Book Review: "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover

Wow.

Harrowing, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant, Educated is at times difficult to read and not at all what I expected, but I couldn't tear myself away from it.

"Mother had always said we could go to school if we wanted. We just had to ask Dad, she said. Then we could go. But I didn't ask. There was something in the hard line of my father's face, in the quiet sigh of supplication he made every morning before he began family prayer, that made me think my curiosity was an obscenity, an affront to all he'd sacrificed to raise me."

Until she was 17 years old, Tara Westover never went to school. Her father was convinced that the government was out to get them in every way, so his children got their education at home—not through books and studying, but through preparing for the End of Days by making survivalist kits, canning endless jars of fruit, and being prepared for a siege at any time.

Tara's mother was a midwife and healer, so she helped her mother prepare the various tinctures and remedies she used. At other times she worked in her father's junkyard with her siblings, salvaging scrap metal and dealing with the various injuries that came with this work, because her parents didn't believe that doctors or hospitals could heal better than herbs and the Lord's power. The problem was, they were so isolated that there was no one to help ensure the children learned any actual facts, or protect them when behavior turned violent.

When one of Tara's older brother's left the family compound in Idaho to study at Brigham Young University, for the first time Tara realized there was a world outside her father's blustery preaching. Despite having never set foot in a classroom, she began to study for the ACT exam, teaching herself enough math, grammar, and science to achieve the score she needed to attend BYU herself. But this decision didn't please her father, who believed college professors were liars and hypocrites sure to take Tara down a blasphemous path.

In Educated, Westover shares her story about being caught between loyalty to family and God, and the desire to find your own way, to learn things on your own. She touches on learning about things like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement for the first time, and how difficult she found being on her own, dealing with the disapproval of her father.

While this book deals with the educational triumphs Westover ultimately achieves despite all of the obstacles thrown in her way, this is a tough story to read as well, because she also shares what it is like to constantly have your self-worth undermined by those who claim to love you and want what's best for you. How can you ever truly believe you deserve a life in which you don't have to worry about abuse, humiliation, and degradation, when it is your own family causing these things? Where do you find the strength to say you've had enough when you know doing so might cost you your family?

I'm late to the party in reading this, and I will admit this wasn't quite the book I expected, as I thought it would focus more on Westover's education than her upbringing and the emotional and physical abuse she endured for years. Obviously, this, too, was part of her education, but at times I found the continuous pattern of behaviors really difficult to keep reading about. I realize that those around her must have felt the same way—just when they thought she might be making a breakthrough she let the same things happen to her over and over and over again.

Even though this wasn't an enjoyable book per se, it was written so skillfully, and Westover's story was so compelling that I read the entire book in a day thanks to a flight and a long car ride.

This is an important, poignant, thought-provoking book which demonstrates how one woman found the courage to achieve despite being surrounded by those who told her she shouldn't or she couldn't. What a punch this packed.

Book Review: "Heretics Anonymous" by Katie Henry

Michael has tried to stay positive. But after his family moves for the fourth time in 10 years—and a month and a half into his junior year of high school, no less—he's starting to lose himself. Especially this time, when his parents have enrolled him at St. Clare's, a prestigious Catholic prep school. Because Michael, you see, is an atheist.

"I didn't lose my faith or anything. I never had it in the first place. I never believed in any kind of God, just like I never believed in werewolves, or ghosts, or that mixing Pop Rocks and soda would make your stomach explode."

Angry at his father for uprooting the family once again and then never being home on top of it all, Michael is still determined to find a friend, just so school doesn't totally suck. In his history class, he witnesses a fellow student exasperating the nun who is their teacher, and he thinks he may have found a fellow atheist. Instead, he discovers that Lucy is a Catholic and wants to be a priest, but she isn't satisfied with the Church's attitude toward, or treatment of, women, among other things.

