Top Ten Tuesday (1): Strong Book Reactions/Emotions

Well! This is my first time ever participating in Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish)... so hello, hello! *waves* I thought this week's topic was really interesting, so today is as good a time as ever to start! This week, the topic is books that you had a strong reaction to/emotional responses. Links lead to my review (of the ones I've reviewed). Here we go:

1. Marley and Me by John Grogan - I am the biggest animal lover of all time, and I remember staying up until the middle of the night to finish this book because it was that good. When I finished, my eyes were stinging because I was so tired, but also because I was bawling my eyes out. My mom came downstairs to use the bathroom and she asked me "what's wrong?!" If there's anything that makes me emotional, it's animals!

2. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster - This was my first Jen book and it made me laugh SO hard. Thus began my lifelong obsession with Jen, and my constant recommendations of Jen's books to everyone I know.

3. Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty and Forever Princess by Meg cabot - I'm putting these ones together because they both made me cry for the same reason: they were the last books of series that I'd read for years and I was devastated when I turned the last page of the last book. I cried so bad when I finished them.

4. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks - Another one that had me crying like a dang baby! Basically... all of his books do, including The Notebook. *Sob*

5. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk - First let me say, I really liked it... but this book was repulsive and shocking and when I finished I was left with a feeling of "huh?!" And that's precisely why I love Chuck Palahniuk so much. When I met him at BEA, I... 1. almost died and went to Heaven, I was so excited and 2. was surprised to find that he was such a doll baby... he was the sweetest person ever, even though his books are crazy!

6. Simply From Scratch by Alicia Bessette - This book was ahhhmazing. It made me kinda sad at times, but in the end, it gave me such a happy, warm, content, "ahhh" kind of feeling. I'd be remiss not to mention some of the other books that made me feel this same ooey gooey way: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by the incredible Beth Hoffman, 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter, Up From The Blue by Susan Henderson, If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now by Claire LaZebnik, and Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans.

7. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - This was my first Jodi Picoult and man, did it make me emotional! I felt like I was on a roller coaster the whole time, and the ending took my breath away. Such a stunning novel. I gave a copy as a gift to my best friend and now she's a Jodi fan for life as well. :)

8. This One is Mine by Maria Sample - Okay, I seriously looooved this book. And the ending was kind of ambiguous but I was just dying to know what happened to the characters... so I promptly got on my computer and e-mailed Maria with my questions and she kindly gave me some answers. :) *sigh of relief*

9. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You - This book made me happy/sad. I loved it so much and e-mailed Peter Cameron right away to tell him how much I loved it. It made me crack up laughing, it made me sad and empathetic because the character was lonely, but it also gave me that sense of "not alone-ness," in spite of and because of the character's personality, which is where the happy part for me comes in. Why? Because the character and I were a lot alike, and it's nice to know you're not the only one out there feeling a certain way.

10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner - Had to read this in one of my college courses and hated it. It was so frustrating and confusing. It made NO sense! Ugh! I didn't even finish it. And guess who still got an 'A' in the class? THIS girl.