Although I read this memoir a while back and this title has surely been making the rounds across reading lists far and wide I wanted to add my recommendation here. The fact that this actually happened makes the book all the more fascinating. Tara Westover was raised in a survivalist family in the mountains of Idaho. Her family had such extreme views that the children were never brought to a doctor (even for severe burns or injuries) or given a consistent and formal education. The family is so isolated that when Tara‘s older brother becomes violent there is no one that can intervene. Tara takes it upon herself to study for the ACT, acquiring her own textbooks to learn Algebra and Trigonometry. She eventually gets into Brigham Young University, learning about things she was always sheltered from such as the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Then amazingly she goes on to Harvard and eventually Cambridge. A truly inspiring story of a girl overcoming incredible obstacles to rise up to her full potential.
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