The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
★ Top 5 book of 2005 · #3 on Best Books of 2005
Jeannette Walls recounts her early years growing up on the run and often homeless across the United States. Her memoir traces a girl's struggle to find normalcy as she reaches adulthood.
Best for: Memoir readers drawn to stories of hardship, resilience and unconventional childhoods
The Glass Castle is #3 on BookWard's Best Books of 2005, out of 52 2005 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Glass Castle is about
Jeannette Walls looks back on her early life in this memoir, which follows a childhood spent on the run and often without a home. Her story moves across the United States, and it keeps returning to one question: how does a girl find anything like normalcy when her surroundings never stay put? Walls writes candidly and without sentiment about instability, family struggle and the slow work of growing up on her own terms. The publisher calls it an exposing account of her beginnings. It will appeal to readers who like honest memoirs about difficult childhoods, and to anyone interested in how people make sense of the families they come from.
The Glass Castle on the Best Books of 2005
The Glass Castle came out in 2005. Of the 52 books first published in 2005 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #3 on our Best Books of 2005 list.
Why it made the list: 727 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (53 ratings); 31 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 2005 list
- The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan, #1
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling, #2
- Looking for Alaska John Green, #4
- Eldest Christopher Paolini, #5
See all Best Books of 2005 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2004 Best Books of 2006.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 596 want to read it, 31 are reading it now and 100 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 from 53 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 88 | 55% |
| Reader love | 96 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 83 | 20% |
Questions about The Glass Castle
When was The Glass Castle published?
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was first published in 2005.
Was The Glass Castle one of the best books of 2005?
The Glass Castle is #3 on BookWard's Best Books of 2005, out of 52 2005 books that cleared our data bar. 727 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (53 ratings); 31 are reading it right now.
Why is The Glass Castle on the Best Books of 2005 list?
727 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.4 out of 5 (53 ratings); 31 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2005
- The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan, #1
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling, #2
- Looking for Alaska John Green, #4
- Eldest Christopher Paolini, #5
- Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt, #6
- Twilight Stephenie Meyer, #7
See the full Best Books of 2005, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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