Top Ten Tuesday (#1)

Tuesday 14 February 2012


Hello everyone, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the blog The Broke And The Bookish and this is my first time taking part. Today's theme is very anti-valentines day but it's original. Where's the fun in following the crowd? Anyway the theme is books that broke my heart a little bit (or loads sometimes in my case)

1) If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Truly a heart wrenching story, it's devastatingly beautiful.
"In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make -and the ultimate choice Mia commands."

Before I Die
2) Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Tessa's story broke my heart, I was sobbing by the end.
"Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks." before Tessa’s time finally runs out."

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Kindle Edition)3) The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
The ending, It was traumetising.
"Berlin 1942
When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences."

The Diary of a Young Girl4) The Diary Of Anne Frank
The only book I cannot stop re-reading, Insirational.
"Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short."

Once. Morris Gleitzman5) Once by Morris Gleitzman
It was so sad!
"Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad. Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house. Once I made a Nazi with a toothache laugh. My name is Felix. This is my story. A story of children in the Holocaust, Once is poignant and powerful without being frightening or graphic. With his gentle and utterly alive manner, Gleitzman reads the tale of Felix, a Jewish boy who runs away from the convent where his parents had him hidden and roams the countryside with an orphaned girl until they find their way to the cellar of a print shop in the Warsaw ghetto, where an old dentist has been protecting lost children."

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)6) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Some may argue that this is not very sad but there's one scene with Will that definatly broke my heart.
Read my review here.

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7) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
With the amount of deaths in THG no wonder it's on my list.
Read my review here


Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6)8) Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Another one people wouldn't expect to be on the list but what happened to Adrian, I was heart broken for him.
"Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice. Now, with Rose on trial for her life and Lissa first in line for the Royal Throne, nothing will ever be the same between them."

Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter (Paperback)9) Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
A true haunting story
"A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family."

Shame10) Shame by Jasvinder Sanghera
An unforgettable story
"When she was fourteen, Jasvinder Sanghera was shown a photo of the man chosen to be her husband. She was terrified. She’d witnessed the torment her sisters endured in their arranged marriages, so she ran away from home, grief-stricken when her parents disowned her. Shame is the heart-rending true story of a young girl’s attempt to escape from a cruel, claustrophobic world where family honour mattered more than anything- sometimes more than life itself."

These books are all heart-breaking in their own way, by the way these 10 books are not in any paticular order as I love them all. What is your top ten? Tell me about them!
Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

4 People dared to comment.:

MJ Thomas said...

Loved Clockwork Prince.... can't wait for Clockwork Princess. And, I have the feeling for it to be resolved in the way I want... it's going to break my heart another way.. sigh.

My Top Ten is here: http://its-raining-books.blogspot.com/2012/02/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-broke-my.html

Alex said...

Wow, Loved your top 10. Read all of them except #9, #10 & #2. Looking fwd to more top 10 tuesdays!

Unknown said...

Love your list! <3 If I Stay, Last Sacrifice, and Hunger Games are on my list too! I'm also Team Adrian, so what happened to him... just broke my heart over and over.

Anyway, I'm a new follower! Love your blog, it's AWESOME! :)

Lora @ Crazy Book Reviews said...

Love your list!! Adding to my list of books to read, which just keeps growing!

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