November 2, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Made You Cry

The "Top Ten Tuesday" meme is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, and this week's topic is books that made you cry.

I don't cry that often over books (movies are more likely to make me sob), but I gave this list my best shot.  Beware generally of spoilers, although big spoilers I will put in white text so you can highlight them.

1.) The Baby Project by Sarah Ellis — this is one of the first books I can remember really crying over. I don't actually remember the plot much at all, but I still remember what made me tear up. Spoiler: the baby dies. Yeah. That was *majorly* sad.

2.) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien —I started bawling at the climax scene because I was so frustrated with Tolkien for making Frodo a hero for most of the book and then having him succumb at the moment we needed him most to be strong. I know, I know, Gollum always had a role to play, yada yada yada...I still felt betrayed by Tolkien.


3.) Plain Kate by Erin Bow — this one I read just recently, and while it didn't make me majorly sob, I did tear up a couple times. Spoiler: the cat dies. Then the cat is brought back to life but he gradually loses the ability to talk.

4.) Love You Forever by Robert Munsch — I've been told that this one kind of scared/disturbed me when I was little. While I don't really remember that very well, I read it again later when I was older and totally sobbed over it.

5.) The Nine Days Queen by Karleen Bradford — this was one of the first historical fiction books I read, and back then I didn't know the whole story of Jane Grey, and I didn't even really realize that the book was going to faithfully follow history. Man, was I in for a sad surprise. This book actually made me cry multiple times, even after I knew the ending!


6.) Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman — this one is really well-written, but there is one event that is practically guaranteed to make you cry (even on a re-read). Spoiler: their two children get sick and die, and it really distances the main character from her husband for a while.


7.) Marley & Me by John Grogan — if you're a dog owner, you will understand why the ending of this book is sad.



And these last 3 are books I think I cried over but I can't really remember for sure...


8.) The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford — the part where the oldest dog doesn't appear at first, and everyone thinks he's dead...and then he makes it back. But I may be confusing this with the movie they made of it, LOL.

9.) A Time For Dancing by Davida Hurwin — the best friend is diagnosed with cancer. Yep, it's one of those books.

10.) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes — whether or not I actually cried, the ending is indisputably sad and depressing. Spoiler: a mentally challenged man is given an operation that greatly increases his abilities for a while, but it is temporary and gradually he loses everything he gained.






Edited to add: I just thought of another one! Still Alice by Lisa Genova, about a woman losing her memory through early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Very moving, sad and scary.

What books made you cry?


13 comments:

  1. I thought that what happened with Frodo was incredibly sad as well. My version also has a lot of extra appendices, one's about Aragorn's life after the book ended and I cried when he died (even if it was of old age).

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  2. Thank you for visiting my list and leaving a comment!! :")

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  3. Love You Forever is on my list too! Wish I had thought of Flowers for Algernon....

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  4. I also thought of putting "Flowers of Algernon" too, but I outranked it with "Of Mice and Men".

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  5. I couldn't sop crying while I was reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman... such a tearjerker... Now if it had been movies, I would have said Titanic!

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  6. Great list! Love You Forever is a tear-jerker for sure - didn't add it to my list though (it was an after-thought)

    Here's my list here

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  7. can not believe I forgot to add Plain Kate. Major tears were shed.

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  8. I've only seen the movie of "Marley and Me", but it was indeed sad. My niece suggested I watch it, and I grumbled at her later for not warning me!

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  9. I had Black Beauty and Harry Potter on my list!

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  10. Oh dear goodness. I haven't read Marley and Me but the movie was a big old weepfest for me!

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  11. I won Nine Days a Queen recently and it is sitting on my shelf now, thanks for remiding me about it! The first Lady Jane Grey book I read was Raven Queen by Pauline Francis which was very moving although I already knew the ending so I didn't cry!

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  12. You are so right about A Time for Dancing. I always pull it off the shelves for my girls who love to cry!

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