The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

Okay, I cry a LOT. So really, this topic is so that I can feel a lot less lonely in having tons of books that have made me cry. (:

So what books brought tears to your eyes, whether you only misted or let out huge, wrenching sobs?

*Some* of mine (a list to be continually updated, hahah):

I can only think of this one right now, but I do know that I barely got through The Road once. I tried to reread it last year, and just couldn't.

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines

Definitely Where the Red Fern Grows. I re-read it a few years ago, and it still made me cry. Oh and Tuesdays with Morrie, For One More Day

Cecelia Ahern normally gets me going. Now I've never actually parted with tears but I have certainly had to hold them back occasionally.
P.S. I Love You
The Host
These two nearly had me going.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (which is definitely in my top 5 favorites). And I didn't just get a little misty-eyed either, I was streaming tears by the end of that book.

Jennifer wrote: "Definitely Where the Red Fern Grows. I re-read it a few years ago, and it still made me cry..."

Where the Red Fern Grows definitely made me cry too as a kid. I think any book I've ever read with a dog on the cover has made me cry - like Old Yeller and Sounder. You think I would of noticed that pattern as a kid. Judging by books like Marley and Me it's a trend that continues into adult books as well.

One Moment, One Morning made me cry a few times.

Lord of the Rings, at many points, at least almost made me cry... like when Eowyn drops her vain affection for Aragorn, drops the shadows and lets the light in, in form of Faramir and his love :P

Oh geez, wow, I cry a LOT compared to you guys! I admire your strength, hahah. (:

I cried a lot during the Harry Potter books. The people just kept dying! Also, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Darke by Angie Sage, and Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

not many can match the death rate in Martin's or Erikson's books though lol

I lovee dogs but recently there seem to have so many books about dogs e.g. Marley and Me etc - but I kept reading about The Art of Racing in the Rain and eventually succumbed and read it. I cried and cried and cried! Lots of books have made me cry but this was the most recent.

I must admit Thalia I loved the Twilight series but they never made me cry, although the film almost did this week, very traumatic!
There's nothing wrong with crying at good book though, wish I found it easier to cry while reading, I might even enjoy the book a bit more if I did :)

Rachael, but I cry even if I didn't like the book! I gave two stars to "Nineteen Minutes" and I sometimes was sobbing, hahah. (: And I read the Twilight series as they came out, in my middle school years, so I was so very sad when Edward left Bella, when Bella almost died in BD, and sktnuejv n. I'm just a puddle of emotion, hahaha.

Oh, my stars - YES ... for all those "dog" books -
Where the Red Fern Grows
Old Yeller
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Marley and Me

The Notebook because it reminded me of my grandparents

I have seen the movie and really liked it :)

I gotta admit, when it comes to books making me cry - anything that involves an animal dieing will get me to tear up straight away. Although on saying that the last book to make me cry, Pigeon English, absolutely killed me and no animals were killed!

Dying animals ... certainly brings on the Kleenex! Actually, anything that I can relate to.

Recent "reads" (CDs) have caught me unawares while driving to work or just getting home and sitting in my driveway! Most recent ... I took the wrong exit on my way in to work! ;o)

The Kite Runner! What an extremely sad ending story. Anyone have read it?

Oh my, I'm not sure I've ever cried at a book! Certainly not one that comes to mind anyway. I've cried laughing at some but i'm not sure that counts.

I'm either heartless or just not reading enough books about dogs dying.

Tyas wrote: "The Kite Runner! What an extremely sad ending story. Anyone have read it?"

I don't know if I cried, but its one of my FAVORITE books of all time!!!

BUT I did bawl my eyes out...literally sobs during Uncle Tom's Cabin

Tyas wrote: "The Kite Runner! What an extremely sad ending story. Anyone have read it?"

i havent read that yet, its on my TBR, but i have read A thousand Splendid Suns!

Cry No More by Linda Howard... the resolution to that story was heartbreaking...Cry No More

Ani wrote: "Tyas wrote: "The Kite Runner! What an extremely sad ending story. Anyone have read it?"

i havent read that yet, its on my TBR, but i have read A thousand Splendid Suns!"

I thought A Thousand Splendid Suns was a better book - and made me cry.

Ok here are mine...

I wept for the Little Prince ..

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - beautiful book.

Maggie wrote: "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - beautiful book."

Didn't make me cry (that I remember), but I totally agree that it's a beautiful book. I gave it 5****.

So many books make me cry....but I cry a lot...even adds on TV and stupid things!!!
But the last book that made me cry and sob all through the book, was by Danielle Steel. About her son who had manic depression and committed suicide at age 19!! So very sad!
I won't go through them all, but by Larry McMurty was another one. I was even sobbing desperateley for a good half hour afterwards!!

I'm a big cryer, too - too bad I don't own stock in kleenex. As I was just finishing A Dog's Purpose, The pages were getting wet & I realized tears were just streaming down my cheeks. So touching....

Liz wrote: "Dying animals ... certainly brings on the Kleenex! Actually, anything that I can relate to.

Recent "reads" (CDs) have caught me unawares while driving to work or just getting home and sitting in ..."

I only get to listen to CDs and had to ban ANY books with animals or the potential for tears. I had started to listen to Sam's Letters to Jennifer but was crying so hard after the first few minutes that I had to pull over, take out the CD, blare some rock, and get a grip so that I could see the road before starting to drive again. That and Where the Red Fern Grows -- I will always have fond memories of my entire fifth grade class crying at lunch instead of eating after our teacher had finished reading the last page. So many memories attached to books!

I remember sobbing over Where the Red Fern Grows, until the final pages were pulp, but Life of Pi hit me the hardest of what I've read in the last few years. I'm pretty sure I did that really embarrassing loud choking sound, when you're trying too hard not to make noise while crying, sigh. Good, soul gripping stuff.

THE BOOK TWILIGHT MADE ME CRY BREAKING DAWN

Interrupted: Life Beyond Words Made me cry until my eyes hurt.

Jessthelawnmower wrote: "I cried a lot during the Harry Potter books. The people just kept dying!

This made me lol. Only not in a bad way ;)

I don't think I've ever cried from a book. Weird. My husband says I'm heartless.. maybe some truth to that??

I (almost) cried from frustration,reading The Cave. I chose not to finish the book which was sans punctuation and didn't catch my fancy.

April wrote: "Jessthelawnmower wrote: "I cried a lot during the Harry Potter books. The people just kept dying!

This made me lol. Only not in a bad way ;)

I don't think I've ever cried from a book. Weird. My ..."

FInally someone else who doesn't cry at books. I don't feel so freakish anymore.

Elaine wrote: "I'm either heartless or just not reading enough books about dogs dying."

This made me laugh ...

Recently, Final Gifts made me cry, but it's written by hospice nurses who talk about people dying so, I bet most people would tear up reading it. For fiction, Before I Fall made me a human faucet. I like reading the occasional book that causes a good cry.

April wrote: "Jessthelawnmower wrote: "I cried a lot during the Harry Potter books. The people just kept dying!

This made me lol. Only not in a bad way ;)

I don't think I've ever cried from a book. Weird. My ..."
LOL April, I've only ever cried from the four books listed in my above post and hardly ever at movies unless an animal dies...certainly not for humans... What DOES that say about me? My husband also thinks I'm heartless * insert evil snicker here * BTW, did you ever read/ finish Time Travelers Wife...I haven't gotten around to it yet :-(

Kelly wrote: "Elaine wrote: "I'm either heartless or just not reading enough books about dogs dying."

This made me laugh ...

