Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Why I Love Wednesday... Tear Jerkers

Reflections of a Bookaholic

I am returning with my new feature... Why I love which takes place on Wednesdays. Today's proclamation of love concerns our Favorite Tear Jerkers

Why I Don't Love...Tear Jerkers
This is one of those weeks where I have to sit back and hear from you guys, because I do not like to read books that make me cry.  In fact I run for the hills if there is a hint of sadness.  Sometimes I get taken by surprise and that can't be avoided but books that are emotionally heavy and sad...not for me.  I just can't handle it.

So you'll have to tell me your favorites and I'll definitely listen.  Tell me what your favorite tear jerkers are but please also explain why anyone would want to read books that make them cry.  I don't get it.  I read to escape the big bad world (I cry enough in real life).  Why do I want to cry in fiction?  Please enlighten me!


Which tear infused novels do you love? Feel free to create your own post and post a link in the comments.  Don't want to create an entire post?  Tell me your favorites in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by for another week of Why I Love Wednesdays!!


If you want to play along, feel free to grab the image (there is a button on the right sidebar now) and link your post in the comments. Here goes.

No Linky again this week, but we will be returning to our linky structure next week :)





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38 comments:

  1. Oh man . . . I hear you on the tear jerkers! I don't do them either. However . . . if there must be tears in a book then I would prefer they are of the happy kind. One that comes to mind is The Book Thief (when Liesel gets adopted *tears* although there is also a lot of sad here too which I kind of saw coming) and then A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (when Francie gets flowers for graduation *tears*) So far these are the only books with which I tolerate tears. Otherwise I avoid them like the plague.

    Great idea for a topic! I'll be interested to see other comments.

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    1. I never thought about it but you are right. There is definitely a difference between happy tears and sad tears. I guess I don't do sad tears.

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  2. I refuse to read anything by Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Piccult because quite frankly I don't want to be moody and depressed when I finish a book. There was a perfectly great book I read last year (first half) then half the family is killed and I am a bawling mess for the last half. Seriously, I did not enjoy that all even though it was emotionally gripping and wonderfully written. I felt like I had been turned inside and out ---that is just not what I want while reading.

    So I am with you, I can't wait to see why some people like the very books that I try to stay far far far away from!

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    1. I don't read either of the authors you mentioned for the same reason. I really don't like to feel rung out after reading either. I'm hoping to gain insight from these comments. Lol.

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  3. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is my favorite tear jerker. It is such an awesome book despite its heart shattering contents. I'm so glad I didn't know going into it that I would cry. That probably would have kept me from reading it.

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    1. I usually don't enjoy tearjerkers. But like you, I have accidentally read a tear jerker and enjoyed it (i.e. Harry Potter book 6 & 7).

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  4. OK, I'm a total sap and I cry at everything (books, music, beer commericals, etc), but it doesn't mean I like it. I usually end up getting teary-eyed in good romances, and that's fine because there's a HEA, but I too avoid those books like Picoult and Sparks that are written just to make you cry. I'm still upset about Marian Keyes' Is Anybody Out There? Holy cow - if ever a book was designed to turn you into a weepy mess, that one is.

    As for good crying, I can't read Harry Potter books 4-7 without sobbing. Great topic today - guaranteed to get people on both sides!

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    1. I'm a sap too! I don't always cry but things hit me pretty hard and stick with me. I'll find myself dreaming about sad books. If I know ahead of time that a book is sad, I'll probably avoid it.

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  5. I love a good cry every once and awhile and only if it fits in the story. Not the kind that is just for shock and awe. I'm like Sarah and a total sap. I cry at a good commercial! Long distance commercials back in the day really did it for me. :)

    Here is my post for this meme: http://littlepocketbooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-i-love-wednesday-9.html

    Here is the book club meme: http://mochagirlsread.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/why-i-love-wednesday-12/

    Great topic!!

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    1. No, I don't think I ever need a good cry. Lol. It happens but I don't want it to. You are brave!

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  6. There's always the happy cry! Like at the end of You've Got Mail. :P I do a lot of happy crying when I'm reading. But a lot of books make me sad-cry too, and I can't really explain why I like them. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Hunger Games... lots of my favourites make me cry!

    I'm thinking it's like an emotional release or something? Like, at the ending of Harry Potter 4, I'm really sad, but the crying kind of feels good? lol I'm just gonna accept that emotions make no sense!

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    1. I guess emotional releases are good. I did forget about the happy cry, but I'm taking note now.

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  7. I enjoy tearjerkers, but I really have to be in a particular mood to read them, which isn't often. That's why I still haven't read If I Stay or The Book Thief or so many other emotional reads that people have raved about. But I'm sure once I finally do read them, I'll love them.

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    1. Why do you enjoy them? I had no idea what I was getting into with The Book Thief. I couldn't believe it was so sad!

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  8. In the midst of a novel if it becomes a tearjearker then its okay by me. Im just a fan of a darn good read. I take in all the emotions!! Now I have read a novel whereas everyone was tearing eyed and my butt shed not a tear.

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    1. That has happened to me too. I don't like to cry but I also don't like to feel sad when I'm reading. I'm a punk.

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  9. I love tearjerkers. But I don't do it to myself often.

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  10. I actually have to agree with you on this one. I don't usually seek out books to make me cry. It kind of takes a lot to get me to shed a tear anyway. But with Deathly Hallows and Mockingjay, I was so connected to the characters that I couldn't help but tear up for some of their fates.

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    1. I was so connected to those too. I think I read those because it was the end of the series and I couldn't avoid reading them. It wouldn't have been right. But any other time...not going to seek them out.

