, Becoming comes to roughly 177,000 words. Narrators vary, so a faster or slower reader will shift that number and the total runtime.
Want to try other speeds or your own schedule? Use the audiobook speed calculator or the listening goal calculator to find the daily minutes you need.
Track it as you listen
Booktrace is an iPhone audiobook tracker that logs your sessions, chapters, narrator and playback speed in one place, so you can see real progress through Becoming and how many hours remain, whichever app you listen in.
Common questions
The Becoming audiobook by Michelle Obama runs about 19 hours and 3 minutes at normal (1x) speed, in the edition narrated by Michelle Obama. Exact runtime can differ by a few minutes between editions and stores.
At 1.5x speed, Becoming takes about 12 hours and 42 minutes. At 2x it takes about 9 hours and 32 minutes.
At one hour a day and normal speed, Becoming takes about 20 days. At 1.5x speed and an hour a day it takes about 13 days. At 30 minutes a day and normal speed it takes about 39 days.
Compared with the 169 popular audiobooks on this site, Becoming is longer than about 83% of them. At 19 hr 3 min it is about the length of a drive from Chicago to Washington, D.C. and back.