Recently, Final Gifts made me cry, but it's written by hospice nurses who talk about..."
Final Gifts is an excellent book :-)

There were a couple of stories in The Cat Who Had 14 Tales, by Lilian Jackson Braun. One was a kind of Romeo and Juliet story about a blind Persian and a scrappy alley cat in a feral cat colony, so you can imagine that it ends badly. The other really tore me up, about a sweet Siamese, and was based on something that actually happened to one of Braun's own cats. Unfortunately, I read it while on a plane, so it was kind of embarrassing when I couldn't stop the tears flowing. I haven't been able to read that one again; it also reminded me of my own Siamese that I had at the time.

Tracy wrote: "BTW, did you ever read/ finish Time Travelers Wife...I haven't gotten around to it yet :-( .."

No! I never have! I fell off the earth after my vacation.. sorry! And I've been listening to a lot of random audio books too. I just started The Secret Life of Bees. Don't know if that's on your list or not, but let's plan on starting The Time Traveller's Wife this weekend. I'll make a thread for it.

April wrote: "Tracy wrote: "BTW, did you ever read/ finish Time Travelers Wife...I haven't gotten around to it yet :-( .."

No! I never have! I fell off the earth after my vacation.. sorry! And I've been listeni..."

That would work out perfect, I have to start and finish by the end of this month for challenges!

I'm also fairly quick to cry, but some really great books that brought me to tears over the years:



And then of course there are all the ethology books I read, which, anytime I read about the horrible, inexplicable things that people do to animals, I can't help but cry:



Finally, this book I've not read yet, but reading the BACK COVER made me cry:

Here's the synopsis from the back, and I think it will be clear why I was brought to tears:

" 'You be good, I love you,' were Alex's final words to his owner, research scientist Irene Pepperberg, before his premature death at age thirty-one on September 6, 2007. An African Grey parrot, Alex had a brain the size of a shelled walnut, yet he could add, sound out words, understand concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none, and he disproved the widely accepted idea that birds possess no potential for language or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Alex & Me is the remarkable true account of an amazing, irascible parrot and his best friend who stayed together through thick and thin for thirty years-the astonishing, moving, and unforgettable story of a landmark scientific achievement and a beautiful relationship."

And this is great, this is an excerpt from the review in USA Today: "A touching love story... Even a coldhearted birdbrain might find himself tearing up when the end finally comes."

Ok, that blurb made me cry!!! I remember Alex from seeing him several times on TV, and he was amazing. I wonder, given the ability to express themselves in a way intelligible to humans, how many animals would prove to be very similar to humans in their emotions and intelligence.

I haven't read the book, but I also cry every time I see the reunion of Christian the lion with his former owners.

Kayci wrote: "I can only think of this one right now, but I do know that I barely got through The Road once. I tried to reread it last year, and just couldn't.

"

I cried through The Road too. A wonderfully written book, but scary and heartbreaking.

Lillian wrote: "I'm not a big crier, but I don't have a Black Dragon inside me. "

haha. I don't know if you're making a reference to something that I don't know/understand, but the "black dragon" comment made me laugh. My husband would probably agree that that's a spot-on assessment of me.

In my defense, I haven't read any of the titles that have made you cry (with the exception of having just finished Wuthering Heights) so maybe I just haven't been exposed to much moving literature. Maybe.. there's still hope for me ;)

My sister had to read something for school, and she didn't know what to get, so I went to Amazon and found this book called The Art of Racing in the rain about this dog that loves Nascar and hopes to get reincarnated into a man because A National Geographic special on Tibetan monks said that was what they believed.

She thought it was a stupid concept for a story, but apparently, the book made her a little glassy in the eye.

I haven't read it yet (so busy with so many books), but I want to

http://weightlossterrorists.blogspot....

Redd wrote: "My sister had to read something for school, and she didn't know what to get, so I went to Amazon and found this book called The Art of Racing in the rain about this dog that loves Nascar and hopes ..."

I thought this was going to be a silly story - but after all the raving about it I read it - well, I cried and cried and cried - and then cried some more. Fantastic book!