Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
****Spoiler Alert for Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
Top Ten Books that Made Me Cry
First of all, I'm not a crier. If I'm crying, I guarantee you something hurts. If I cry, my household freaks out...really, I mean it. I do have a sensitive spot in my heart for animals and children...which I think is definitely evidenced by my selections this week:
1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - I literally sobbed my way through this book. Sobbed. I ain't kiddin'...the pain and suffering experienced by the father in this story is what really set me off...I actually do not think I could re-read this one...and I refuse to see the movie.
2. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls - Old Dan and Little Ann...best dogs a boy could ever have...When Little Ann dies and Old Dan just lays on her grave till he dies...Heaven help me!
3. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson- When Travis takes the gun from his mom's hands and shoots Ole' Yeller, I couldn't even see the words on the page through my tears.
4. Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford - My dad read me this book the first time. I squawled when the Siamese cat went down the river on the log. That scene was the end of the chapter and I was so upset that my dad read an extra chapter just so I would know what happened to the cat.
5. Color Purple by Alice Walker - more sobbing here...various places but deeply and profoundly when the sisters are reunited and Celie sees her grown children for the first time in years.
6. Steve and Me by Terri Irwin and Payne Stewart: The Authorized Biography by Tracy Stewart - the death of a soulmate, husband and father of their children. Holy Smokes. Both of these women are tough as nails in part due to the great and realistic love they shared with their partners who both died tragically. Somehow they both managed to hold it together through and after the sudden lifechanging events.
7. and 8.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling - the death of Sirius Black was a heavy blow, but the death of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince almost did me in.
9. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells - a rare example of a movie that lived up to the expectations of the novel. I cried in both and I'm really particular about movies that portray Southerners...have heard enough fake Southern accents to last a lifetime.
10. Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields - all Tom Cruise craziness aside, if you've ever experienced post-partum depression (I did with my 3rd daughter), this book will make you feel sane. You will also cry right along with Brooke. Let Tom give birth; then he can give us his opinion.
I used the word "sobbing" quite a few times in this post...but I guess that's the point, right??
What a great list! I loved THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA-SISTERHOOD - both book(s) and movie - though I couldn't tell a fake southern from a real one..
ReplyDeleteOh my, I had forgotten The Lovely Bones! I also refuse to see that movie.
ReplyDeleteSarah
http://sarahreadstoomuch.blogspot.com
Great picks! The Lovely Bones took the number one spot on my list too. You can check out my Top Ten Tuesday here. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteI generally shy away from cry-worthy books and movies. I just hate crying- it's so . . . messy! But The Color Purple is one book that is on my TBR pile. I will read it, one day.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think of The Color Purple. I also thought The Lovely Bones was amazing and I agree, I don't know that I could re-read it.
ReplyDeleteThe Harry Potter books just got sadder and sadder as the series progressed.
ReplyDeleteThe Color Purple is such a moving story. I should read it again but I don't remember crying at it the first time I read it. But it's turned up on so many of these lists I'm now a little afraid to...
I am a little like Trish, I try not to read sad books.
ReplyDeleteMy books take me away from the everyday stresses and strains and I want entertainment rather than sadness.
carol :)
Just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy reading your book reviews, recommendations, and descriptions of why some have the impact on you that they do.
ReplyDeleteI've reserved a number of books at my library over the past few months that I've read about on your blog!
:-)
p.s. *Loved* "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", but was incredibly disappointed (and disturbed) by Little Altars Everywhere, which I read after DSofYYS.
I don't know why I didn't find The Lovely Bones sad. I thought it was interesting, but it just didn't get to me. Maybe because I don't have children yet?
ReplyDeleteGreat list :)
Definitely on Old Yeller (how could I forget that one) and Incredible Journey. Anything with animals/children being harmed hits me in the sobbing spot.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting my blog and that you left a comment! That's very nice of you. :")
ReplyDeleteGreat to see someone else put The Incredible Journey on their list! Although I think I was more upset towards the end when I thought the older dog wouldn't make it :(
ReplyDeleteI cried in Old Yeller- not because the dog died (although that is sad) but because Travis had to be the one to shoot him... Sob.
ReplyDeleteAnd (I hate to be this person... so sorry in advance) but Old Dan is the one who dies first in Where the Red Fern Grows (most favorite book, EVER!...) and Little Ann is the one who drags her body to his grave to die. Sigh. I seriously sob every time I read this book.
Great list! I too cry at animal books-Marley and Me made my list because it is my most recent book down that path. Pets dying in books do me in completely.
ReplyDeleteGood list. My daughter loves Where The Red Fern Grows but she'll only read it about 3/4 through and then quits before the dogs die!
ReplyDeleteAnd I feel like I need to go google after reading Ashley's comment because I am SURE Ann dies first.
Mindee- It's funny how memory works sometimes. I have moments like that, where I'm positive something happened in a story, or happened a certain way, only to realize I'm remembering it wrong.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this is one book I have never misremembered. When you've read a book 50+ times, you tend to remember details like this... ;)
Let a person die in a story...yes, that's sad. But let an animal die in a story...that's a tragedy!
ReplyDeleteHere's my list:
http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2010/11/top-ten-books-that-made-you-cry.html
I refuse to read Old Yeller or see the movie... I know it would just lead to LOTS of tears!
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty big list for someone who says she doesn't cry often. For me it would just be the last ten books I read. I cry a lot. I'm sure it's just something wrong with my eyes.lol I totally agree with you on The Color Purple. I sobbed and sobbed - both book and movie.
ReplyDeleteHa! Margot, that's 10 books over the course of 42 years...and several of those books were from childhood...I think I do try to stear clear of books that I know will send me over the edge...it took me forever to read The Lovely Bones...I knew better.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I missed this post when you originally wrote it!
ReplyDeleteI cry at the drop of a hat. It doesn't take much to get me going and honestly, sometimes I find it very cleansing.
Marley and Me. I cried buckets.
I could give you a list of movies that make me cry.. and some are my favorites that I watch over and over. My husband doesn't get it.