So, I asked theBuzzFeed Communityto tell me about the mostemotionally charged booksthey’ve read.
“Hello Beautifulby Ann Napolitano.
It was the first book I openly sobbed at while reading in quite a while.”
“Lily and the Octopusby Steven Rowley.
It was funny, heartwarming, and devastating all at once.
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Closeby Jonathan Safran Foer.
The emotion of a young boy grieving his fathers death is at the heart of the story.
“The Green MilebyStephen King.
It just broke me.
Then I watched the movie and bawled for days.”
“In Loveby Amy Bloom.
If you want a good ugly cry, just pick up this book.
It’s so well written, so raw and real and beautiful, and captures so manyemotions.
You also simply can’t put it down, so be prepared to spend an entire afternoon reading.”
“The Things They Carriedby Tim O’Brien.
This book is amazing.
“The Kite Runnerby Khaled Hosseini broke my heart into pieces.
And his next novel,A Thousand Splendid Suns,is heartbreaking from the very start.
Both are must-reads.”
“One Hundred Years of Solitudeby Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
This is the book that opened my eyes to the mysterious, unexplainable supernatural world we live in.
Ditch the jaded eye and embrace the wonder.”
“Flowers for Algernonby Daniel Keyes absolutely wrecked me when I read it.
Charlie, blissfully ignorant of his mental abilities, is happy at the start.
Then, as his intelligence increases, so does his self-awareness.
At the end, he loses the intelligence but is aware of what he is missing.
It is just absolutely heartbreaking.”
“Never Let Me GobyKazuo Ishiguro.
This book is beautiful but heartbreaking.”
“A Monster Callsby Patrick Ness.
Even today, years after reading this, I can’t think about it without wanting to cry.
I’ve never read another book that captured grief and loss so brilliantly.
It’s painful and beautiful and still hits home.
The book made me feel seen over my complicated feelings toward my mother’s illness.”
“The Fault in Our Stars byJohn Green.
It’s the only book that has made me cry.
I read it as a teen and wasnt prepared for the amount of sadness it holds.
It is and has always been one of my favorite books.”
“The Art of Racing in the Rainby Garth Stein.
“The Hiding Placeby Corrie Ten Boom.
Ive read it 13 times over my 59 years.
It never fails to bring me to tears.”
“A Little Lifeby Hanya Yanagihara.
I cried at the end.”
“Bridge to Terabithiaby Katherine Paterson.
I never knew a book could make you feel such strong emotions until I read this one.”
“The Book Thiefby Markus Zusak.
I read it on a plane and sobbed the entire way through.
The people next to me were extremely concerned.”
“The God of Small Thingsby Arundhati Roy.
I still havent come across another book that comes even close to this beautifully melancholy story.”
“The Song of Achillesby Madeline Miller.
It was justsobeautiful.”
“The Roadby Cormac McCarthy.
I read it before having children.
Im curiously dreading a reread now that I have sons.
Its such a beautiful work about the bleakest of possible situations.”
“We All Want Impossible Thingsby Catherine Newman.
This book was a literal whirlwind of emotions.
Newman’s writing had me crying and then cracking up, often on the very same page.
It’s the story of two childhood best friends, one of whom is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
This novel reads like nonfiction and truly plays on every emotion.”
“Let the Great World Spinby Colum McCann.
Colum inhabits each character so fully and weaves all their stories together so beautifully.
I’ve read it again and again and highly recommend it.”
“Me Before Youby Jojo Moyes.
That book ruined me.
Cried just as hard for the other two books in the series.”
“The Nightingaleby Kristin Hannah.
I cried so much while reading that book.
I dont think I would be able to handle any of their situations as well as they did.
Honestly, anything by Kristin Hannah is amazing, but this one had me emotionally devastated days afterward.”
“When Breath Becomes Airby Paul Kalanithi.
It’s a nonfiction story (published posthumously) written by a neurosurgeon as he faces terminal lung cancer.
It’s seriously powerful, and I found myself covered in goosebumps while reading and rereading many passages.”
“The Red Tentby Anita Diamant.
I ugly cry every time I read it.
It’s heartfelt and beautiful.”
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
