Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

Top Ten Tuesdays is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. If you want to learn more about it or join in the fun go to this page.

I haven't done a Top Ten in ages, so bear with me while I try to get back in the swing of things. This weeks topic is the Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry. I chose a hard week to get back into this. I am an emotional reader. If a book is written well I laugh and cry and get angry and happy. Picking and choosing the top ten that caused me to cry might be hard, but I am going to try.

1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls - This was an easy choice. I cannot begin to explain the amount of emotion this book evoked in me. I cried more than once the first time I read it. I openly bawl when I read it to this day. I know one day I will gladly open my children up to that same emotional world.

2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling - Now starts the Harry Potter cry fest. Seriously, who knew how emotional the world of wizardry would become? I cannot imagine there are people out there who haven't read these books, but then again I was a total hold out because they were very mainstream, so I didn't read them right away. For that reason, no spoilers. If you've read this book, you know why I cried and was almost ready to turn away from the series. If you haven't then, maybe give the series a chance. It's more than just a bunch of hocus pocus.

3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling - Apparently things hadn't been hard enough on readers yet, so the crying happened again in this book. This was a harder devastation to move on from. I was once more faced with the idea of turning away. How much more could Harry and I take?

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - Of course I finished the series. Ha, you had no doubt. Who just leaves it all with tons going on and doesn't agonize and need the conclusion? This book made me cry because I was sad, then sad, then sad, at some point there may have been some happy crying, and probably a lot more sad and heartbroken. Then they had to go and portray all that sad in a film so I could cry and watch it. Need an emotional outpouring? Read this book (warning - only works if you have read the series, you can't just jump in at the end and expect results folks). I'm sure there were other books in the series that caused tears. Rowling wrote a great series that I got very emotionally invested in.

5. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - Another book that still makes me cry. I swear sometimes I think writers are just trying to rip out my heart.

6. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer - This story is so hard to read. I cry just for the horrendous things a small child had to endure.

7. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - I can read the blurb for this book and get teary eyed just remembering reading it.

8. Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian - Really any story with an abused child gets to me. This book has heartbreak and joy, and I cried at both.

I am stuck at eight. Sure, tons of books make me tear up and even openly cry, but I can't think of them right at this moment.

What books bring you to tears? Leave me a comment!