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I was scrolling through the off-topic topics the other day, and saw Manda's "Moving Books" topic & got a little bit excited at the thought of finding some new books that really moved people. So when I saw that it was about moving them physically, I was kind of like ... oh. Sorry Manda! :)

So I figured I'd start a topic myself.

I'm by and large an emotional person, and I love it when a book moves me. I find, however, that I'm not as easily moved as I'd expect. Some of the well-known tear-jerkers (like The Lovely Bones & The Notebook) did absolutely nothing for me, whereas some other, perhaps not so obvious ones really made an impact on me. I think, for me, it's all down to the characters. If I connect with them, I'm done for.

I'd love to hear some of the books that have really moved others, so I can add them to (or move them up) my list. I've been lucky to have read quite a few this year that have really touched me. So I'll start. :)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - I'm unashamedly an enormous Harry Potter fan. I think JK Rowling did an incredible job in creating that world, and her characters have true depth. The end of the 6th book was a tear-jerker, but seriously, I spent a good part of the last book in tears. I knew I loved them, but I honestly didn't know just how attached I'd gotten to these characters until this last book. There's a reason why these books are so popular (unlike Twilight & 50 Shades of Grey) - they are just so damn good.

Frankenstein - this one came way out of left field. I was expecting a creepy, gothic horror story. What I wasn't expecting was how beautifully drawn Frankenstein's monster was, and just how human he was. My heart broke reading this.

The Little Prince - such a quick read, but ouch. I didn't know anything about this book before I read it, and it had sat on my daughter's bookshelf for ages (she's 5).

Of Mice and Men - another short one, but man, does it pack a punch. It was sneaky - it's written quite ... sparsely, I guess I'd say. It's not frilly, stuff happens, it's narrated. You think "Oh yeah, sure. This is ok." ... and then BAM. Right in the guts. I was left feeling quite distraught after reading this one.

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly - I've saved the best for last. I picked this up at our local library as it was on display (I'd never heard of it). Took it to another library to read it. BIG mistake. Big, fat, ugly, snotty tears. I literally had to put the book back in my bag, as I couldn't even look at it without crying again. I'd recommend this especially to anyone who's a mother. Ahh God, just writing this is making me cry all over again. As soon as I'd finished this one I went and ordered myself a copy.

So, help make me cry - recommend some more moving books!

I have Frankenstein on my list for the 100-year-old book. So I'm happy to see it on your list (I'm not sure that happy is the right word but I'll go with it).

This year I was really moved by Me Before You and The Time Traveler's Wife. I think I just really connected with the characters in both of then. They stuck with me for quite a while.

As for past books, 11/22/63 comes to mind just for the ending and for sure Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog since my family has a chocolate lab that really reminded me of Marley.

Those are all pretty well-known ones so I probably wasn't successful in actually recommending anything :)

I'm not a big cryer when it comes to books but there are a few that really, really moved me.

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky was one of those. I was incredibly depressed when I finished it. That's probably the book that most moved me and the one which I connected most with the characters (in this case, the main one). I was actually scared when I started reading Crime and Punishment because I didn't want to be heartbroken again.

There's also The Outsider, a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. I first read it when I was about 13; despite the huge jumpscare I got from the illustration I saw when I turned the page, it was one of the saddest things I read. I read it again last year and it still moves me.

Another one was The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy. This was one wasn't particularly sad but more tragically beautiful. I've read it a few years ago and it's on my "to read again" list.

To finish off, Letter to His Father by Franz Kafka. This one isn't fiction which probably makes it worse. I also have his diaries. I started reading it but then got distracted by other books, however, they're as sad as that letter. He was indeed a very depressed individual.

Harry Potter, The Little Prince, and Of Mice and Men would be on my "moving books" list, too.

I'd add the A Wrinkle in Time series. It's characters are a family, genius parents, a troubled smart teen who doesn't know her worth, twin boys who seem like the only normal ones in the family, and a really smart misunderstood 5-year-old. I guess I really connected to Meg, the girl, when I read it.

It seems this conversation is over...but I'm going to talk anyhow!

My daughter often brings books home for me to read. Now it's leaving them on the Kindle family library since she's away at school. Many of these books have me moved to tears because she really pays money and takes time to read this junk? But some have truly moved me deeply. Others I have read because of this challenge...things I wouldn't have thought to pick up on my own.

Let's start with the obvious: If I Stay. Seriously. If anyone has read this book and not ugly cried, I don't want to know you. Oddly enough, my daughter couldn't get caught up in the book. Maybe it's because I'm adult now and I have had some of these fears. I know what she would face if she stayed. And I know that it would be so easy to let go. But the loss. Yeah, I'm getting misty right now!

The Fault in Our Stars...another guaranteed tearjerker. I read Green's Looking for Alaska for the First Book by a Popular Author week and a colleague thought I was a Green fan and brought me Fault. I wasn't going to read it. It's a cliche. The main goal is to make you bawl. Whatever. But there I was, alone at home with no book to read. I'm glad I read it because it talked differently about death and loss than I expected. And I was moved. My daughter thought we should watch the movie too...um, no. I've already cried over these characters!

Eleanor & Park, Playlist for the Dead, Finding Jake...these all dealt with hardships that we face in our highschool years. While I was lucky enough to not be the main character in any of these disasters, I witnessed them and reading sucked me right back into that time of insecurity, the time when we were trying to be grown up, the time of adolescence. And I was sad and happy and excited all over again.

Oh books! How I love you!

This is a beautiful topic :)

I feel like a bad reader/human, but I honestly cannot remember any books that have moved me. I know there have been plenty, but I feel by and large it has been more of a fleeting feeling for me :/

I love reading your lists though and seeing which ones have had a huge impact on you :)

Manda wrote: " I honestly cannot remember any books that have moved me. I know there have been plenty..."

Isn't that the case tho? We read, we are moved, it changes our lives...then we read another book and forget. HA. Okay, not always.

I also love to read what people say. I love to look at the weekly topics and remember as I read their comments. Yeah, books are awesome.

I don't think it has to be a permanent or even lasting thing, to be moved by a book. I see all of these lists about life-changing books and can't honestly say that's happened to me, but many books have certainly moved me. Some for a longer time than others.

I think a lot of it has to do with reading something at the right time, when there's a genuine emotional resonance. Something that just kicks you in the proverbial nuts at just the right (or wrong) time. For me, it was a book I read earlier this year at a particularly difficult time that even now I can't think about without getting a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. That one, although I can't say it changed me, will stay with me forever.

Jody wrote: "For me, it was a book I read earlier this year at a particularly difficult time that even now I can't think about without getting a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes...."

I completely agree. Those hard times that we go through...we want to NOT be alone. Having someone write a book about your struggle or an avenue of that...I think it helps us cope...maybe even makes us a little stronger.

How often you do read a book and not associate with the main character some? Pretty sure that's Rule #1 with good characters. It's just nice to get something lasting from them too.