Check out this list of 125 Nonfiction Titles, recommended by ICPL staff. What a great way to jumpstart the Summer Reading Program!
The know-it-all : one man's humble quest to become the smartest person in the world
A. J. Jacobs
001.2 /Jacobs
Part memoir and part education (or lack thereof), The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A.J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z.
The library book
Susan Orlean
027.4794 /Orlean
Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity.
Thinking, fast and slow
Daniel Kahneman
153.42 /Kahneman
Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities and also the faults and biases of fast thinking, and the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on peoples' thoughts and choices.
Quiet : the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking
Susan Cain
155.232 /Cain
Introverts are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who invent and create but prefer not to pitch their own ideas; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled "quiet," it is to introverts we owe many of the great contributions to society.
Chicken soup for the soul : 101 stories to open the heart & rekindle the spirit
158.1 /Chicken
Rediscover the power of inspiration with timeless stories about the everyday miracles that illuminate the best of the human spirit. This volume will inspire you to be a better person, reach for your highest potential, share your love and embrace the world around you.
Daring greatly : how the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead
Brené Brown
158.2 /Brown
Based on twelve years of research, thought leader Dr. Brené Brown argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection.
How to win friends and influence people
Dale Carnegie
158.2 /Carnegie
You can go after the job you want—and get it! You can take the job you have—and improve it! You can take any situation—and make it work for you!
The heart of awareness : a translation of the Ashtavakra Gita
181.48 /Astavakragita
The Ashtavakra Gita conveys with beauty and simplicity the essential teachings of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential of the Hindu philosophical systems. It is a book of practical advice for seekers of wisdom as well as an ecstatic expression of the experience of enlightenment.
The portable Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
193 /Nietzsche
The works of Friedrich Nietzsche have fascinated readers around the world ever since the publication of his first book more than a hundred years ago. As Walter Kaufmann, one of the world’s leading authorities on Nietzsche, notes in his introduction, “Few writers in any age were so full of ideas,” and few writers have been so consistently misinterpreted.
The power of now : a guide to spiritual enlightenment
Eckhart Tolle
204.4 /Tolle
Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light.
The Screwtape letters ; with, Screwtape proposes a toast
C. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis
248.4 /Lewis
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.
Girl, wash your face : stop believing the lies about who you are so you can become who you were meant to be
Rachel (Event planner) Hollis
248.843 /Hollis
Drawing from her life experiences as a lifestyle guru, the author presents a guide to becoming a joyous, confident woman by breaking the cycle of negativity and burnout and pursuing a life of exuberance. With unflinching faith-- and rock-hard tenacity-- Hollis shows readers how to give yourself grace without giving up.
Under the banner of heaven : a story of violent faith /-
Jon Krakauer
289.33 /Krakauer
At the core of this book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this "divinely inspired" crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith.
Norse mythology
Neil Gaiman
293 /Gaiman
Neil Gaiman presents his fashioning of the primeval Norse myths into a novel, which begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds, delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants, and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people.
Wherever you go, there you are : mindfulness meditation in everyday life
Jon Kabat-Zinn
294.343 /Kabat-Zinn
Warmth, humor, anecdotes, and poems make up this inspirational guide to a revolutionary new way of being, seeing, and living. Learn how to capture the present, to live fully in the moment and reduce anxiety, achieve inner peace, and enrich the quality of life. Let this be your guide to mindfulness meditation in everyday life.
Comfortable with uncertainty : 108 teachings on cultivating fearlessness and compassion
Pema Chödrön
294.3444 /Chodron
Pema Chödrön, the renowned American Buddhist nun, offers short, stand-alone sections designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study, leading the listener through essential concepts, themes, and practices on the Buddhist path.
Outliers : the story of success
Malcolm Gladwell
302.14 /Gladwell
Gladwell identifies the qualities of successful people, posing theories about the cultural, family, and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires, why certain cultures are associated with better academic performance, and why the Beatles earned their fame.
White trash : the 400-year untold history of class in America
Nancy Isenberg
305.5 /Isenberg
A history of the class system in America from the colonial era to the present illuminates the crucial legacy of the underprivileged white demographic, citing the pivotal contributions of lower-class white workers in wartime, social policy, and the rise of the Republican Party.
