Comfort Reads discussion

Sometimes a tear jerker can be oddly comforting. If you can think of any name them here!

Sunshine! Oh, I read and reread this one to death. The movie was good too but completely unavailable, but I have a copy of the book. This is a true story/based on a true story of a very young mother who dies of cancer, hippie era.

The ending of Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog fits this category.... It is a great book and is chock full with lots of other interesting information about dogs and how they think. The ending bothered me for philosophical reasons too!

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I did not see that ending coming and I bawled my eyes out. I also bawled at The Book Thief.

Boof, I adored both of those books and The Book Thief is now (I think) on my top-100 shelf.

I also bawled like a baby for about 20 pages at the end of The Book Thief. It was so moving and cathartic.

The saddest book I've ever read was Wedding Cakes, Rats and Rodeo Queens by Anne Cameron. I don't know as I could handle a reread even now, and I read it about 16 years ago. http://www.amazon.ca/Wedding-Cakes-Ra...

That's quite a title!

I can't remember if this made me cry (probably), but it was very moving and wonderfully written. Ann Patchett's The Magician's Assistant.

Love Story

How many of you old enough to remember this old classic of the 70's? Plus seeing the movie with Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw?

Misfit, I could never get past the "Love means never having to say you're sorry" line or the fact that they let her die of leukemia (or whatever it was) so beautifully and painlessly. Love Story never did it for me (although I did read the book and see the movie) but I know they were extremely popular.

Hi Misfit,

How do you post a picture, like you did with the one from Love Story?

I cried at several you mentioned Love Story, The Book Thief and My Sister's Keeper. I am going to addMarley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog, The Notebook, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholasand then I just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fanwhich made me cry.

I had tears running down my face at the end of The Notebook. I don't want to read another book like that for a while.

Misfit wrote: "Love Story

How many of you old enough to remember this old classic of the 70's? Plus seeing the movie with Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw?

"

I read Love Story in high school and love the movie too (it makes me cry more than the book).

Jeannette wrote: "I had tears running down my face at the end of The Notebook. I don't want to read another book like that for a while."

I remember crying after reading A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle. Heart Breaking. Does Nicholas Sparks always write a heartbreaking-sad ending romance?

One of my friends told me that he does. It might be true.

To Jeannette and Sherien: from the two Nicholas Sparks books I've read and the others I've read about, I think you can pretty much figure that one main character will be a goner by the end of the book. This makes me less likely to invest.

And to add to the discussion, I cried BUCKETS reading PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger. Good buckets. Lots of laughs in the book, too.

Chandra, A Thousand Splendid Suns did me in too. You absolutely have to read The Book Thief!!! It's amazing and wonderful and I've put it on my top-100 shelf, which still has way fewer than 100 books on it because I have a hard time deciding what to put on and leave off.

Well, whether or not it makes you cry, I think you'd enjoy The Book Thief. ;-)

I just read Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters. Beautiful but sad. really sad.

Chrissie wrote: "The ending of Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog fits this category.... It is a great book and is chock full with lots of other interesting information about dogs and how t..."

Hi Chrissie -- I'm new to the group. I also read, loved and cried over Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog. My all time favorite tear-jerker is The Art of Racing in the Rain

I've got The Art of Racing in the Rain on my to-read shelf. I've heard it's excellent, but I haven't gotten up the courage yet to read it.

Lisa wrote: "I've got The Art of Racing in the Rain on my to-read shelf. I've heard it's excellent, but I haven't gotten up the courage yet to read it."

Lisa, you must read it. It is worth every tear!

I agree - Racing with the rain is excellent and unique.

Okay. I'll bump it up and try to read it. Thanks.

Diane D. wrote: "Lisa wrote: "I've got The Art of Racing in the Rain on my to-read shelf. I've heard it's excellent, but I haven't gotten up the courage yet to read it."

Lisa, you must read it. It..."

LOVED that book!

I am reading The Book Thief at the moment and I cried within the first 7 pages! Really an awesome read, beautifully written.

Another tear-jerker I really enjoyed and swore that I will never be able to read again is April Fool's Day by Bryce Courtenay. Its the true story of his son. Truly one of the best and most moving books I've ever read!

Diane D. wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "The ending of Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog fits this category.... It is a great book and is chock full with lots of other interesting information abo..."

Hi Diane - Merle's Door was great. It had everything! Is The Art of Dancing in the Rain just as good? Convince me please!

Chrissie -- If you enjoyed Merle's Door that much (I did too) you will love Art of Racing in the Rain. YES, it is just as good, although in a completely different way. I can't imagine that you would not love this book.

Diane, did you read my review? I didn't like the ending of Merle's Door, as I explain in my review! I LOVED everything eelse about the book. I thought the literature the author referred to were top-notch and his opinions on how dogs can think spot-on. I am worried the The Art of Racing in the Rain emphasizes exactly what I didn't like about Merle's Door. Doesn't it focus on melodrama?