Outcasts in their own way, Lucy and Michael become friends, and she introduces him to the school's other "fringe" students: Avi, who is Jewish—and gay; Max, who wants to wear a cloak even though it clashes with St. Clare's dress code; and Eden, who is a Celtic Reconstructionist Polytheist (she believes in multiple gods). Together, they are Heretics Anonymous, a secret society which exists mostly to give them an outlet to be free to be whomever they want to be.

As Michael's friendship with his fellow Heretics grows (as do his feelings for Lucy), the group starts to wonder whether it can serve a greater purpose and effect change within the school. But what starts as a set of humorous pranks aimed at highlighting the inconsistencies in some of the school rules (not to mention its treatment of sex), begins to take on a life of its own when something happens to a beloved teacher. Suddenly Michael wants the group to call attention to the school's true hypocrisies, but he doesn't realize just how much he's putting at risk, including his friends.

"The only thing more dangerous than someone who doesn't care about the rules is someone who does—and wants to break them anyway."

When you've finally found a community in which you belong, is that enough to satisfy you? Is it our responsibility to point out to others the hypocrisies that surround them, even if they may not be interested? When you don't believe in something, do you need to pretend you do just to make others happy? In Heretics Anonymous, Katie Henry attempts to answer those questions against the backdrop of familial angst and the heated emotions of high school relationships.

I really enjoyed this book. Henry hooked me from the beginning, and while she did paint some of the school's rules and administration as hypocrites, she didn't make them caricatures, and showed a different side of Catholicism through Lucy's character. While not every character is as fleshed out as I would have liked—I feel that there were some great stories to be told by delving deeper into Avi, Max, and Eden's characters—Lucy and Michael are flawed but utterly fantastic.

While this book is about religion in a small way, it's more about friendship and belonging and trust, about the hopes we hold on to long after we should lay them to rest, and the hurt that we feel when we realize people don't keep their promises. This is a sweet, funny, thought-provoking story, and I wouldn't have minded spending more time with these characters. I'll definitely keep an eye out for what Henry comes up with next!!

Book Review: "Sweet Little Lies" by Caz Frear

"Some fears can never be shared. Some fears are so cataclysmic that to share them would be tantamount to suicide."

When Cat was eight years old, Maryanne Doyle, a pretty teenager from the Irish town where Cat's family was on holiday, disappeared. Cat and her older sister were both reasonably obsessed with Maryanne, as was nearly every male in town.

While no one could figure out where Maryanne could have gone, Cat knew one thing: her father told a lie when he said he didn't know anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. And their relationship was never the same after that day.

Eighteen years later, Cat is a Detective Constable with London's Metropolitan Police Force. Still a little on edge after the troubling end to her last case, she is quickly thrown into a new case, this one dealing with the murder of a young wife named Alice Lapaine. Cat and her colleague believe Alice's husband is the prime suspect in her murder once more and more information is uncovered about their relationship, but all that changes when the police department receives a phone call which links Alice to Maryanne Doyle.

Cat doesn't know what to do. When she starts putting the facts together, including the fact that Alice's body was found not far from the pub her father runs, she wonders if the suspicions she's had about her father all these years really were warranted. Could her father really have been responsible for Maryanne's disappearance? Could he have harmed Alice, too? If she divulges her connections to Maryanne, she'll be taken off the case, and the more that she gets involved, the more she puts her job at risk. But the more she tries to get to the bottom of her father's involvement, the more danger she's in of ruining their relationship—and her relationship with the rest of her family—for good.

The deeper the police force digs into the cases, the more twists and secrets they uncover. Cat wants to help solve the cases and bring the killers to justice, but at the same time, she's afraid of what she might find out.

Sweet Little Lies is a great read—tremendously compelling, full of many twists and turns that keep you guessing, even though I had a few suspicions that proved warranted. Cat is a fascinating character, desperate for approval, craving love and stability, and yet unwavering when she believes someone has done something wrong. (She's not quite as vigilant about her own transgressions, but hey, she's human.)

I thought the book started a little slowly, but once it picked up steam I couldn't get enough of it. Caz Frear is a terrific storyteller, and it's hard to believe this is her first book. I saw this listed somewhere with the subtitle "Cat Kinsella, #1," so I'm hoping another book with Cat is in the works.

There are so many mysteries and crime novels out there, but Sweet Little Lies is definitely worth adding to your list. Plus, if you're a Fleetwood Mac fan, not being able to get the song "Lies" out of your head while you read might be an added bonus!!

Book Review: "Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win" by Jo Piazza

"Only let the world see half of your ambition. Half of the world can't handle seeing it all."

That was a piece of advice given to Charlotte Walsh by her mentor, a former governor, U.S. Senator, and Ambassador to the United Nations, when she encouraged Charlotte to run for the U.S. Senate in her home state of Pennsylvania.

It doesn't matter that Charlotte got out of her hometown—and away from the East Coast—as quickly as she could, and that she hasn't been home for years. Charlotte and her mentor believe she has what it takes to make a difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians, not to mention shake up politics as usual in the Keystone State.

So Charlotte, who in the meantime had become a high-powered Silicon Valley executive, moves back to her downtrodden hometown with her husband Max (who graduated from high school a few years before her) and their three young daughters. It's quite a shift for all of them—it reopens old family wounds and causes some strain in Charlotte and Max's marriage, as he has to put his own career ambitions on hold in order to become the girls' primary caregiver. But it will all be worth it once Charlotte is elected to the Senate.

Charlotte has great ideas, and truly desires to make a difference in the lives of her fellow Pennsylvanians, especially women, who have been particularly mistreated and disillusioned following the last presidential election. The Democrats rarely even run anyone against Charlotte's challenger, a long-time incumbent who represents the type of dirty, old-school politics that she doesn't want to get mired in.

"Charlotte was sick to death of being told to feel sorry for the working-class white man. Being a mediocre white guy doesn't mean you deserve to be crowned a king, get a job, or get laid. The cavalry is not coming for you. Of course, she could never utter these thoughts out loud to anyone."

It doesn't take long for her to realize the challenges a female political candidate faces, even in this day and age, especially when she is running against a man. Charlotte has to get accustomed to her clothing and shoe choices to be documented, has to remember to come across as strong but not threatening, forceful but not angry. Although she vowed to run an honest, clean campaign, she finds herself having to tailor her message to whatever group she is speaking, even if that strikes her as pandering and opportunistic.

When she is given information about a secret involving her opponent's family, one which might allow her to take a comfortable lead, she has to decide whether her principles are more important than potential victory. And when her opponent's campaign uncovers a secret which has potential not only to affect the race but her marriage, Charlotte has to remember why she decided to run for the Senate in the first place, and how much she is willing to sacrifice.

Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win couldn't be any more timely for the world we're living in right now. Even after the 2016 election, Charlotte had to lose her idealism relative to politics, particularly female political candidates, and the inequities they face versus their male counterparts. Why is it okay for her opponent to have been married multiple times but her marriage has to be perfect? Why does it matter what shoes she wears to a campaign appearance, or even just a trip to the grocery store? These are questions which may seem all too familiar for some.

I thought this was a terrific, utterly compelling book. It's not necessarily surprising, especially if you pay attention to the political world, but it doesn't matter, because Jo Piazza is a great storyteller. The characters and the scenarios they find themselves in may seem familiar, but Piazza adds her own twists and turns, and she makes you wonder exactly what will happen come Election Day. (This is a question many in the U.S. are asking themselves about now.)

While Charlotte's character is a Democrat, the story is more about her campaign and her life as it is affected by the campaign, and it doesn't spend a ton of time getting too political. So if you've been trying to avoid that subject for a while, this is still a fun book you won't be able to put down.

Book Review: "Our Homesick Songs" by Emma Hooper

This book. My heart is full.

The Canadian fishing town of Big Running is nearly empty. Only a few families remain, and their numbers dwindle by the day. This has been happening ever since the fish disappeared—no one knows why it happened, but those whose lives depended on fishing or the town in one way or another have found new jobs, new homes, and left.

