Educated by Tara Westover
Why I grabbed it: Obama | Genre: Autobiography | Recommended: Yes
Educated came up on the best books of 2018. I think after I saw it on Obama’s list I added it to good reads and placed a hold at the library. Fast forward 6 months and it shows up in my kindle. Initially, I was a little soured on the ‘rags to riches’ summary but I started in right away as it was a decent sized book and I only had 3 weeks to finish it. The first chapter hooked me. Although there are many stories of a kind, medical accidents, ranting religious father, crazy dangerous work, and abusive family members, I found myself drawn in. At times, it’s a bit like watching a slow motion car accident. I found about halfway through, the perspective of Tara changed. She went from being a somewhat objective viewer of her past to being the main character. The situations were closer to home and she had less objective perspective on what was happening. For the last third of the book I had a knot in my stomach. I’m not sure I enjoyed the story, and I’m pretty sure that’s not the point. The memoir itself was striking and is firmly lodged in my mind. The writing though. The writing is excellent. Tara is clear, descriptive, wistful, and engaging. It’s worth the time to read it.