Diane D. wrote: "Chrissie -- If you enjoyed Merle's Door that much (I did too) you will love Art of Racing in the Rain. YES, it is just as good, although in a completely different way. I can't imagine that you woul..."

I agree on The Art of Racing in the Rain. I found it to be very humorous at times, but definitely a tear jerker. Great book.

Christine and Diane, I have only stuck it on my maybe shelf. Maybe I should move it up....

Yep, you should! I read it on my Kindle on impulse (I was on vacation and needed a quick download), and I really enjoyed it so much.

Christine, I cannot decide. I think the author perhaps wants to play with our emotions. What did you think of Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog?

I really enjoyed Marley & Me, although I think I liked the YA version more (which I read before I gave it to my daughter). It was still sad, but focused more on the humorous.

The dog's perspective in The Art of Racing in the Rain was so entertaining. It had a very different feel from Marley & Me.

Hi Chrissie - sorry I disappeared on you over the weekend, but I don't have a computer at home over the weekend. I will read your review of Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog. But I don't think The Art of Racing in the Rain focuses on melodrama at all. If you do read the book, you know in the first chapter what is happening, and it goes back from there. It is fiction told in the voice of Enzo the dog. It's nothing like Merle's Door at all, in my opinion. Christine do you agree?

Christine and Diane, all three books are about dogs and all three seem good, but each in a different way. Enzo, Marley and Merle - all three dogs seem worth knowing, although them and the books are different. Really that isn't surprising. I guess I should add Enzo's book to my "must" shelf. It is from that shelf that I choose the books to buy. English libraries suck in Belgium. I still haven't read A Three Dog Life or Niki: The Story of a Dog. I don't know if they are tear-jerkers.

Diane D. wrote: "Hi Chrissie - sorry I disappeared on you over the weekend, but I don't have a computer at home over the weekend. I will read your review of [book:Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog|43096..."

I didn't read Merl's Door so I have no comparison.

A Three Dog Life looks depressing to me. I haven't read that one either so maybe I'm wrong.

Christine, sometimes shit hits the fan and yet people go on and find a way to enjoy life. It doesn't have to be depressing, at least not through and through. Check out Inder's review. I read a snippet and it was the text that made me want to read the book. Good text does that to me. The best is when you come out of a storm with a smile on your face.

I posted this on "Is this a Comfort Read?" Has anyone read it? A friend gave it 4 stars -- why are all dog books sad?

Cowboy & Wills: A Love Story

Jeannette wrote: "I posted this on "Is this a Comfort Read?" Has anyone read it? A friend gave it 4 stars -- why are all dog books sad?

Cowboy & Wills: A Love Story"

Probably because they always pass away at the end.

There must be some light & amusing ones!!! I'm going to try to think!

I haven't read The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, but I like Farley Mowat. The dog might die at the end though.

I'll think!

Has anyone read No More Dead Dogs? It's a kid's book, but it addresses this problem.

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, I remember this book making me cry so hard, it is a story that explores forgivness and the emotions we feel when we forgive. I think the reason it was such a tear jerker for me was because I had just gone through a break-up where I was left for the pregnant soon to be wife...

Now THAT is an exercise in forgiveness!

I've read the book once since then and it is a great book that holds a different meaning each time you read it.

I love a book that can make me cry whether they're happy or sad! If a book can do that to me it gets a five star rating :) I don't usually find books like that, though, since I'm working on ending the bad habit of looking ahead in books. It completely ruins the best, most cry-worthy books, so I've resolved to stop. Of course, I say that every time I finish a ruined book, but this time I will. Hopefully.
One book that did make me cry though: Boy on a Black Horse, by Nancy Springer. It had a happy ending, but was just really beautiful :)

If you want a dog book that will make you laugh out loud instead of crying, read Dog On It. It is a mystery too but it is really a very good read.

Maude wrote: "If you want a dog book that will make you laugh out loud instead of crying, read Dog On It. It is a mystery too but it is really a very good read."

Maude, I love that one too, but I seem to remember a few scary/potentially teary places. Mostly funny though.

Marley and Me was definitely a tear jerker for me. I wasn't really expecting it to be since most of the book was so light, but the last thirty pages or so were really hard to get through. I agree that it's so hard to find a dog book that's not terribly sad, so I'll have to check out the couple of suggestions here that are happier dog books.

Nicholas Sparks books never fail to make me cry. Most particularly The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, and Dear John.

One of my favorite books made me almost start sobbing out loud while I was reading it - Temple of the Winds - the fourth book in my favorite fantasy series Sword of Truth. I might not have cried so hard if I hadn't have been so caught up with the characters and their world through the first three books.

The Valley of Decision and A Lantern in her Hand - I just blubber. In both books the heroine is a young girl, one who marries and one who doesn't but both have a deep and passionate love. One has children and lives on the prairie, the other in 1800's Pittsburgh. Both live to an old age after being, perhaps the most important person in their family, and who gave up their dreams for others.