Samuels Says - "Which books made you cry the most?"

April showers! This month for our display, we asked the staff, "Which books made you cry the most?" (These can be tears of sadness, joy, or mirth. Or the book could just make you feel a strong emotions without tears, if you prefer.) Here are our picks— we'd love to hear yours too!

Joan:

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (F Ste) — I cried from page 1 all the way through!
Unsaid: A Novel by Neil Abramson (F Abr)
Still Alice by Lisa Genova (F Gen)
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon (F Sim)
I Thought You Were Dead: A Love Story by Pete Nelson (F Nel)
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (F Seb)
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (940.54 Hil)
What Came before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George (F Geo)
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (F Bro)
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (F Ver)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (F Sto)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (F Gru)
A Time to Kill by John Grisham (F Gri)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (F Hos)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (F Kid)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (F Lee)
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (820.9 Naf)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (F Con)
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (F Pas)
The Space between Us by Thrity Umrigar (F Umr)

Kristin:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (F Ish) and the film (DVD F Nev)
Suite Française by Iréne Nèmirovsky (F Nem)
I Gave My Heart to Know This by Ellen Baker (F Bak)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (F For)
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (F Sha)
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (F Pic)
One Day by David Nicholls (F Nic) and the film (DVD F One)
Room by Emma Donoghue (F Don)
The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw (940.542142 Ker)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (F Gru) and the film (DVD F Wat)
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (F Nif)
Lucky by Alice Sebold (364.1532 Seb)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (YAF Zus)
Atonement by Ian McEwan (F McE) and the film (DVD F Ato)
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Classic PB Pla)
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (F Fra) and the film (DVD F Col)
The Hours by Michael Cunningham (F Cun) and the film (DVD F Hou)
The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, A Bend in the Road, (all F Spa) and Three Weeks with My Brother (813.54 Spa) by Nicholas Sparks
ZooBorns Cats! — sooooooooooooo precious (591.39 Ble)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (YAF Row)
Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom by Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin (YAF Fra)

Jeanne:

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (F Spa)
The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella (F Cap)
House of Daughters by Sarah-Kate Lynch (F Lyn)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (F Bro)
Sophie by Emma Pearse (636.737 Pea)
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (F Fla)
The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman (F Ric)
Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux (F Dev)
Firebird by Janice Graham (F Gra)
Three Wishes by Barbara Delinksy (F Del)
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller (F Wal)

Jessica:

The Harry Potter series, especially The Half-blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (YAF Row)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (YAF Rya)
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder (YAF Sch)
The Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison (YAF Ren)
Everneath by Brodi Ashton (YAF Ash)
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (YAF Ara)
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (YAF Han)
Michael Rosen’s Sad Book (E Ros)

Boo:

Brian’s Song by William Blinn (YA 812.54 Bli) and the movie Brian’s Song (DVD 791.45 Bri)
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (F Spa)
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (F Han)
Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (F Alb)
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (E Mun)
Emily and Einstein by Linda F. Lee (F Lee)
Kindred Spirits by Sarah Strohmeyer (F Str)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (F Sto)
The Snow Angel by Glenn Beck (F Bec)
The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King (F Kin)
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (F Mit)
Night by Elie Wiesel (Bio Wiesel Elie)
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards (F Edw)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (F Fit)
Susannah’s Garden by Debbie Macomber (F Mac)

Betty:

Love Story by Erich Segal (F Seg)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Classic PB Alc)
The Spellman series by Lisa Lutz (F Lut) — tears of laughter!
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo (133.901 Bur)

Katie:

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (F Seb) :(
Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? by Mindy Kaling (818 Kal) :)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (YAF Row) :(
Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison (YAF Ren) :)
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (F Pic) :(
Seriously—I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres (Bio DeGeneres Ellen) :)
One Day by David Nicholls (F Nic) :(
Bossypants by Tina Fey (Bio Fey Tina) :)
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (JF Sil) :(
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (E Mun) :(

Melissa:

Marley & Me by John Grogan (636.752 Gro) :(
The Green Mile by Stephen King (F Kin) :(
I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson (973.92 Bry) :)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown (978 Bro) :(
Belle Weather by Celia Rivenbark (Overdrive) :)
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (YAF Raw) :(
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (JF Gip) :(

Ben:

Crash by Jerry Spinelli (JF Spi)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller (Classic PB 812.52 Mil)
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (822.33 Sha)
Othello by William Shakespeare (822.33 Sha)
Oedipus by Sophocles (882 Sop)
Timaeus by Plato (in The Works of Plato, 888.4 Pla)
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (YAF Raw)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (JPB W)
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (YAF Hin)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (F Lee)

Kathy J:

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (E Mun)
Any episode of Little House on the Prairie!
Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury (F Kin)
One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury (F Kin)

Tamara:

Old Yeller by Frank Gipson (YAF Gip)
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (E Mun)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Classic PB Alc)
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (JF Mon)
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie (920 Mas)
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (Bio Ten Boom Corrie)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown (978 Bro)
Graceling by Kristen Cashore (YAF Cas)
Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight (JF Kni)
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank G. Gilbreth, Jr. (920 Gil)
We Free Men by Terry Pratchett (YAF Pra) — funny!
Watership Down by Richard Adams (F Ada)

Cheryl:

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (JF Sew)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (JF Whi)
This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (F Phi)
Home by Jeannie Baker (E Bak)
The Wump World by Bill Peet

Michal:

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli (JF Spi)
It Might Have Been What He Said by Eden Collinsworth (F Col)
Titanic Voices: Memories from the Fateful Voyage (363.123 Ti)
The Enemy by Charlie Higson (YAF Hig)
Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen (YAF Pau)
The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller (F Mil)
The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir (Bio Elizabeth I) — her personal life seemed sad
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (Bio Frank Anne)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (YAF Rya) — the apocalyptic vision was so sad

Wyatt:

Michael Rosen’s Sad Book (E Ros)
Maus by Art Spiegelman (940.5318 Spi)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling