Book Review—The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

by Sheena Pradhan

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir of the author’s life and social commentary on different lifestyles that exist in the U.S. The book follows Jeannette from her innocent childhood view of her nomadic family as constantly living an adventure into her jaded teen years as she becomes more aware of her parents’ poverty, which lead to her leaving her family home, and finally to getting over the embarrassment about her parents’ lifestyles and to accept her past.

            The book is a coming of age story, as well as the story of a girl’s changing relationship with her parents. It focuses on the ability to forgive, to love and to prosper despite great obstacles. It is a modern-day Jack Kerouac-esq tale, with incredible symbolism into Jeannette’s family’s life. The struggles, compassion, adventures, and overcome misfortunes in this story will move the reader to know and feel for the Walls’ family. While reading the book, I became incredibly attached to the story and was driven to tears at the end by Jeannette’s revelations and family events. Finding humor in her past and confronting past anger, Jeannette Walls writes a brilliant memoir that engages all human emotions. Anyone who has ever believed in following their dreams and their heart will fall in love with The Glass Castle.

Restaurant Review - Locally Grown in Richmond, VA: Urban Farmhouse

 by Sheena Pradhan

Downtown Richmond is definitely slowly but surely catching onto the local and organic trend. On a walk through the farmers’ market downtown on 17^th street, I was disappointed to only see two farm stands selling local produce, paling in comparison to Philly’s farmers’ markets that dominate the city. Despite this, Richmond redeemed itself when I found the Urban Farmhouse Market and Café. It is basically a typical trendy sandwich shop with a selection of smoothies. The shop claims to use mostly local ingredients for their sandwiches and I didn’t see too many ingredients on the menu items that couldn’t be grown in Virginia. The sandwiches all came with potato chips and carrot sticks. Good for the health conscience! They also sell local bottles of Virginia wine—much of it comes from organically grown grapes and all of these claim to be from no further than ninety miles of the Urban Farmhouse itself! For any aspiring musicians in VA, they also have an open mic night. I had a pepper pesto and goat cheese sandwich and a coffee. Yum! This spot is great for lunch, a coffee break or just a chill Sunday afternoon on the café tables outside!