Books That Made Us Cry

List of the Month
August 2024 (see all)
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August 2024 List of the Month: Books That Made Us Cry
Description
Some books have such a powerful effect upon us as readers that we find ourselves moved to tears. Our List of the Month this August is devoted to those tearjerkers—the books that made us cry. Each participant may vote on ten titles. Please feel free to add notes, explaining what moved you about each book. Given the subjective and personal nature of the list, there is no downvoting.
1
52,502 members
2,241 reviews
½ 4.4
20 Members
rarm, SimoneA, kleo, raidergirl3, HeathMochaFrost, stephenis, perennialreader, Porua, Katealayne, Aug3Zimm, ahef1963, Barbsn, stephanieann1983, carole888fort, barefootsong, Brandy1411, Carrieida, Tosta, HH_Library, C.Z
Explanations
Porua: Not a favorite book but Liesel and her relationship with her 'Papa' made me cry, even though back then my father was still with us. I know I would never return to it.
2
26,437 members
654 reviews
4
17 Members
timspalding, fastaxion, raidergirl3, norabelle414, navelos, Yamanekotei, ahef1963, Verkruissen, stephanieann1983, beehappy, elorin, ManWithAnAgenda, slimikin, C.Z, dishehara, Poppy-Pooh, cre8tivemaxx
Explanations
navelos: I remember hiding behind my bedroom door reading this so I could read and weep in peace.
slimikin: At 14: me, reading in the living room completely unprepared for the ending, unable to lower the book from my face because I didn't want my dad to see me crying because of a BOOK (he saw anyway, was v. sympathetic)
C.Z: This book gets me every time
3
28,023 members
515 reviews
4.2
16 Members
Aquila, aprille, EerierIdyllMeme, kleo, Cecrow, EMS_24, souloftherose, Yamanekotei, Barbsn, Verkruissen, Joligula, Russell_F, ManWithAnAgenda, searavens, Tosta, Poppy-Pooh
Explanations
Russell_F: Hazel's passing away. The Black Rabbit calls.
searavens: I called out loud, "Don't let Bighead be dead!"
6
18,715 members
438 reviews
4.1
7
41,634 members
1,070 reviews
4.2
8
17,383 members
225 reviews
4.1
11 Members
aprille, hipdeep, TeresaInTexas, amanda4242, CarltonC, kleh, KarenFunt, Katealayne, themulhern, msemmag, musicmanfh
Explanations
amanda4242: I cried so hard at the end that I went through most of a box of tissues.
CarltonC: I only read this recently, but the second half of The Candle in the Wind had me blubbering. By some literary magic, White changes something quite mannered into an epic tragedy.
Katealayne: It is such a long story that I became engrossed and by the end, exhausted and sad. I read the last few chapters sitting under an oak tree outside an Elizabethan moated house. I don’t know if I was saddened more by the death of Arthur or the end of the book.
themulhern: It is poor Gareth who makes me cry. It is a very moving book.
musicmanfh: I have always been drawn to the Authuriad material. I read this first in the early 1967 or 68, while working in the Education Library at SDSU. I remember laughing out loud at the Questing Beast section (indeed named my old pickup truck the Questing Beast), but the final line of the book "...with the cannons of his adversary thundering in the tattered morning, the Majesty of England drew himself up to meet the future with a peaceful heart" always gets me
10
42,131 members
1,313 reviews
4.1
11
17,065 members
238 reviews
4.2
12
12,954 members
240 reviews
½ 4.3
13
12,701 members
641 reviews
4.1
14
26,881 members
1,014 reviews
3.8
15
10,057 members
123 reviews
3.9
16
8,542 members
438 reviews
4.1
17
32,833 members
1,649 reviews
4.2
18
108,833 members
1,642 reviews
½ 4.4
19
6,582 members
91 reviews
4.1
20
16,983 members
327 reviews
3.8
21
3,031 members
115 reviews
½ 4.3
22
20,676 members
619 reviews
4.2
23
3,006 members
119 reviews
3.9
24
12,399 members
389 reviews
4
25
26,093 members
428 reviews
4
26
5,503 members
408 reviews
½ 4.3
27
2,354 members
118 reviews
4.1
28
22,653 members
370 reviews
4.1
29
6,847 members
339 reviews
4.2
30
12,267 members
680 reviews
4
31
8,849 members
218 reviews
4.2
32
10,593 members
284 reviews
½ 4.6
5 Members
sturlington, RBeffa, satxreader, Hope_H, treegardner
Explanations
sturlington: I lived with this book for so long. I not only cried at the turn of events but also because it was nearly over and I was going to miss it.
33
44,755 members
726 reviews
3.9
34
8,784 members
400 reviews
4.1
35
18,976 members
458 reviews
4.1
5 Members
DannisWrites, themulhern, Russell_F, ManWithAnAgenda, vdandie
Explanations
themulhern: When Estraven gets shot at the end. Such a hero.
36
6,818 members
62 reviews
4.2
4 Members
hipdeep, yoyogod, konallis, vampyrite
Explanations
hipdeep: "I could never really play the thing..."
37
22,232 members
1,092 reviews
½ 4.3
38
3,712 members
130 reviews
½ 4.3
39
29,531 members
599 reviews
4.1
5 Members
hipdeep, TeresaInTexas, DannisWrites, treegardner, HH_Library
Explanations
hipdeep: "I wouldn't show weak eyes to your father for the world."
