Top Ten Tuesday- Books That Made Me Cry

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme created by The Broke and the Bookish blog, and now hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week, I decided to list some of the books that have made me cry.

 

 

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

I think I spent the final thirty pages sobbing my heart out. And it’s not as if I didn’t know certain events were coming, as the narrator Death had warned me. I’m curious whether I would find it as emotional a read the second time around.

 

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A devastating read with a hopeful ending. I’d like to read A Thousand Splendid Suns soon, but know I’ll need to be prepared for plenty of heartbreak.

 

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity contains one of my favorite friendship pairings of all time. I was so invested in Maddie’s and Queenie’s fates, and was left pretty destroyed at the end.

 

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

It’s rare for a nonfiction book to make me cry in the way that fiction does, but The Radium Girls was a major exception. Kate Moore vividly brought these extraordinary girls to life, and their ordeal is both infuriating and tragic.

 

One Day by David Nicholls

The ending of One Day hit me like a ton of bricks. I can remember crying quite a lot and feeling a bit cheated at the turn of events. Much like tragedy in real life, it came out of nowhere and felt utterly unfair.

 

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White 

The book and the cartoon of Charlotte’s Web always made me cry as a child. It’s just too bad my love for Charlotte didn’t help me overcome a fear of spiders.

 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

The lead up to the emotional ending of Me Before You left me feeling almost sick with dread. I definitely ugly cried, and just when I had pulled myself together, the epilogue in Paris made me come undone again.

 

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

I first read The Diary of a Young Girl when I was nine or ten, and I couldn’t comprehend the horrors of the Holocaust. All these years later, it’s still difficult to comprehend. Anne’s story in her own words is so moving because she was a relatable, bright, and talented young girl who was robbed of her future. I always get emotional thinking about the impact her diary has had on millions of readers all over the world as well.

 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go is a gut-wrenching read that slowly creeps up on you. Even though I knew what was coming, I was still left emotionally reeling. It’s a haunting and chilling read that is difficult to shake off.

 

Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy 

This heartbreaking yet hopeful book made me cry at a few points. Simon Van Booy’s prose is lyrical and his descriptions of grief are palpable. Everything Beautiful Began After is a memorable read about finding purpose and joy after a tragedy.

 

What about you? Have any of these books made you reach for the tissues?