Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.
Maybe random TV commercials make you cry. Or maybe it’s the sight of ET saying “I’ll be riiiight heeeere ” ( sniff). Everyone needs a good cry. There are the cries that are simply just watery eyes threatening to overflow. There are the cries that come with laughter because you can’t believe something so incredibly silly is making you blubber. And then there are the big ones, the ugly cries with sobs and snot and Kleenex. Everyone has those sometimes.
Well, my friends, if you’re in a need of a good cry, I have some books for you.
1. If I Stay by Gayle Forman— Ugh. The beautiful pain. The scene with Grandpa telling Mia it’s okay to let go and die…they’ll be all right? KILLS ME. Or the memory of reading Harry Potter to little Teddy? SOB. Make it stop.
2. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green–Oh, the freaking heartbreak that you knew, you knew was coming all along, but you read it anyway. It was so worth it you’d read it again and again. At least, I would (and do).
3. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler– This is a smaller cry, little tears throughout, as you slowly watch Jude witness her father disappearing day by day as his Early Onset Alzheimer’s steals him away. (There is much sweetness and happiness in this book too though).
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak– The pain. There are a million moments in this book, some are small tears and some are big ones, but they have a profound impact either way.
5. When you Were Mine by Rebecca Serle- This is a retelling of Romeo & Juliet, so it’s not like the ending was a big secret, right? But I cried. I mean, like bawled. I don’t know why really, I just couldn’t stop the waterworks (I mean, it’s just so tragic!). I woke my husband up with my tears. I contemplated e-mailing Serle at 12:30 at night when I finished reading (I ended up waiting until the next day so as to appear less crazy. Probably didn’t work). It was a good, painful cry though, complete with aches over that sad ending and satisfaction that the book was so well-done.
6. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness– One word: Manchee. It makes me want to cry right now.
7. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson– The grief in this book is beautifully done because yes, it’s painful, and you see the way it affects the family, but there’s wonderful humor here that gets you through the rough times too. It’s a perfect balance.
8. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling–Maybe part of me cried because it was all over, but the resolution, finding out the truth about why it happened the way that it did, seeing Harry at the very end when we thought we’d lost him, realizing all those lives we really had lost…it was perfect. It was a cry of satisfaction, I think.
9. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta– Sigh. It’s just so good. I can’t even put it into words.
10. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta– This one got me in the very end. I vividly remember reading it in the middle of the night, sprawled out on the sofa in our playroom, as the rest of the family slept in the bedrooms. I read a certain part, put my hand over my mouth and cried. And cried some more–but in a very good way. It was excellent and so worth the wait.
11. I’ll Be There By Holly Goldberg Sloan– Oh, this one. I love it. It gets to your heart in so many places–romantic love, familial love, sibling bonds, tragedy…it’s all there.
12. Night by Elie Wiesel– A true account of the author’s time as a boy in a concentration camp with his father. It’s so stark and brutally honest. Wiesel is so brave to let us see his imperfection and pain. This is a must-read.
Happy Tuesday! Go on now. Have a good cry!
YA Crush 
Lots of overlap, because we are so similar in our book taste. I can’t believe we forgot Marchetta, but Diana and I split these, and I just wrote down the first five books that came to mind!
these are fantastic books! i’m not one who chases books that would make me cry, but these books have such amazing stories. good job!
“he scene with Grandpa telling Mia it’s okay to let go and die…they’ll be all right? “< that scene is exactly what makes me sob during if I stay. I was doing fine until I read the lines "it's okay if you want to leave us…it's okay to stop fighting" and I became a blubbering mess!
That scene you mention from If I Stay… KILLS ME! Great list!
I’ve only read a few of these books – I do tend to avoid tearjerkers. BUT, HP7 – I cried basically start to finish. However, I actually think that Harry Potter 5 is the saddest. Oh, I guess it’s the saddest to me. I can’t deal with the death, and Harry’s reaction.
Manchee is the saddest part of any book I’ve ever read. I can tear up just remembering that. Brutal.
TFiOS and HP7 are on my list too – I can’t read them without crying, even when I know what’s coming! I have If I Stay on my shelf, and haven’t read it because I’ve heard it’s reputation for being a heartbreaker!
Also: so glad to see Night on here. It’s not YA or something I’d usually read, but it definitely has a special place in my heart.
FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO HAS READ JELLICOE ROAD!!!! It’s one of my favorite books ever, and whenever I mention it to people they never know what book I’m talking about. There are so many different emotions and stories within that one book that every time I read it I take away something new. Also, I read Night last year, and that was a really emotional one as well. It was even worse because it’s based on real life. Nice list!! 🙂
I feel like Jellicoe Road is one of those books few people have read, but when they do, they almost always fall in love with it.
The Book Thief, KoNLG, The Sky, HP, Marchetta books! Definitely agree, so many feels 🙂
I’ve heard a lot about The Knife of Never Letting Go, should I add it to my reading list? EEEE, but do I want to cry?