Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Julia's Top Ten Books I Had Strong Emotions Over


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Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

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Hey everyone! Julia here. It's time to take a look down memory lane. What were those books that made you laugh so hard you fell out of your chair? The ones that made tears stain the pages in front of you? The ones that had you so angry you hurled it across the room? Today on The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tuesday....

Top Ten Books I Had Strong Emotions Over

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
I think this is the only anger on my list so let's just get this out of the way. First off, though I am loathe to admit it, I actually enjoyed Twilight. My LiveJournal was full of critical reviews, mostly positive. When I read New Moon, I was a little ... judgmental of our protagonist. I think it was the blank pages when I first went "Really?". But I read it and whatever. I have opinions, I wont give them here. Eclipse, however, I literally slammed the book shut three times. I can't remember each point specifically, but I was just... disgusted. I never read Breaking Dawn.

2. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I bawled so hard through the last 100 pages of that book, I had to take breaks to clear my vision.

3. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
I can't place the exact emotion that I emoted, but I do remember that this book gave me that "Wow omg" of a 13 year old. I may have even been younger that that when I actually read it. To be honest I am afraid to go back and read it, because I want to hold on to my warped memory of it.

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I read this in high school and just though it was so powerful. It filled me with, well, empowerment I guess (is that even an emotion? I don't know). It just was ... wow.

5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Every time I read this book, without fail, I cry. The raging tears or quit trickle depend on the stage and moment of my life, but still. Water leaks from my eyelids.

6. The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
Another wow book that also made me cry. I was so attached to the characters that by the end when things were hitting fans and climaxes were coming to a head with secrets revealed... wow. Enthralled tears.

7. Movies in 15 Minutes: The Ten Biggest Movies Ever For People Who Can't Be Bothered by Cleolinda Jones
This book, and all the Movies in 15 Minutes that are online, are so freaking hilarious. I could read them for hours. They never fail to bring me to tears, but with laughter. (Jeez with all these tears I am crying throughout this list I must sound like an emotional wreck!) Anyway, if you have never heard of her and want to check out a sample, the online ones can all be found here. Hilarious.

8. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
I couldn't give you too many details about why this was an emoted tag for me, but I do remember that it was a genuinely sweet and heartbreaking coming of age story for a girl in ancient Persia. It was a lovely read.

9. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A.J. Jacobs
Jumping back into comedy, this book is comedy gold. Literally trying to live the old testament. My favorite image of this book was him having to buy a stool because one of the rules was he couldn't sit where a woman who was menstruating had sat and his wife went around sitting on all the furniture on purpose. Priceless!

10. Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison
This book is a memoir about one woman's life long journey as a foster mother. At the time I was wondering what it would like to someday be a foster parent, and there was surprisingly little literature I could find, but in my search I found this book. The story is mostly about her start with fostering and the story just flowed... it really ran the gamut of emotions.


Other books on my Goodreads 'Emoted' Shelf not on the list mostly because I have reviewed them or they are really popular and I was going for the out there choice:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Hunger Games, The Book Thief (and any Holocaust/WWII book I have read ever), the Harry Potter series (book 5 and 7 especially), The Kite Runner, stories about daughters in ancient China, Flowers for Algernon, Titanic books, I am the Messenger and various romance novels.

PS: I am so exhausted I just number this list 1, 2, 5

40 comments:

  1. Great list! I remember reading Island of the Blue Dolphins in 5th grade and writing a book report on how much I loved it. I know what you mean about not wanting to re-read it in fear of spoiling the memory of the first time you read it <3

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  2. You have a very interesting mix of books on your list! I have been wanting to check out that A.J. Jacobs' book for a while now...will have to add it to my TBR pile! Great topic as per usual :)

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  3. Oh I completely forgot about Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. I remember that book quite fondly from childhood. DO NOT go back and read it. I did the same thing with a book on my list this week, Tuck Everlasting, and it stole most of the magic it had for me when I first read it when I was eleven.

    I don't know if Island of the Blue Dolphins will have that same issue, but better to be safe and keep that great feeling and fond memory intact!

    I haven't heard of all the books on your list, but I've heard The Time Traveler's Wife is a huge tear-jerker. I did see the movie, so I'm aware of the plot, but I imagine the book is a million times better.

    Great list!

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  4. This is my first Top Ten Tuesday. I'm excited!

    Eclipse was actually my favorite of the series. I can't stand the books now, though. In fact, it was Breaking Dawn that ruined it for me.

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  5. Great list! I loved 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in high school too. This is my first time participating in this meme - I stumbled across it recently on another blog - what a great idea!!!

