Top 10 Books That Will Make You Cry

There’s nothing like a true old-fashioned sobfest from time to time. And by nice, we mean a soul-crushing, heartbreakingly sad tale with a glimmer of hope at the end, but it’s all worth it in the end! These books should not be read in public unless you are comfortable wiping your eyes on a stranger’s shoulder because, spoiler warning, you can weep a lot. So here are the books that will break your heart and possibly bring it back together.

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

Taja Brown observes the world around her and considers her options in light of her view of God and the weight of her caring parents’ standards and laws. She’s on a path that all of us must travel as we mature. We will learn and develop from both our achievements and our failures. Hers is a tale that will strike a chord with our adolescent daughters just as much as it will bring back memories for mothers. It was a real pleasure to see my teenage self in Taja, seeing and enjoying the good and bad of it all over again. Calling My Name is a priceless gem. The prose is absolutely stunning. In the way that the language is poetic and beautiful, it reminds me of Jesmyn Ward’s work. It also reminds me of Tayari Jones in the way the characterization draws you in and makes you feel as if you’re in the protagonist’s shoes. Taja and Esch and Dana will get along swimmingly. They’d be sisters-in-law who are close friends.

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

A thought-provoking and powerful storey that would be almost unbelievable if it weren’t based on the author’s own childhood experiences. It was a clear example of how the power of words can influence you and cause you to consider a topic from a different viewpoint. It is mercifully free of explicit sexual material and offers the reader an insight into the real challenges that certain young people face and how they deal with them to the best of their abilities.

Old Yeller – Fred Gipson

Old Yeller – Fred Gipson

On the surface, this is a somewhat romantic storey about a noble puppy, but it’s just a coming-of-age storey about a young boy growing up in the extremely harsh conditions of Texas in the 1870s. It paints a vivid and informative picture of the way of life, as well as the remarkable courage and resourcefulness needed to survive. As a result, we have a gripping storey that feels completely genuine.

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

The fact that this book is told from the viewpoint of death is the first thing that appeals to me about it. It was a fantastic concept. No one would ever expect death to tell a storey. I mean, it was such a brilliant concept. So it all started with this girl who stole books and had her book stolen by suicide, implying that both of them are book thieves. Liesel’s brother had died, and her mother had abandoned her. Her Foster father became her best friend and helped her learn to read. Then there was Rudy, a young man who wanted to be like Jesse Owen, so he painted himself black. In Hitler’s harsh world, all of the characters in the book were full of life.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

The plot is filled with emotions, information, and unpredictable events. I felt as if I was watching all of the characters and events unfold in front of me, and I could sense what they were going through because of the writing. Phoebe is a spoiled brat who struggles miserably in seeing her mother’s struggle, which is understandable and rational, but it became grating when she insisted on a kidnapping: the denial phase this kid went through was so unrealistic and forced that it made me want to punch this character in the face multiple times.

 Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

This book begins with the Tsunami that struck Sri Lanka and moves back and forth between the past and present situation of the Tsunami. Gradually, the author settles in, and several times I find my eyes streaming because it is so engrossing. But when things appear to be repeating themselves, I’m at a loss for words and don’t know how she can proceed. However, I believe my initial standards were too strong, and by the end of the novel, I was left with a blank feeling. I’m sure the author went through a lot, but I’m guessing she wrote the book a little too soon, or, I’m sorry to say, sadness left her speechless, and she looked for answers in the outside world, which is full of limitations.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This is a storey about Enzo, a puppy, and his human. It’s a lovely novel, and Enzo is the narrator. It’s about how they deal with adversity in their lives. How they interact in both good and bad times. Enzo is a puppy, but he knows he has a human soul. According to a documentary he watched, he thinks he will be reborn as a human. He refers to it as his “Grand Plan.” He is a huge fan of auto racing. The tale is beautiful, and the language is plain. It made me laugh, weep, and miss my fur baby. This book broke me; I couldn’t pick up another book for a long time after finishing it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

This book depicts the emotions and suffering of two Afghan women and their children as the Taliban, the Soviet Union, and the Warlord poke them with weapons and bombs!! Furthermore, it depicts a woman’s strength and endurance before she battles and ends her suffering. The storey is an inspiring, heartbreaking, insightful, and believable account of the tragic lives of everyday people in a foreign world and nation, and it is perhaps one of the most moving and heart-wrenching books I have ever read. To think that this is a relatively recent account of how women and children were handled, and how a man, husband, and father may be held blameless for his brutality and violence is incredible.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

This is an outstanding piece of work. It’s a work of art. I knew how this was going to end, and I think we all did, but I always cried at the end. To take something old and familiar and perform it in such a way that the reader always feels the freshness, the shock of it all, is a feat on the author’s part. I’m speechless.

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward is already on my list of 2019 favourites! It’s a book about grief and loss, and how it can heal but never go away. She tells snippets of her life, chronologically about her childhood, her family dynamics in De Lisle, Mississippi, and in reverse order, the stories of five young black men she lost in the period of four years. To say the book was difficult to read is an understatement; I can’t imagine how much courage it took her to write it down, to expose her feelings to the world. She lost five young men, including her child, to drugs, suicide, and injuries. All of their deaths were unrelated, but they all stemmed from poverty and prejudice, which put them at risk.