If you, like me, read former First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir and were left craving more, there’s some relief coming your way. Just kidding. I didn’t read her book but a whole lot of people did. It was a huge bestseller and she made big bucks off of it.

Michelle Obama’s memoir was the best-selling book in 2018. By March 2019, 10 million copies were sold. She went on a national book tour and sold-out arenas and stadiums. Neither ticket prices nor the book itself was cheap, which sold for $32.50. Now there is a companion to the original memoir – a journal. Did that word trigger a vision of one Obama’s besties, Oprah? Well, the journal isn’t set for release until Tuesday but it has already been named to Oprah’s Favorites list for this Christmas season. In case you don’t know, recognition on Oprah’s Favorites list is pure gold for any product’s sales figures. “Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice” will no doubt sell just like the memoir did. The price is listed on Amazon as $12.27 for a pre-order.

Santa @Oprah made a list, checked it twice, and discovered one more perfect gift: @MichelleObama’s Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice. And just like that #OprahsFavoriteThings 2019 was completed! Find the full list here: https://t.co/LX2y4UumgG pic.twitter.com/tyi1pOqoqc

— O The Oprah Magazine (@oprahmagazine) November 8, 2019

On the eve of the journal’s release, Mrs. Obama is scheduled to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the book, “Becoming”, with an appearance at a well-known Washington, D.C. bookstore. She’ll be signing books at Politics and Prose Bookstore. There are “guidelines” for the general public to attend the sold-out event. Books must have been purchased from the bookstore on Saturday to be signed (no bringing your own copy purchased elsewhere) and wristbands will be issued in order to get in. And, there will be airport-style security.

To score a wristband, a person must buy a hardcover copy of Becoming in the upper Northwest store starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 16. (The book costs $32.50, per the bookstore.) One book means one wristband, which grants one person entrance (though children under 15 can join a wristband-clad adult). Customers can buy a maximum of two signed books, but not more than one wristband.

Then, folks can start lining up on Monday starting at 3 p.m. (the bookstore is closing at 2 p.m. to get ready) for Obama. The event itself begins at 6 p.m., and will entail Obama signing copies of Becoming. There won’t be any photos, personalization, or having other memorabilia signed by Obama, Politics and Prose states. If customers want, they can also buy an early release of her forthcoming Becoming Journal, which will be officially released the following day.

The signing will have “airport-style security,” according to the bookstore. Aside from necessarily medical devices, folks in the signing area can’t hold anything.

All of this is interesting, given that Michelle Obama’s name comes up now and then as a wild card entry into the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination race. There is absolutely nothing that any Democrat can say to make me think she would really enter the race, though, and others are just wasting time dreaming about that. She is cashing in on her time at the top of popularity polls with book deals, Netflix production deals, speaking engagements, and getting the Obama Foundation off the ground in Chicago.

Saturday morning I watched Michael Smerconish’s show on CNN. One of his guests was Bill Richardson. Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, was on to talk about the possibility of a brokered convention. Granted, the topic of brokered conventions happens frequently in presidential election cycles, and Richardson was speaking to the possible frustration felt by some super delegates when convention time rolls around. He offered up the possibility that the super delegates would be looking for someone more palatable to moderate Democrats and used the examples of Michelle Obama and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. He also randomly mentioned Tom Hanks, so take his ideas with a huge grain of salt. He did say something we can all probably agree on – Democrats are desperate to win in 2020.

You can watch Richardson’s segment with Smerconish on Facebook HERE.