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We meet monthly online and in-person around the Berkeley neighborhood of Denver, CO. We focus on one genre every few months, from memoirs to fiction.

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Educated: A Memoir

#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER - One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University

"Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention."--The New York Times

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW - ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR - BILL GATES'S HOLIDAY READING LIST - FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle's Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book - PEN/Jean Stein Book Award - Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

"Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover's] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?"--Vogue

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time, NPR, Good Morning America, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, The Economist, Financial Times, Newsday, New York Post, theSkimm, Refinery29, Bloomberg, Self, Real Simple, Town & Country, Bustle, Paste, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, LibraryReads, Book Riot, Pamela Paul, KQED, New York Public Library

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368 pages

Average rating: 8.02

2,867 RATINGS

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72 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

emiliabenavides
Nov 07, 2024
10/10 stars
Incredibly insightful read filled with self discovery. Touches on topics of abuse and familial relationship/strains. While her upbringing/life is drastically different, there are several emotions that I was able to connect with.
ljzsreadsandreviews
Oct 22, 2024
10/10 stars
This was such an interesting read. I wasn’t familiar with Tara’s story prior to reading this so I went in pretty blind which is honestly one of my favorite things to do when I read, especially for memoirs. A memoir by definition is the record of someone’s experiences in life so who better to hear a story of a life from! Hearing not only what Tara went through, overcame and achieved but her thoughts and feelings during it all was astounding. There were so many times where I couldn’t help but scream at her or roll my eyes because she was so naive to what her parents were doing to her, but then I remembered it was all she knew and no wonder she felt a certain way. I was more dumbfounded by her parents though because I could never fathom acting the way they did. even though I could infer how Tara’s story concluded, I still felt happy for her and a sense of pride on behalf of her accomplishments. This really is a remarkable story of overcoming obstacles out of our control and Tara Westover told it beautifully. I also want to note that Julia Whelan is exceptional for the audiobook reading - highly recommend.
KelsWood
Oct 10, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Zookreeper
Oct 07, 2024
7/10 stars
I found the story very compelling, but at times, I wanted to just shake the author due to the passivity she had for her own life up to a point.
NiteOwl
Sep 02, 2024
10/10 stars
Inspirational!

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