Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry



I'm participating in today's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks at The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's prompt is:


Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

So, this week's prompt was actually really hard for me.  I'm not a huge crier, and, as I reflected on this prompt, I realized that I cry even less when reading.  I don't need to cry to recognize that a book is powerful or deep or painful or gut-wrenching.  (Do you cry while reading?  Or are you a more stoic reader, like me?)  I completely understand needing a good emotional release every once in a while, but I prefer to get my release in ways that do not involve tears.  I did my best, though.  Here's my list!  


10.  Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.  I think this is the first book I read that had a sad ending.  At that young age I didn't know books could do that, and I felt tricked.  To this day I refuse to re-read it.

9.  Chester, I Love You by Blaine M. Yorgason.  I read this when I was about 9-years-old, and I don't remember much besides that it featured a goose and at one point I was bawling my eyeballs out.

8. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.  I will never understand why this is a children's book.  It's painfully depressing.

7.  Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.  Goodness, my heart just goes out to Charlie.  What an emotionally draining book.

6.  The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.  This book, although considered a beloved classic, IS FREAKY AS ALL GET OUT. 

5.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  The injustice will always bother me.

4.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.  This one had my heart aching.  (Mostly because it meant the series was over... but I was also sad about certain characters' fates.)

3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  What can I say?  This one got me.  It wasn't emotionally manipulative sentimental, it was just plain sad.

2.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I can't even talk about this one.

1.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.  This book got under my skin and never left.


What about you?  What books make you cry?
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16 comments:

  1. Dallin and Janelle LewisFebruary 4, 2014 at 7:16 AM

    A Tale of Two Cities-- I sobbed through the end. It's worth noting, I was postpartum and I stayed up way too late to finish, but still....

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    1. Bookmark DragonFebruary 4, 2014 at 7:20 AM

      Ha! Yes, being postpartum will do that to you. That one really is very sad though.

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  • OnCallMomFebruary 4, 2014 at 5:40 PM

    I do cry sometimes, but not as often as I would expect. ' A Day No Pigs Would Die' stands out. I was a young teen, and sobbed so hard, my dad had to come check on me. And it wasn't even the obvious sad part that got me crying. It's when the son finds evidence of his dead father's attempt to learn to sign his name. It still kills me to think about. Fault in Our Stars, yes. And recently, 'A Light Between Oceans' had me crying buckets. So much pain.

    Great post!

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    1. Bookmark DragonFebruary 4, 2014 at 7:49 PM

      Great additions! I haven't read A Light Between Oceans yet, I'll have to check it out! It sounds like I'll have to keep a Kleenex box next to me while reading, though.

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  • UnknownFebruary 5, 2014 at 11:07 AM

    Yep, TFiOS was the first on my list. I didn't ask harry potter DH though I could have if only because I was sad to see it all end:) Your list reminds me that I need to read The book Thief--it's been featured heavily on the TTT lists:)

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    1. Bookmark DragonFebruary 5, 2014 at 11:33 AM

      Hi Heather! I'd have to agree with the rest of the book blogosphere, the Book Thief is definitely worth the read. It will give you ALL THE FEELS. Have you seen the film?

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    2. UnknownFebruary 5, 2014 at 12:00 PM

      Nope! I won't let myself until I read the book. was it a good adaptation?

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    3. Bookmark DragonFebruary 5, 2014 at 12:07 PM

      I thought it was one of the best book-to-film adaptations I've ever seen. I was blown away with the acting, script, set designs, costuming, cinematography, and all the rest. I usually go into book-to-film adaptations a little wary, if you know what I mean, but this one was worth it. Very well done. I definitely recommend it! But I'd still read the book first, if I were you. :)

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  • Elisa @ Leopards and DragonsFebruary 5, 2014 at 12:15 PM

    Nice list! So many classic children's books are creepy. I was really disturbed by the Giving Tree, but then Silverstein's poetry is pretty weird too - "I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor and I don't like it one bit." I had a terrible time with this TTT because I don't like reading books that are supposed to make me cry and I am more on the stoic side. It wasn't until after I put my post up that I realized that I should have just listed a bunch of the books that messed me up as a kid.

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    1. Bookmark DragonFebruary 5, 2014 at 12:43 PM

      Thanks! I'd forgotten about that boa constrictor poem, and reading it made me laugh out loud. Silverstein's writing is all kind of out there, but I thought The Giving Tree was especially depressing because it lacked the slapstick silliness that the rest of his writing has in abundance. I have a hard time with books that are supposed to make me cry as well. I have a pretty high literary-BS-detector, and if I feel like a book is even the slightest bit emotionally manipulative, I get irritated. That's why it's hard for me to find sad books that I can enjoy. Glad to have found another stoic reader! It's always nice to find a kindred spirit. *Virtual fist bump.*

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    2. DNAPLFebruary 5, 2014 at 4:51 PM

      I think you really put your finger on it for me - I don't like books that try to manipulate me either. That is why historical events and real tragedies can get to me, but most fiction does not. That and when I was a kid - children's literature = the dog dies, the mother dies, someone dies. Talk about manipulative. Nice to meet you *fist bump*

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    3. Bookmark DragonFebruary 5, 2014 at 5:52 PM

      I am right there with you. It has happened that a fictional book will make me cry, but it's extremely rare. I cried in The Fault in Our Stars, but I can't even remember the last time I cried reading a book before that. It had been years. (Everyone else reading this is going to think I'm a cutthroat, heartless robot. Oh well. At least you'll understand. :) )

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