Top Eleven* Books That Made Me Cry

© 2012 The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. I missed doing this the past couple of weeks but this week is a freebie – pick any TTT you like. Being new to the book blogging scene I had a multitude of past lists to choose from. I’m going to share with you the ‘Top Ten Books That Made Me Cry’ partly because it’s a list I was able to put together quite quickly and also who doesn’t like a good cry?

I’m just going to give you hints about what made me cry in each of these books – so as not to be too spoilery.  Interestingly, all of the following books are some of my favourites. If you haven’t read any of them, definitely check them out!

1. Skulduggery Pleasant – The Mortal Coil by Derek Landy

Landy’s books are incredibly funny, fast paced & unusually violent but they’re definitely not renowned as tear-jerkers. The Skulduggery Pleasant series is pretty epic and  it’s easy to get attached to the characters, it was a gruesome and unexpected murder of one of my favourites that had me bawling.

2. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Part of the amazing and highly original Chaos Walking Trilogy. I will tell you this; animals dying are the worst…

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Do I have to explain this one?

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I read Perks after enjoying the recent movie adaptation. It’s an emotional story however it wasn’t the story exactly that sent me crying but a certain poem in the book. This is the only poem that has ever made me cry.

6. Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson

A wonderful story about life in the Niger Delta told from the point of view of a little girl. This book has some devastatingly sad moments.

7. Lord of The Flies by William Golding

So animal’s dying are the worst but a little kid with an animal’s name dying – the worst of the worst!

8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is a pretty popular book and for good reason. I found the ending  just heartbreaking.

9. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Again a popular book and one of the best I’ve read, the author packs so much emotion into the story and I was sent crying at more than one point throughout the book.

10.Watership Down by Richard Adams

I don’t actually remember why I cried in this book I just remember crying for ages at the end. Maybe I was sad it was over or maybe it was the animals dying thing again. It was a childhood favourite read to me by my parents and I think I’ll re-read it at some point.

*11. (Just remembered this one and had to add it to the list!) Boys Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman

Boys Don’t Cry but I did when reading this book. There is this one beautiful bittersweet moment between two of the main characters and it’s pretty hard not to start tearing up. The Noughts & Crosses series by the same author also had me going a few times. I absolutely adore Blackman’s books and think she’s definitely one of the best YA and children’s authors around.

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Have you read any of these books and did they make you cry? Do you think I cry to easily? Let me know if any other books have made you reach for the tissue box.

L

Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy…But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

© 2012 The Broke and the Bookish

I’m still finding my feet in the blogging world. An actual review is yet to appear here, although I’m aiming to get my first one up by the end of this week! In the meanwhile I discovered that every Tuesday, book bloggers and enthusiasts alike, head over to The Broke and the Bookish to check out their weekly meme – Top Ten Tuesday. I’m going to be participating in Top Ten Tuesday from now on, it involves compiling a top ten list on whatever book related topic they’ve concocted for that week. So here you have my top ten books that I just HAD to buy but still haven’t read!…

1. The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling

Okay, so I’m a Harry Potter lover for sure and when I heard Ms Rowling was writing a new book of course I was interested, very very interested. Well, I don’t know what I was expecting but it’s about as far away from the world of Harry Potter as it’s possible to get and I don’t know if I can bring myself to read it just yet.

2. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I had heard a lot about this book and bought it when the film came out a few years ago, wondering if it could squeeze a few tears out of me. I still haven’t seen the film because I decided that I’d read the book first. I must get round to it.

3. Paper Towns by John Green

After reading The Fault in Our Stars, (which ,if you haven’t already heard, is brilliant!) I was swept into a “Read everything ever written by John Green” frenzy. Paper Towns is the last book of his I have to read. I can’t decide if I’m trying to save it or if I’m just all John Greened out.

4. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window & Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

This caught my eye when browsing Amazon, the title is pretty unique to say the least! I was later delighted to find it was only 60p on Kindle and bought it immediately…I didn’t read it immediately.

5. Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Umm, I’ve had this one on loan from my school library for 8 months. I’ve renewed it multiple times but sometimes I forget and so I’ve racked up around £6.00 in fines. Why don’t I just return it? Well I do really want to read it and it would be a waste if I return it now considering I could have already bought my own copy.

6. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

I’ve had this for absolutely ageees. I bought it out from storage before the new film came out intending to read it however it’s a rather thick book and I didn’t have the resolve to start it.

7. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

I love the title of this book and bought it on impulse. It’s a coming of age type story which I haven’t been in the mood for lately. When I am, I’m sure I’ll eat this book up in seconds.

8. Reality: A Very Short Introduction by Judy Froman

A non-fiction book which asks the question WHAT IS REALITY? I’m not convinced this book will give a satisfying answer but I’ll give it a go once I get my philosophical head on.

9. Hunger by Michael Grant

This is the 2nd book in Grant’s Gone series. I read Gone in a day, it had great characters and an interesting plot – everyone over the age of 15 had disappeared and those left were stuck in a bubble called the FAYZ. I was desperate to find out what happened next but at the time was unable to get my hands on a copy. When I did I just wasn’t as desperate to read it anymore.

10. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

I saw and enjoyed the film then bought the book. I skimmed through it and from what I could tell it was pretty similar to the film so I wasn’t compelled to read it right away and put it to the side to read another day…

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I have to say, this list was pretty easy to create seen as I have way way more than 10 books on my to-read shelf! I ended up choosing books that I remember absolutely pining for but somehow once they arrived, always got stood up for some other book. What do you think of my list, am I missing out on anything? Do you have any books that you’ve just never got round to reading?

L