Finn Connor and his family are among those who have stayed, but his parents, Aidan and Martha, who grew up in town, have begun working alternate months at an energy site up north in Alberta, adding more strain to their marriage and the family unit. But 11-year-old Finn is determined to find a way to save the town and his family at the same time. Aided by stories told by his elderly accordion teacher, who is the only person remaining in Little Running, the town across the river, Finn slowly but surely devises a plan, with great ingenuity and the heart that only a young child can have.

Meanwhile, Cora, Finn's older sister, spends her days decorating the abandoned houses in town by turning them into different countries. One house becomes Italy, another England, a third becomes Mexico. But once her creativity and her supply of houses wanes, Cora realizes what she wants more than anything is a chance at a normal life, with both parents together, with friends, maybe even a dog. She comes up with her own plan, one more dramatic—and one which will take her farther—than anyone can expect.

The narration in this exquisite book shifts between the present and the past, tracing the events which brought Aidan and Martha together and the challenges they faced when they were younger. From the tragedies faced by those living in a fishing town to the romantic temptations which test a marriage, from the fantasies we weave when we are young to the fantasies which bring us through our days, Our Homesick Songs is a book about family, love, bravery, keeping the faith, the importance of music, and its contributions to the power of memory.

"They didn't have cameras then, so they didn't have photos of home, of where they were from. And most sailors and explorers were rubbish at painting, that's why they were sailors and explorers, not painters, so the only, the best, way for them to remember home was through singing, through the songs and tunes they knew from home. When they were homesick, when they needed to remember where they were from, they could sing to see, to remember. They could close their eyes to block out where they were, and sing and remember where they used to be."

I absolutely loved this book. It felt like a look into a magical place, the kind of town that doesn't exist anymore, even though sadly, towns like this exist all over. The characters were unbelievably special and beautifully drawn, and the story captured my heart from the very first page. Often when a story shifts between past and present, I find one segment weaker than the other, but both stories grabbed me, and I would have been happy reading a book which focused on just one of them.

I've never read any of Emma Hooper's books, but her talent absolutely blew me away. Her voice and her use of imagery was spot-on. At times her style is very spare, so it took a little getting used to, but the whole story was just amazing. If I could have, I would have read the entire book in one day—as it was, I stayed up late because I desperately had to finish it!!

This may not be a book for everyone, but it is one I won't soon forget.

Book Review: "The Man Who Came Uptown" by George Pelecanos

I know I ask this of certain authors from time to time, but why isn't George Pelecanos a star?

In addition to being the author of some pretty terrific crime novels, he's been a writer on television shows like The Wire and Treme, and co-created the series The Deuce. I've often heard about his books becoming movies, but nothing ever seems to come to fruition, and I just don't understand it. This man should be a household name. His books should be seen in people's hands wherever they read in public.

With his newest book, The Man Who Came Uptown, Pelecanos shows that he is a master at creating characters who are more comfortable veering from the straight and narrow, but often have the best of intentions, and he flexes his suspense and action muscles like nobody's business. But at the same time, he shows off a more introspective side, as this book is also a tribute to the love of books and the transformational power of reading.

Michael Hudson is a young man in prison, determined to serve his time without making any enemies or causing trouble. The bright light during his sentence is his interaction with Anna, the prison librarian, who introduces him and his fellow inmates to books and authors they might never have read or even heard of otherwise. Michael, in particular, is tremendously appreciative of Anna's attention and her book recommendations, as she is opening his eyes and his mind to the beauty and power of words and images.

When Michael's sentence is overturned thanks to the manipulations of a private investigator, he is ready to start again. He knows he made some foolish mistakes, but he wants a new life—he wants to find a job, make something of himself, take care of his mother, and find time to read. Even though the Washington, DC he knew before he went to prison has started to change, with gentrification and newer stores, restaurants, and houses popping up everywhere, it still feels like home to him, and with a book in his hand, he feels even more secure.

