18. Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels by by Hella Winston: What an interesting look at people who choose to leave the Hasidic lifestyle. I found this book quite compelling and it brought up situations that never would have occurred to me. I had no idea that in my Hasidic communities in the U.S. people spoke Yiddish primarily and that English is very much a second language. The problems people face when they try to leave seem almost insurmountable, so it's amazing that anyone does leave.

Winston follows a handful of people as they try to leave their Hasidic communities, but these people (especially men) have extremely poor education (the men get almost no secular studies), no knowledge of the customs and mores of the outside world, and nowhere to go to simply get themselves settled. Many, it appears, turn to substance abuse. It's ultimately a sad tale; those who don't have sympathetic non-observant relative can really isolate themselves. An interesting read, but after these negative views of Hasidic life, I'd really like to read something that shows the other side of things.