Reading Reality

You know that feeling that hits you at the end of a show or movie when “Based on A True Story” flashes across the screen? If it's a horror movie, the feeling might be slightly more exaggerated and slightly more paralyzing. But regardless, the notion of truth leaves the kind of impact that feels like a physical imprint on your skin.

That’s part of the draw to non-fiction books. We’re not talking history books on Pilgrims coming to America or other detailed accounts with just facts and figures. We’re talking about the kind of book that forces you to develop an emotional attachment or one that you don’t believe could possibly be true, yet deep down you know it is. The best ones are about real, individual people telling their own stories— the kind of books that leave you asking, ‘How the hell did someone actually live through this?’

From my summer stack, I have pulled two of the wildest, yet most empowering books that you need to pick up immediately. 

The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr

This nonfiction account takes the reader through the unbridled and unfiltered tales of Mary Karr’s childhood. From the bayous of an East Texas oil town to the mountains of Colorado, Karr’s early years are ridden with spontaneous escapades, bouts of familial mental illness, and secrets no 7-year-old should ever have to conceal. Yet Karr takes the reader through her day-to-day life with hauntingly accurate and humorous details. Her personal commentary and blatantly unforgiving outlook on the world allows the reader to step inside her skin and experience a world most could never imagine having to endure.

Educated by Tara Westover

This memoir hit the New York Times Bestseller list in late spring and kept skyrocketing throughout the summer and for good reason. Educated is about Tara Westover, a Mormon girl living in the mountains of Idaho. She shares everything from her remarkable academic accomplishments, turbulent and traumatic home life to coming into her own with the ability to push back against the entire foundation of values upon which she was raised. Westover’s story makes you question, firstly, how she survives and, secondly, how people with decently “normal” upbringings are never able to accomplish half as much as she does. Westover tells her story with a nonchalant grace that leaves the most chilling effect on readers.