Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar (audiobook)

genre: memoir

Jill Duggar’s life as part of a reality tv “filming family” influenced her growing up nearly as much as the strict religion she was raised in. With so many rules for her behavior and appearance as well as living her life under the eye of the public, Jill’s ability to make choices for herself were supremely limited. In her memoir, Jill discusses her early adulthood and marriage within the context of her family, most especially her relationship with her parents and the impact they had on how her life played out. Both financially and relationally, Jill’s father had deep influence, not all of it good. She works so hard to both be loving and also show how she was harmed by his behavior.

It’s a pretty blandly written book, but as an audiobook for a long car ride, she kept my interest and I felt a lot of compassion for her and the trickiness of a life being raised in a super high control religion and under the public eye.