Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

This book has gained a lot of speed and recognition since it's publication at the beginning of this year.  It has been on everyone's reading list from Oprah, to Barack Obama, to Bill Gates.  Amazon even selected "Educated" as their best book of the year.  With all the hype surrounding the book, I knew I had to get my hands on it.  My library had two copies going around and even still the wait was estimated at 66 weeks.  So I went on a hunt for this highly sought after book to see if it was all it was cracked up to be.

Educated's writing style is able to span two genres to help draw in the readers.  Westover is able to write an almost dystopian-like opening dealing with poverty, doomsday prepping, and a disconnect from the rest of modern day society.  Coincidentally, it is also a generic coming of age story about a young girl finding her identity, spreading her wings, and leaving the nest to go to college.  Westover grows up in a heavily sheltered Mormon household living off the grid.  She has never been to school or to the doctor.  We get to read anecdotes varying from her sibling's leg catching on fire to exploits in pursuing her education.

I thought the first half of the book was fabulous.  I loved reading the stories about her family, working in the junkyard with her brothers and dad, and all of the horror medical stories.  I think there may have been other readers who experienced more of a shock factor reading the details of her upbringing.  I wasn't necessarily shocked by those things, but I did think they were interesting to read.  The second half, when she goes to school, started to lose me a little.  Small spoiler ahead **  She would talk about how she was struggling in class and going to fail any second, and then miraculously she would get an academic scholarship and end up passing with flying colors. **  And that was the reoccurring theme of her academic years.  So, the second half was so-so for me.  I'm not lessening her achievements at all!  Just saying that I wasn't into that part of the book as much.  Nevertheless, she's a captivating storyteller.  It's a world that many of us have no knowledge of, and we follow her journey with intrigue.

I'm glad I ended the year out on a strong note!  I'm hoping that if you have not yet read this book, that it is on your to-read list soon!  Happy New Year to everyone, and best wishes on your 2019 reading goals!!


Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Positives: Loved the first half of the book.
Negatives: Her schooling years weren't as believable.  She would flip flop between being a bad student and excelling too quickly for me.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Indian boys travelling to Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I scare easily.  I even have to hide my face during scary movie trailers.  So it should be no big surprise that I have not read a lot of thrillers or mystery books.  Lord knows I would never be able to sleep after reading them!  This month I read my first Agatha Christie book!  I'm pretty surprised I had never read her works before, seeing as she is one of the best-selling novelists of all-time.  I think I was just too timid to pick anything up in fear of being afraid.  But if I'm going to read a mystery, I might as well read one of the best!  

When researching Christie's legacy, I wanted to read a book that would really showcase her skills.  By far, the most popular book mentioned in every list, blog post, and article is "And Then There Were None."  It is her best-selling novel, with more than 100 million copies sold.  It is also the world's best-selling mystery novel.  One review said it was similar to the board game Clue.  Another review compared it to "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", which was a book that sparked my love for reading in middle school.  Those two reviews were enough to seal the deal for me.

The story opens on eight people being invited to Indian Island for a variety of reasons.  They are met there by the two housekeepers who say that the hosts, Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen, have not yet arrived.  The guests find this odd but start to introduce themselves and enjoy dinner together.  After dinner, a gramaphone record is played.  The record accuses all ten visitors of murder, and it details each crime on the recording.  While the guests try to understand who their host is and what is happening, one of them ingests a poisonous drink and dies.  Will they find out who U.N. Owen is?  Or will he slowly kill them one at a time until none are left?

While the US editions were titled "And Then There Were None", there is a not so nice history about the original UK publications.  The original title was "Ten Little Niggers" based on the nursery rhyme that hangs in each guest's room.  The island they meet on also has the same name.  The rhyme and island were later changed to Ten Little Indians/Indian Island or Ten Little Soldiers/Solider Island in other editions.  Other cultures still have the original title in their translations.  However, the estate of Agatha Christie now only offers the novel under the English title.  So going forward, any new foreign language editions would be translated from this titled edition.

Now I have to be honest, I wasn't blown away by the book.  Was I surprised by the ending?  Yes.  I had ideas about who the killer may have been, but I definitely did not expect the resolution Agatha gave us.  But it wasn't a knock me out of my seat and jaw-dropping ending.  If anything, I see the plot more as an outline for hundreds of stories.  Agatha Christie laid a story framework that can be adapted and reused countless times.  I think that's why this book is the best-seller it is.  It is well written, captivating, has the big twist at the end like you want it to have -- yet it is still simple and has remained popular over time.  At the end of the day, I guess I should be grateful that it didn't scare me too badly!

Rating: 3 out of 5
Positives: Pretty captivating to read.  I would sit down and read 50-100 pages each time.  And I'm glad it wasn't too, too scary for me!
Negatives: I thought the male characters lacked diversity.  I kept confusing them!