Tara Westover – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

We Can’t Only Learn From Our Parents

Educated by Tara Westover

September 30, 2019 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

BINGO: Birthday: The author’s birthday is sometime in late September. Best for: People who generally trust Barack Obama’s judgment on books. In a nutshell: Tara Westover was raised in a devout Mormon household, with an overbearing father who wouldn’t allow her to go to school. She finds a way to college, and learns about so much that has been hidden from her before. Worth quoting: I listened to this one, so nothing stands out, but the writing is great so I’m sure there are many […]

Educated – The ultimate in “fish out of water” life experience

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

June 20, 2019 by cheerbrarian Leave a Comment

If you liked The Glass Castle or Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis or Sarah Smarsh’s Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth Growing Up Poor then you just might like Educated. And “like” is not the appropriate word for any of these books really. Appreciated is a better sentiment. Because each of these is a tough read, hearing about someone’s struggles to fit in when everything about them sticks out, and is […]

“We are all of us more complicated than the roles we are assigned in the stories other people tell”

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

June 6, 2019 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

A couple of months ago I read American Like Me and focused my review on how the various contributors wrote and reflected on the way their lives hopped boundaries or existed on the edge of multiple cultures. In Educated Tara Westover is doing a deep dive of her own, very personal, journey of leaving one culture (that of her father) and exploring the cultures of more mainstream Mormonism and mainstream America. It is not a perfect book, and to my mind Westover chose an interesting […]

…and then I creeped their entire family on Facebook.

Educated by Tara Westover

February 20, 2019 by kella Leave a Comment

I added this as an impulse buy to an Amazon order because I kept seeing it pop up on so many “Best of 2018” lists. And for good reason. As many others have said, this book is phenomenal. Educated is Westover’s memoir; her story of growing up in an extreme, fanatical, Mormon household (no one was permitted to see a doctor, children weren’t enrolled in school, half of the kids didn’t even have birth certificates, etc). She eventually escapes from this life and goes on to […]

“It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you”

Educated by Tara Westover

February 1, 2019 by Carriejay Leave a Comment

Tara Westover grew up in the mountains of Idaho, raised by religious parents who feared government interference and prepared for the End of Days. She was ‘home schooled’ – though her education was minimal – and spent most of her days helping her father with his scrap business. An activity that often left her and her brothers injured. As she got older her father became more radical in his beliefs and her older brother was violent towards her. Tara found her escape in education and […]

I joined the crowd

Educated by Tara Westover

January 20, 2019 by Manimama 1 Comment

I received this book for Christmas after having seen a lot of hype around it on various sites. I tend to read mostly fiction and would not likely have bought this book for myself. Reading it, though, I found myself wondering how much of this memoir could be real. Don’t get me wrong- I absolutely believe that Tara Westover lived through the events of the book. I believe the off-grid existence, and the doomsday prepping, and the abuse. What I had trouble reconciling myself to […]

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