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  11. Thanks for stopping by!!

    I dont necessarily seek out tear jerkers, but I love them when I come across them. There's just something about a book that gets me so emotionally involved that it causes me to respond physically. I love books like that. Not necessarily just ones that make me cry, but ones that make me laugh out loud, make adrenaline pump in my veins, etc. I love it.

    I must point out though that If I hear that a book is sad and had someone crying almost the whole time then I too run for the hills. A little cry is ok, you know the one with the silent tear that streaks down your face. A long drawn out hiccuping gasping cry, however, isnt.

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    1. So I'm seeing a trend here. People seem to read tear jerkers when they happen upon them. I guess I'm not alone then.

      I like to be emotionally involved but not in a sad way. I just like to protect myself. I'm sounding sillier and sillier.

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  12. I like your stance on this, Alexis! Here's my post:
    http://melinmidlothian.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-i-lovetear-jerkers.html

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  13. The Mercy Thompson book..3 made me cry and the Time Traveller's wife really made me cry :/ I do not like to cry

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    1. I've heard the Time Traveller's wife is sad. I want to see the movie though.

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  14. I'm one of those people who can cry at almost nothing but I do love tear jerker stories. I always have and I don't really know why because I agree with you - who needs to be sad but something about them appeals to me. I cry when someone is really happy in a book too though. I can't think of any sad ones that I really liked offhand right now though. If I do I'll come back with them.

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    1. I did forget about the happy crying when I wrote this. But no one really explains why they like the sad cry books. Hmm... this is getting more and more interesting.

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  15. I hear you on the happy books! I like to read to escape all the bad things in the world. BUT, every once in a while I love a good tear-jerker.

    Not the Nicholas Sparks kind though (although I did go through a huge Lurlene McDaniel phase when I was younger—if you're not familiar with her, basically she's the Nicholas Sparks for the tween set and everyone dies of cancer or some other terminal illness).

    The kind of crying books I like are the ones that touch me and stay with me. I can't even describe why accurately. I guess, hm, they're not sad because someone dies and that's sad...it's more like, the character goes on a journey and even though they go through a lot of sad things, they come out the other end stronger and better than they were before.

    One of my absolutely favorite crying books is Plain Kate by Erin Bow. It's a breath-taking, beautiful, and so, so sad. But in the end I'm always crying a mix of sad, happy, bittersweet, and triumphant tears.

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    1. That's the best explanation yet!

      I know perseverance is a good thing. And if characters go through struggles that are cry-worthy, I can totally understand how the ending growth is so much more rewarding.

      You gave me something to think about for sure.

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  16. As a general rule, I try to stay the hell away from 'issue' books and depressing books and basically anything that's going to make me feel way too sad or way too ashamed of human beings.

    That being said, every once in a while I do enjoy a tear-jerker.
    Maybe I'm weird but I find an incredible release of stress and sadness and just day-to-day crapy-ness with a good, hearty cry... so long as the reason I'm crying has nothing to do with my Real LIfe.

    I know this is probably one of those (not so) fun products of my crazy mind, but I've always felt that if I cry over my real life, I'm never going to stop. Soooooo, it's easier for me to cry about books or movies - like, I'm a rock at funerals, but movies and books bring up the waterworks.

    Anyway, I always cry with Melina Marchetta's books, at some point or another, I'm going to CRY. It's a given. I cried with Where She Went / IF I stay by Gayle Forman; Lorreine Heath's Texas/Leigh Brothers Trilogy, that one sure made me cry. His Secondhand Bride by Cheryl St. John. I recently cried with Geek Girl. And Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier can make me cry too, Son of Shadows too but that one mostly because the men SUCK.

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    1. Oh my gosh, I'm so grateful for your comment! It really makes sense and I never thought about it that way before.

      I agree with you that I generally "stay the hell away from 'issue' books and depressing books" and anything that makes me feel ashamed of human beings. Those are my exact thoughts. That's so me.

      I never thought about it being okay to cry about books and movies as long as not crying about real life. It totally makes sense. Thanks for commenting!

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  17. I both love and hate tear jerkers. I'm such a easy crier...I cry reading books, watching movies and watching TV. It's also why I don't go watch that many movies in theatres since I will most likely tear up even if its only a little sad. One book that really made me cry was Ballads of Suburbia which I read a couple years ago but I think I cried through half the book.

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    1. lol. I love that you have a love/hate relationship with tear jerkers. I don't cry easily but I'm easily emotionally touched. It gets to me on the deepest levels.

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  18. I'm with Jenny, I have a love/hate relationship with tear jerkers as well. I don't enjoy crying over the books I'm reading, but I do love being emotionally involved enough to cry, and the ones I cry over are always the ones that stay with me the longest. That being said there are some I've purposely avoided such as IF I STAY because I know they'd make me tear up:)

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    1. I can understand being emotionally involved because those books definitely stick.

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  19. awww you don't like tear jerkers?? I hate to cry but I love the author for instilling any kind of emotion through literary means. It's just awesome to think that a story someone wrote is powerful enough to make you shed a few tears!

    One of my favorite tear jerkers Tabitha Suzuma's Forbidden. It's just....depressing.

    <3

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    1. Noooo...depressing is bad. Right?! Lol. I can understand that though. You are right. Instilling that kind of emotion takes a whole bunch of talent and I can respect that.

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I absolutely LOVE all comments! So please feel free to chime in with your thoughts, questions, opinions, or whatever else you have to say.

Don't forget to check back as I reply to comments. Dialogue is good right?

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