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  6. Everyone who has ever read the Twilight Saga have strong emotional feelings about the books. While I read Breaking Dawn, and did care for it the one that had me most emotional was New Moon. I also agree Island of the Blue Dolphins was a powerful read. I need to check out some of the other books on your list.

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  7. Gone with the wind was going to be on my list too! I didn't make it to the end of my post due to lack of time :(

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  8. I completely forgot about The Time Traveler's Wife ... silly me - I loved that book.

    I've to admit I quite enjoyed ALL of the Twilight books - shame on me ... ;) But then again, somewhere in me there's is still a teenage girl living its life! *lol*

    Anne (from Living in a Fairy World)

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  9. love your list! im rereading gwtw right now and i dont even wanna get to the end, its too emotional!

    and year of living biblically is on my shelf and you just made me wanna read it!

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  10. I like the idea that books can fill you with a sense of empowerment!

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  11. Interesting books. I will need to check some of them out!

    This is my first time doing this meme. Its really interesting seeing all the different kinds of books everyone picks!

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  12. I love your list. Island of the Blue Dolphins is such a great pick!

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  13. I actually liked the first book in the Twilight series. But, surprisingly, I liked the second one, New Moon, the least, not the third. I just wanted to shake sense into Bella!

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  14. A.J. Jacobs is hilarious! I loved his book The Know-It-All (where he attempts to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica) and was actually disappointed with The Year of Living Biblically as a follow-up. If you haven't read The Know-It-All, I highly recommend it.

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  15. Love your picks - The Time Travellers Wife had me teary eyed too - so much so I refused to watch the movie!

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  16. AJ Jacobs, YES!!!!

    ~Asheley (Into the Hall of Books)

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  17. yes I agree, Stephanie Meyer's series got worse with each book. Breaking Dawn was a disaster. I read it--but I've been sorry I did every day since. Great list today.

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  18. Great list! I can't believe I never read any of the books in it. Gone with the wind, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Time Traveler's Wife have been in my TBR list for ages.

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  19. ;) Twilight series seems to garner such diverse reactions.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  20. Ha! I've got Time Traveler's Wife on my list too, but it wasn't a good reaction :)

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  21. I should've had Gone with the Wind on my list. Such a great book.

    Lindsey @ babiesbooksandsigns.com

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  22. I've loved all of AJ Jacobs' books. They never fail to teach me something while putting a smile on my face.

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  23. I was ok with Eclipse...it was New Moon that completely and totally disgusted me...if it hadn't been for my daughters' interest in the series and all the young women around me reading it, I probably wouldn't have read anything else. Twilight and Breaking Dawn were the best of the books.
    I am so going to buy The Year of Living Bibically...I laughed out loud at your snipped...and I'm at work :)

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  24. Time Traveller's Wife made me cry too! Although Eclipse was my favourite book of the Twilight series, but each to their own! :)

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  25. About Eclipse I'm totally with you. I actually turned off the phone while reading the Twilight serie so that noone bothered me :P But seriously! while reading Eclipse I turned it on just to call my mum saying: What the HELL?! What the hell is wrong with Jacob?! And Bella for screaming out laud!!

    Yeah I get what you wanted to say ;))

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  26. This week is bringing out all the secret Twilight hate we've all been harboring! My list includes Breaking Dawn, I've seen a few others with Eclipse, and some with New Moon as well. Could it be they're not as popular these days?

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  27. I didn't know that The Year of Living Biblically was a comedy. I thought it was some ultra religious book. I must take a look at it.

    Anne
    My Head is Full of Books

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  28. This was fun and really thought-provoking. I have to laugh at the number of times New Moon cropped up, and not for any good reasons :)

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  29. hahaha I had a few angry ones on my list. I guess I get more angry then overly sad. lol. Great list.

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  30. Oh the Time Traveler's Wife is beautiful! Great List

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  31. I'm smacking my forehead; can't believe I neglected to include Gone with the Wind! Definitely a book that stirred up the emotions.

    Great theme this week! I had a tough time narrowing my list down to just ten...

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  32. EEP! This is my very first Tune in Tuesday! And by the way, fabulous list! I love To Kill A Mockingbird! (I can't believe I forgot to include it on MY list!!) Thanks so much! :)

    -Meredith

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  33. This is my first top ten tuesday! im a brand new blogger so im excited!!

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  34. Wow! Look at all the new participants this week! That's great guys! Welcome to the fun!

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  35. I totally agree with you on "The Time Traveler's wife", this book made me cry various times. I also, can't believe I haven't read "Gone with the Wind" yet. I added it to my TBR list though.

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  36. Great list! I'm years late to this topic, but I made one for my random topic/as a top ten starter. :)

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