I went through a phase this summer where I found myself devouring memoir after memoir. There was something so intimate and intriguing about reading about other people's lives told with the same vivid capacity as fictitious novels. They exposed the imperfectness, the struggle, and the tragedy that come attached with a glorious, full life. After two months of living in the shoes of other authors, I stumbled upon a book that totally changed my perspective; I drowned in delight as I was lead through Jeanette Walls's story. 

The Glass Castle is captivating in the extreme, simply because Jeanette Walls is both a masterful storyteller and she has an amazing story to tell. Starting from her early childhood years, Walls describes with fierce vivacity and endearing humor the tales of her growing up in her eccentric family. Roaming the United States basically homeless, she sells her parents' peculiar beliefs about life. Reading this book illuminated many aspects of life I had not yet had the opportunity to understand. With Walls's novel, I was able to get a glimpse into the world of poverty, and it gave me insight on what it feels like to grow up poor, living in a situation where every cent is valuable, and dumpster diving is simply just another method to find food.

Walls sets the scene describing her current life living in her New York apartment, and how she sees her mom diving in a dumpster. It triggers memories of her tumultuous childhood, and she reflects on what the events were that led her to become the person she is today. 

Beautifully honest, this is a book about accepting your family for who they are, and accepting your situation for what it is, and learning to make the most of your misfortune, able finding wonder in every step of the journey.