This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for Top Ten Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About (cry, laugh, hurl across the room, etc.)
1) One Day – If you’ve read this, I’m pretty sure you can figure out what part made me want to throw it across the room.
2) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – I read this one back in 2005 and it really resonated with me. It was easy to connect with some of Egger’s experiences and it just felt so raw and honest to me.
3) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Oh my gosh, this book gutted me. It’s so beautiful, but it’s also incredibly tragic.
4) The Handmaid's Tale – This one gave me an overwhelming feeling of fear. It’s terrifying to think the future could end up like this.
5) Truth & Beauty – Author Ann Patchett talks about her real-life friendship with Lucy Grealy, the author of Autobiography of a Face. Grealy’s life was filled by a continuous battle against a cancer that disfigured her face and the emotional problems that her disease led to. I just felt so sad for both Lucy and Ann.
6) Harry Potter 5, 6 and 7 – I cried when Sirius, Dumbledore and Dobby died. I know people have to die in a war, but it still broke my heart.
7) Everything by Jonathan Franzen – Ugh, his books just aren’t for me. They make me want to punch someone in the face and scream at the characters to stop whining!
8) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – This book overwhelmed me with feelings of love and nostalgia for the characters. It made me think of my obsession with reading as a child.
9) The Black Dahlia – I just hated this book. I don’t know why I finished it, but it definitely gave me a strong feeling of disgust the whole time.
10) Of Mice and Men – Again, this book will seriously break you heart into a million pieces.
Image from here.
17 comments:
The Handmaid's Tale is definitely one of the most terrifying books ever. I loved the Eggers, but it's been so long since I read it too. I should revisit it one of these days.
I am not good at making lists, because I can remember squat. But yes, Of Mice and Men devastated me. And I hated The Black Dahlia too.
An interesting list of which I have only read numbers 4,6 and 10!
Thanks my friend for your kind words on my Book Review Blog,much appreciated. We had a wonderful trip and I will be posting my first book review of the month hopefully tomorrow.
The Handmaid's Tale may be THE book to make the biggest impression on me, ever.
I haven't read Of Mice and Men since high school but I do recall it was quite the mind-blower. Interesting list!
I like that you included books that make you want to claw your face off! I think the book that still, every single time, generates the strongest (positive) emotions in me is the collected letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
The Handmaid's Tale and Harry Potter...definitely! Coincidentally, I'm reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter now. And you know from prior posts of mine that I completely agree with #7. Ugh...
It was clear how worked up you got over some of these!!
I was super angry at the end of One Day. I also had the same reaction as you did with The Handmaid's Tale. What a powerful book.
Nymeth - It's funny to look back on books I read before I blogged. Sometimes I loved a book, but I couldn't tell you now exactly why.
Sandy - I'm glad I'm not alone on The Black Dahlia, ugh.
LindyLouMac - I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip!
Jeanne - My only regret with that one is not reading it sooner!
mari - I read it in high school as well, but I just saw it as a play and it reminded me of how deeply I felt after reading the book.
Mumsy - That sounds wonderful. I've always been fascinated by their romance.
Teacher/Learner - It'll be interesting to hear what you think of Heart. It's a really powerful book.
Brenna - Yeah, I saw the movie and had the same reaction. I was expecting not to for some reason.
Beautifully organized blog.
Stopping by to take a look around.
NEW FOLLOWER.
Elizabeth
http://silversolara.blogspot.com
The Black Dahlia - only saw the movie, but had I feeling about it! I thought it was very badly done and extremely chaotic and confusing (and I don;t think that's what the director was going for...). My boyfriend really liked it, but I suspect it was just to hear me rant even further.
I've only read 3 of these -no, 4! I don't care to ever read anything by Franzen and I will avoid The Black Dahlia. But I do need to read #8.
Elizabeth - Thank you and welcome!
Alex - The movie was awful as well. Ugh.
Care - Yes, avoid Franzen and read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn immediately!
I can see how One Day would make you want to throw the book across the room. I think I would have under other circumstances, but my husband's family had a similar tragedy three days before I read that scene in the book. I guess it seemed more plausible to me under the circumstances, though it still really sucked.
Oh, I know! I got about 10 pages into "One Day" and just couldn't bear it.
Kristi - That's awful! I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Unruly Reader - Yup, I wanted to smack Dexter.
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