40
12,191 members
398 reviews
4.1
41
16,871 members
854 reviews
4.2
42
18,488 members
482 reviews
½ 4.3
43
17,173 members
650 reviews
3.8
44
53,274 members
875 reviews
4.2
45
12,424 members
183 reviews
½ 4.4
4 Members
reconditereader, elorin, ManWithAnAgenda, vdandie
Explanations
reconditereader: Possibly the best of the Discworld series; has surprisingly dark moments and a moving ending.
46
6,289 members
107 reviews
½ 3.5
4 Members
Aquila, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, Hartsellang
Explanations
Hartsellang: I read this as a teenager when i had ponies of my own and so it touched me. I can't say if it would have the same affect on me nowadays.
47
62,362 members
813 reviews
3.9
48
46,785 members
1,685 reviews
4.1
49
7,630 members
79 reviews
4.1
3 Members
raidergirl3, saskia17, MDGentleReader
Explanations
saskia17: Walter is my favorite of Anne's children. This and the piper at the end of Rainbow Valley never fail to make me cry.
50
42,160 members
491 reviews
3.9
3 Members
cbl_tn, kleh, Hope_H
51
2,694 members
137 reviews
½ 4.3
52
7,269 members
112 reviews
½ 3.3
53
17,931 members
1,356 reviews
½ 4.4
54
16,441 members
208 reviews
3.9
55
6,993 members
510 reviews
½ 4.4
56
4,063 members
267 reviews
4.1
57
11,512 members
320 reviews
4.1
58
25,693 members
282 reviews
½ 3.7
59
7,256 members
192 reviews
3.9
60
11,072 members
447 reviews
4.2
61
19,697 members
209 reviews
3.8
62
1,882 members
190 reviews
½ 4.3
63
2,392 members
35 reviews
3.9
2 Members
amandrake, jeanie0510
Explanations
amandrake: An intense book and the ending is powerful. Difficult to explain which emotion it is that makes you cry. I think it's more than one.
64
24,948 members
306 reviews
4
2 Members
SpreeMetVoeten, KarenFunt
Explanations
SpreeMetVoeten: Beautifully written, but it is not so much the relationship between the protagonists that got me, but theirs with their dog... So loving.
65
3,401 members
147 reviews
4.2
2 Members
igorken, elorin
Explanations
igorken: I wept all the way through, for reasons related to the plot as well as reasons related to the author's illness, also evident in his writing.
66
2,680 members
39 reviews
½ 3.5
2 Members
gypsysmom, elorin
67
1,353 members
98 reviews
3.9
2 Members
vwinsloe, Barbsn
68
26 members
5
2 Members
kleo, Poppy-Pooh
69
14,480 members
472 reviews
4.2
70
4,365 members
295 reviews
4
71
21,312 members
1,311 reviews
4.2
72
318 members
17 reviews
½ 4.5
73
24,278 members
857 reviews
½ 4.4
2 Members
ReshiBec, Laura.a
74
3,574 members
35 reviews
4
2 Members
cpg, Poppy-Pooh
Explanations
cpg: "I die his Majesty's good servant but God's first."
75
3,626 members
66 reviews
4.2
76
3,120 members
72 reviews
3.9
77
4,435 members
29 reviews
4
2 Members
Morphidae, elorin
78
113,451 members
1,002 reviews
½ 4.4
79
15,425 members
394 reviews
4.1
80
3,804 members
117 reviews
4.1
81
817 members
56 reviews
4.1
82
4,602 members
94 reviews
3.8
83
309 members
27 reviews
4.1
2 Members
paradoxosalpha, Charon07
Explanations
paradoxosalpha: Not all the stories are tear-jerkers, but a few are--especially "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind."
85
10,191 members
555 reviews
3.9
2 Members
katemcangus, Tosta
86
10,051 members
125 reviews
½ 4.5
87
8,560 members
412 reviews
4.1
88
12,387 members
473 reviews
4.2
2 Members
ReshiBec, slimikin
Explanations
slimikin: At 37: suppose I should be grateful that certain characters feel so real that their loss leaves me sobbing...but I'm not. And I still haven't picked up the next in the series.
89
8,352 members
542 reviews
3.9
90
16,088 members
1,027 reviews
4
2 Members
ablachly, ReshiBec
91
171 members
14 reviews
4
2 Members
saskia17, Bookbee1
Explanations
saskia17: Placeholder for many, many Amy Lane books that have made me cry.
92
13,485 members
419 reviews
3.9
93
54,859 members
337 reviews
½ 4.5
Member
anglemark
94
45,672 members
1,124 reviews
½ 4.3
Member
TheLOFT
95
27,476 members
224 reviews
3.9
Member
slimikin
Explanations
slimikin: At 9: crushed that there were no more new adventures to read, even more crushed that I couldn't get to Narnia via my parents' walk-in closet
96
21,701 members
265 reviews
3.8
Member
Selliers
Explanations
Selliers: The part where Tess writes to Angel to tell him how heartlessly he had acted towards her. Hardy portrayed Alec as the obvious hypocritical cad, but it's really Angel who breaks Tess.
97
17,819 members
492 reviews
4
Member
msjudy
98
11,427 members
626 reviews
4
Member
Carojo95
99
10,397 members
152 reviews
3.9
100
9,319 members
392 reviews
4.2
Member
dishehara