When the man who saw to his release from prison comes to collect the debt Michael owes him, Michael knows he has a choice. But what path is the right one: doing what is necessary to square your obligations like a man, or running the risk of having to go back to prison again, and destroying everything he has started to build? As the crooked private investigator gets more and more enmeshed in trouble, Michael isn't sure whether honor is worth the risk.

I'll admit, when I started reading this I expected another of Pelecanos' crime novels, so I didn't understand why it was taking so long to get to the action and suspense, why he was laying out so much of the story. But when I realized what he was doing, I let myself enjoy the beauty of his writing and his characters (something I always do when reading his books, although my pulse is usually pounding at the same time), and thought about just how important reading has been to me all my life.

When the criminal elements of the plot kick in, Pelecanos goes at them full throttle, and you don't realize just how much you've gotten invested in these characters, so you're hoping the age-old battle fought by the man trying to start his life anew won't end the same way here. This book isn't one of his most explosive, and that's totally fine, as long as you know to expect that.

Pelecanos is one of those authors that needs to be read. Whether you're a fan of crime writing, suspense, beautiful storytelling, or like to read about Washington, DC in the 1970s and 1980s, you can find one of his books to match your desire. And don't miss this one—especially if you're like me, and your life has been changed by reading.

NetGalley and Mulholland Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Girl Made of Stars" by Ashley Herring Blake

Powerful, emotional, and thought-provoking, Ashley Herring Blake's Girl Made of Stars is a beautifully written, poignant book about the bonds of family and friendship, gender and sexual identity, the emotional traumas faced by victims of sexual abuse and assault (not to mention the "blame the victim" mentality which is all too prevalent), and the confusion and anxiety which often accompanies love.

This was utterly phenomenal.

"Once upon a time...a brother and sister lived with the stars. They were happy and had wild adventures exploring the sky."

Mara and Owen are twins, so similar and yet so different from one another, yet they are incredibly close. But one night following a big high school party, Owen's girlfriend Hannah (who is also one of Mara's best friends) accuses Owen of raping her. How could someone Mara once shared a womb with, someone she knows better than anyone else, have done such a thing? Even as their parents rally around Owen and declare his innocence, can Mara believe her brother is truly innocent? If not, what does that do to their relationship? And if so, what happens to her friendship with Hannah?

Confused, hurt, and angry at so many people after the incident, Mara feels adrift because her relationship with her ex-girlfriend Charlie is tremendously uncertain. She knows she wants to be with Charlie but is afraid of what that means, afraid of letting someone get too close. But more than that, Mara has been able to keep a traumatic event in her own life a secret, but at what cost? If she speaks up, will anyone believe her? Will her parents believe her? Or will she be treated by her peers, her friends, her family in the same way Hannah has been?

"What else is there to do? What else is there for any girl to do, when everyone but her can just forget everything like a random bad dream? I have no idea what moving on sounds like, looks like. I've spent the past three years trying and decidedly not getting over anything."

Girl Made of Stars doesn't exist in a fantasy world where every person who does wrong is punished, and everyone learns from their mistakes. It's a book that accepts that life is often grey rather than simply black and white, but we can't stop fighting for what is right, fighting to make sure those who do wrong are punished. I think that's why this book works so well—it's never heavy-handed or preachy, but it does emphasize the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Ashley Herring Blake is amazingly talented. Her ear for dialogue, her eye for evocative imagery, the flawed yet unforgettable characters all dazzled. One of the greatest compliments I can give is that this book felt a little like one of Jandy Nelson's exquisite books, two of my absolute favorites (I'll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere), yet she is an author with a style all her own.

Like many YA books—and like life, honestly—there are moments in this book in which you wish the characters would just say what they were feeling rather than avoid the truth. But while those moments may cause frustration they are realistic, particularly given the issues that these characters are confronting, so it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this book.

Beautiful, emotional, and thought-provoking. I couldn't ask for anything more!