Certain books just stay with you, even years after you’ve read them. I enjoy a light, breezy story, but it’s the more challenging stories that have lasting impact. A great read can open your eyes. Maybe it gives you a new perspective, a different way to see things. Perhaps it introduces you to a place you’ve never visited before — either literally or psychologically.
These four books — two novels and two memoirs — checked every box and more for me. I had trouble putting them down. Each one provided a new level of understanding, as well as exposure to worlds I’d never known. In doing so, they changed my life.
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover, is a coming-of-age story like few I’ve ever read.
Born the youngest of seven, Westover’s early life was completely circumscribed by her Idaho family. Her father was a survivalist who scrapped metal in a junk yard. Her mother made herbal remedies and worked as an unlicensed midwife…