In August 2009, Sonia Sotomayor assumed the role of a judge in the U.S Supreme Court. She made history as the first Hispanic to occupy this privileged position. "My Beloved World is the story of Sonia's rise from her humble beginnings to this exalted position. It is a touching story of love, family loyalty, and Puerto Rican History both in Puerto Rico and America. Sonia Sotomayor despite her disadvantages made it to Princeton and Law School in Yale - at times people shot barbs at her accusing her of being a product of Affirmative Action, but her excelling in these schools are a testament to her capabilities and should be enough to silence those barbs. My Beloved World is at once a memoir and a historical story. It makes for interesting reading.

Just saw Justice Sonia Sotomayor last night at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City presented by Kepler's Bookstore. She was interviewed by Belva Davis and I was really inspired by her story. Her memoir covers her youth and college years and all of the forces that came together that led to her ascent to the highest court in the nation. I haven't read her memoir yet, but cannot wait to do so..

What an incredible, brilliant woman. Child of Puerto Rican immigrants, alcoholic father, absentee mother and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Sotomayor takes on the world bouyed by stratospheric intelligence, unbelievable work ethic and an amazing extended family!

One of the most inspirational books I've ever read. As soon as I finished it I wanted to read it again, but had to return it to the library. So I bought it.

I loved this book. It's an inspiring story of a precocious child who grows up to hold a prestigious position in America in spite of her lack of acculturation into the more powerful segments of our society. I found her story to be not only believable, but also full of practical things one can do to advance his or her own position/career.

I was very impressed with the book. The author does exactly what she sets out to do, to explain to the many people who have asked her what her background was that led her on her path. Many people asked how she has dealt with juvenile diabetes, about her Puerto Rican-American family and growing up within two cultures, and this book really explains it well. She talks about her naivete about the world, her sheltered life (in many ways) within the Puertoriqueno community in the Bronx, people that helped her, her mentors, her drive and how it caused problems in her marriage, etc. There are many "truths" in the book that are invaluable to all. It also helped me to understand a bit my father as he grew up more than 80 years ago as a child of immigrants. Readers should not expect to know more about her recent life that led to her being appointed to the Supreme Court. She clearly states that is not included in the book.

Whenever I've seen Sonia Sotomayor on C-Span, I've been much impressed with her. I'm sure if I met her, I'd like her very much and thus I'm much saddened to say that I was disappointed in this book. I was looking forward to hearing about her Supreme Court seat (first Hispanic Supreme Court justice) and all that led up to it but alas, this book stops when Sonia Sotomayor achieved her first position as a judge. (Although she does mention her Supreme Court position in passing in an epilogue.) My frustration with the book comes from her emphasis on her youth. At page 120, she's still in high school. I skimmed chapters even to get that far. Too much space is given to shopping with abuelita (grandma) and time with papi (father) or mami (mother) etc. Stories about her diabetes became a bit redundant. It was a bit shocking to find out that she decided to be a lawyer early in life under the influence of the Perry Mason show. Her interest in attending an Ivy League school was precipitated by seeing the college campus in the film, Love Story. When she married at a young age, her ideas about marriage were modeled after TV sitcoms. In her later years in college, she was unfamiliar with Phi Beta Kappa and didn't know what summa cum laude meant which I find incredible when she was attending Princeton. Almost 200 pages into the book, she's finally finished law school. All of that detail really wasn't that interesting to me; maybe it will be to other readers. She does write convincingly about the importance of mentors and how they've been instrumental in her career. She stresses that hard work and long hours enable a person to accomplish things they weren't certain they could achieve. She discusses feeling like an imposter at times as she rose up the ladder but then each time realizing that, with study and dedication, she could and would become successful in her new position. She grew up being somewhat closed emotionally and tending not to share what was really happening with her; in her adulthood, she made a vow to change that and indeed this book reveals her willingness to share her emotions and history.