Hillbilly elegy : a memoir of a family and culture in crisis
J. D. Vance
305.562 /Vance
Shares the story of the author's family and upbringing, describing how they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan that included the author, a Yale Law School graduate, while navigating the demands of middle class life and the collective demons of the past.
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Steven D Levitt
330 /Levitt
Levitt is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life--from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing--and his conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head... In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of, well--everything... If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work.
The total money makeover : a proven plan for financial fitness
Dave Ramsey
332.024 /Ramsey
Ramsey offers a bold, no-nonsense approach to money matters, providing not only the how-to but also a grounded and uplifting hope for getting out of debt and achieving total financial health. Ramsey debunks the many myths of money (exposing the dangers of cash advance, rent-to-own, debt consolidation) and attacks the illusions and downright deceptions of the American dream.
Fast food nation : the dark side of the all-American meal
Eric Schlosser
338.764 /Schlosser/2002
Schlosser discusses the growing interest in local and organic food, the continued exploitation of poor workers by the food industry, and the need to ensure that every American has access to good, healthy, affordable food.
Just mercy : a story of justice and redemption
Bryan Stevenson
340.092 /Stevenson
The founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama recounts his experiences as a lawyer working to assist those desperately in need, reflecting on his pursuit of the ideal of compassion in American justice.
Being mortal : medicine and what matters in the end
Atul Gawande
362.175 /Gawande
Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families of the terminally ill.
The boys in the bunkhouse : servitude and salvation in the heartland
Dan Barry
362.384 /Barry
A full-length account of the author's prize-winning New York Times story chronicles the exploitation and abuse case of a group of developmentally disabled workers, who for 25 years, were forced to work under harrowing conditions for virtually no wages until tenacious advocates helped them achieve their freedom,"--NoveList.
Silent spring
Rachel Carson
363.7384 /Carson
First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water.
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences.
Truman Capote
364.1523 /Capote
As Truman Capote reconstructs a murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
Deadly scholarship : the true story of Lu Gang and mass murder in America's heartland
Edwin Chen
364.1523 /Chen
A gripping study of mass murder at the University of Iowa analyzes the tragic events of November 1, 1991, to examine why a Chinese graduate student killed a fellow student, three faculty members, and a university associate vice-president, before killing himself.
The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America
Erik Larson
364.1523 /Larson
In a thrilling narrative showcasing his gifts as storyteller and researcher, Erik Larson recounts the spellbinding tale of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
I am Malala : the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban
Malala Yousafzai
371.822 /Yousafzai
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday October 9, 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price.
Faeries
Brian Froud
398.45 /Froud
Identifies and pictures all the faery types including elves, gnomes, pixies, leprechauns, and dryads, drawing from Celtic stories, the great English-language oral tradition, and the works of poets to illuminate their haunts, pastimes, and ways of life
Eats, shoots & leaves : the zero tolerance approach to punctuation
Lynne Truss
428.2 /Truss
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the internet, in email, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species.
Braiding sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer
508 /Kimmerer
As an active member of the Potawatomi nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer senses and relates to the world through a way of knowing far older than any science. In Braiding Sweetgrass, she intertwines these two modes of awareness--the analytic and the emotional, the scientific and the cultural--to ultimately reveal a path toward healing the rift that grows between people and nature.
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Margot Lee Shetterly
510.922 /Lee Shetterly
Before John Glenn orbited the earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.
You are a mathematician : a wise and witty introduction to the joy of numbers
D. G. (David G.) Wells
510 /Wells
Astrophysics for people in a hurry
Neil deGrasse Tyson
523.01 /Tyson
"The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe"--
The hidden life of trees : what they feel, how they communicate : discoveries from a secret world
Peter Wohlleben
582.16 /Wohlleben
"A forester's fascinating stories, supported by the latest scientific research, reveal the extraordinary world of forests and illustrate how trees communicate and care for each other"--
Sapiens : a brief history of humankind
Yuval N Harari
599.938 /Harari
"One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition."--
Why we get fat and what to do about it
Gary Taubes
613.25 /Taubes
This work is an examination of what makes us fat. In his book Good Calories, Bad Calories, the author, an acclaimed science writer argues that certain kinds of carbohydrates, not fats and not simply excess calories, have led to our current obesity epidemic. Now he brings that message to a wider, nonscientific audience. With fresh evidence for his claim, this book makes his critical argument newly accessible. He reveals the bad nutritional science of the last century, none more damaging than the "calories-in, calories-out" model of why we get fat, the good science that has been ignored, especially regarding insulin's regulation of our fat tissue. He also answers key questions: Why are some people thin and others fat? What roles do exercise and genetics play in our weight? What foods should we eat or avoid? Concluding with an easy-to-follow diet, this book is one key to understanding an international epidemic and a guide to improving our own health.
