“It wasn’t only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you.”
Ian McEwan
- The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien. I’m not even joking. Gollum. Frodo and Sam. The battle before the Black Gate. “They cannot conquer for ever.” “Rohan had come at last.” Just, like, ALL THE THINGS.
- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak. I finished this on the ferry and had to pretend that I had a cold. Which was, you know, fairly embarrassing.
- Dombey and Son – Charles Dickens. Florence Dombey has to be the saddest character ever written. Also, “poor Wal’r”.
- The Fault in Our Stars – John Green. This one wins the prize for Most Embarrassing Public Weeping.” “It’s OK, I just need to go look at Internet cats for a bit.”
- The Dark Tower – Stephen King. Um…I don’t want to spoil this, but let’s just say it’s not pretty.
- Perdido Street Station – China Mieville. One of the most emotionally exhausting books I’ve ever read, but also one of the most rewarding.
- Room – Emma Donoghue. I’m going to place this under the category of “emotionally manipulative” rather than “good literature”; it was an excellent rollercoaster of a read, but I don’t think I’d read it again.
- Frankenstein – Mary Shelley. TRAGIC. JUST TRAGIC.
- Atonement – Ian McEwan. This one still makes me ragey. Damn you, Briony. Grrrr.
- The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant – Stephen Donaldson. Another emotional rollercoaster, but totally worth it.
(The theme for this post was suggested by the Broke and the Bookish’s weekly meme Top Ten Tuesday.)