Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story

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The most interesting and personal events of Beyoncé’s life can feel like afterthoughts: Near the end, on page 414, after a scan-worthy chapter about video budgets and other behind-the-scenes details on her album 4, Taraborrelli casually mentions that “by this time,” in November 2011, “Beyoncé and Jay were expecting their first child. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). The explanation given is that Beyoncé was opposed to Jay Z attending Rihanna’s Met Ball after-party, due to a supposed publicity stunt years earlier by Rihanna’s publicist that linked Jay to Rihanna.

Inspired by Benbow’s incredible work, we wanted to put together our own Beyoncé-related reading list, featuring works cited by the singer, as well as those we believe make perfect bedfellows for Queen Bey’s back catalogue, to set you up for the RENAISSANCE tour.In her leisure time, she enjoys skateboarding, supporting various charitable ventures, and spending time with her husband, John, and family and friends. I walked away from this book feeling more confused about who Beyonce is than I did before and suggest that others not expect any juicy details because they simply aren't included in this biography!

Above all, her mission is to be a vehicle for diversity and representation in entertainment and children’s media—to tell untold stories that reflect the beautiful world we all share. Becoming Beyonce isn't just a Beyonce biography in fact I would argue its more of a biography of her parents Matthew Knowles and Tina Knowles-Lawson. I suppose I've never actually read a biography like this and reading some of the lines in the book that were not direct quotes knowing that most of the people in the situation didn't say that really made me cringe. While songs like “Run The World (Girls)”, “Formation” and “Freakum Dress” were designed to empower, tracks such as “1+1”, “If I Were A Boy” and “Pray You Catch Me” were more vulnerable, the often infallible Queen Bey laying out her insecurities for the world to see.

The book also analyses Beyoncé's role as a mother to young daughter Blue Ivy and explores the hidden heartbreaks of her past, including a tragic miscarriage, a lengthy battle with depression and an agonising rift with her manager father Mathew. Anyway, a good read and probably the best you’ll get if you have even a whiff of interest in the life and times of Beyoncé. That said, as a huge Beyonce fan the book was interesting enough, I just wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it. Lavaille Lavette is a New York Times’ bestselling author and editor, social entrepreneur, educator, leadership and business development expert.