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
616.0277 /Skloot
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells-- taken without her knowledge-- became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks is buried in an unmarked grave. Her family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. The story of the Lacks family is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.--From publisher description.
The Wahls protocol : how I beat progressive MS using Paleo principles and functional medicine
Terry L Wahls
616.834 /Wahls
The author shares her integrative approach to healing MS and other chronic autoimmune conditions.
When breath becomes air
Paul Kalanithi
616.99424 /Kalanithi
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. Just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air, which features a Foreword by Dr. Abraham Verghese and an Epilogue by Kalanithi's wife, Lucy, chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a naïve medical student 'possessed,' as he wrote, 'by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life' into a young neurosurgeon at Stanford, guiding patients toward a deeper understanding of death and illness, and finally into a patient and a new father to a baby girl, confronting his own mortality.
Fresh food from small spaces : the square-inch gardener's guide to year-round growing, fermenting, and sprouting
R. J Ruppenthal
635 /Ruppenthal
Cesar's way : the natural, everyday guide to understanding and correcting common dog problems
Cesar Millan
636.70887 /Millan
Dewey : the small-town library cat who touched the world
Vicki Myron
636.88 /Myron
Traces the author's discovery of a half-frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small-community Iowa library and the feline's development into an affable library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships, in a tale told against a backdrop of the town's struggles with the 1980s farm crisis.
The gourmet slow cooker : simple and sophisticated meals from around the world
Lynn Alley
641.5884 /Alley
The pioneer woman cooks : food from my frontier
Ree Drummond
641.59766 /Drummond
A mouthwatering collection of the simple-but-scrumptious recipes that rotate through Ree's kitchen on a regular basis, from perfect pancakes to honey-plum-soy chicken, from cowgirl quiche to blackberry chip ice cream.
Not so big remodeling : tailoring your home for the way you really live
Sarah Susanka
643.7 /Susanka
The life-changing magic of tidying up : the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing
Marie Kondō
648.5 /Kondo
This best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.
How to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk
Adele Faber
649.1 /Faber
Faber and Mazlish use real-life situations to show how you can respect and respond to your child's feelings and satisfy your own needs.
Healthy sleep habits, happy child : a step-by-step program for a good night's sleep
Marc Weissbluth
649.4 /Weissbluth
Plumbing 1-2-3 : install, upgrade, repair, and maintain your home's plumbing system
Jim Stepp
696.1 /Stepp
Born to run : a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen
Christopher McDougall
796.424 /McDougall
McDougall reveals the secrets of the world's greatest distance runners-- the Tarahumara Indians of Copper Canyon, Mexico-- and how he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of super-athletic Americans.
Iowa trout streams : how to find them, how to fish them - a guide for flyfishers
Jene Hughes
799.1757 /Hughes
Bird by bird : some instructions on writing and life
Anne Lamott
808.02 /Lamott
The author of five books, including the novels Hard Laughter, Rosie and Joe Jones, offers an "inspiring book about writing as a way of finding truth" (San Francisco Chronicle). "A reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can".--Seattle Times. "Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"
The poetry of Robert Frost : the collected poems, complete and unabridged
Robert Frost
811.52 /Frost
What the dog saw and other adventures
Malcolm Gladwell
814.6 /Gladwell
Brings together, for the first time, the best of Gladwell's writing from The New Yorker in the past decade, including: the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill; the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz; spotlighting Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen; and the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer." Gladwell also explores intelligence tests, ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias," and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.
Songs of innocence and of experience : shewing the two contrary states of the human soul, 1789-1794
William Blake
821.7 /Blake
The Tao of Pooh
Benjamin Hoff
828.912 /Milne
Explains the basic concepts of the Chinese philosophy of Taoism through a discussion of how Winnie-the-Pooh lives by its principles.
Wild : from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Cheryl Strayed
917.9 /Strayed
A powerful, blazingly honest, inspiring memoir: the story of a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again.
Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption
Laura Hillenbrand
940.547252 /Hillenbrand
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared-- Lt. Louis Zamperini. Captured by the Japanese and driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor.
In the garden of beasts : love, terror, and an American family in Hitler's Berlin
Erik Larson
943.086 /Larson
The bestselling author of "Devil in the White City" turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler's rise to power. The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.
Without you, there is no us : my time with the sons of North Korea's elite
Suki Kim
951.93 /Kim
It is 2011, and all universities in North Korea have been shut down for an entire year, the students sent to construction fields-- except for the 270 students at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), a walled compound where portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il look on impassively from the walls of every room. Suki Kim offers a moving and incalculably rare glimpse of life in the world's most unknowable country, and at the privileged young men she calls "soldiers and slaves."
Behind the beautiful forevers : [life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity]
Katherine Boo
954.792 /Boo
Into the wild
Jon Krakauer
979.805/ Krakauer
In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.
Can't we talk about something more pleasant?
Roz Chast
BIOGRAPHY Chast, Roz
A graphic memoir by a long-time New Yorker cartoonist celebrates the final years of her aging parents' lives through four-color cartoons, family photos and documents that reflect the artist's struggles with caregiver challenges.
Between the world and me
Ta-Nehisi Coates
BIOGRAPHY Coates, Ta-Nehisi
"For Ta-Nehisi Coates, history has always been personal. At every stage of his life, he's sought in his explorations of history answers to the mysteries that surrounded him--most urgently, why he, and other black people he knew, seemed to live in fear ... In [this book], Coates takes readers along on his journey through America's history of race and its contemporary resonances through a series of awakenings--moments when he discovered some new truth about our long, tangled history of race, whether through his myth-busting professors at Howard University, a trip to a Civil War battlefield with a rogue historian, a journey to Chicago's South Side to visit aging survivors of 20th century America's 'long war on black people,' or a visit with the mother of a beloved friend who was shot down by the police"--
Bossypants
Tina Fey
BIOGRAPHY Fey, Tina
From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon, comedian Tina Fey reveals all, and proves that you're no one until someone calls you bossy.
Becoming
Michelle Obama
BIOGRAPHY Obama, Michelle
"An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States. When she was a little girl, Michelle Robinson's world was the South Side of Chicago, where she and her brother, Craig, shared a bedroom in their family's upstairs apartment and played catch in the park, and where her parents, Fraser and Marian Robinson, raised her to be outspoken and unafraid. But life soon look her much further afield, from the halls of Princeton, where she learned for the first time what if felt like to be the only black woman in a room, to the glassy office tower where she worked as a high-powered corporate lawyer--and where, one summer morning, a law student named Barack Obama appeared in her office and upended all her carefully made plans. Here, for the first time, Michelle Obama describes the early years of her marriage as she struggles to balance her work and family with her husband's fast-moving political career. She takes us inside their private debate over whether he should make a run for the presidency and her subsequent role as a popular but oft-criticized figure during his campaign. Narrating with grace, good humor, and uncommon candor, she provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of her family's history-making launch into the global limelight as well as their life inside the White House over eight momentous years--as she comes to know her country and her country comes to know her. [This book] takes us through modest Iowa kitchens and ballrooms at Buckingham Palace, through moments of heart-stopping grief and profound resilience, bringing us deep into the soul of a singular, groundbreaking figure in history as she strives to live authentically, marshaling her personal strength and voice in service of a set of higher ideals. In telling her story with honesty and boldness, she issues a challenge to the rest of us: Who are we and who do we want to become?"--Dust jacket.
Yes please
Amy Poehler
BIOGRAPHY Poehler, Amy
The actress best known for her work on "Parks and Recreation" and "Saturday Night Live" reveals personal stories and offers her humorous take on such topics as love, friendship, parenthood, and her relationship with Tina Fey.
Educated : a memoir
Tara Westover
BIOGRAPHY Westover, Tara
"Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. The 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. As a way out, Tara began to educate herself, learning enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University. Her quest for knowledge would transform her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Tara Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes, and the will to change it."--Provided by publisher.