Previous Life of the Mind Titles

The Life of the Mind program began in 2003 with James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, and in the years since has featured a diverse collection of fiction and non-fiction titles:

2003
The Color of Water
by James McBride

2004
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
by Alexander McCall Smith

2005
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
by Mark Haddon

2006
Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
by Laila Lalami

2007
In the Wake of the Plague
by Norman Cantor

2008
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah

This year's selection:
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls

 

“Sharing incredible, painful experiences in no-nonsense prose, Walls has, as The New York Times Book Review notes, ‘succeeded in doing what most writers set out to do—to write the kind of book they themselves most want to read.’” —Bookmarks Magazine

“Just read the first pages of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and I defy you not to go on. It's funny and sad and quirky and loving. I was incredibly touched by it.” —Dominick Dunne, author of The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper

“Jeannette Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking childhoods ever to be set down on the page. This deeply affecting memoir is a triumph in every possible way, and it does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Family History