Educated, Tara Westover

A memoir on the author who, with four of her siblings were born at home on an Idaho mountain, raised by fringe-Mormon parents who believed in the end of times, but not in the authority of doctors, school, or the federal government. She has a PhD in history from Cambridge U. “When I was a child, I waited for my mind to grow, for my experiences to accumulate and my choices to solidify, taking shape into the likeness of a person… it was only as I grew older that I wondered if how I had started was how I would end.”For years her family hierarchy was shrinking with her brothers leaving the farm with Dad’s inconsistent methods for taking care of the family. Her father would even forbid her to read books… he’d make up jobs for her to do, whether they needed to be done or not in an effort to keep his children from being overly interested in school and books. Why? Religion fervor and beliefs. The author’s willingness and desire to educate herself.. the quest for knowledge is something I try and instill every day of my life. If you’re not learning, you’re dying that much quicker.