A friend recently asked me this and it got me thinking.
Do I really only like sad books?
For help, I turned to my Goodreads and decided to make a list of my all-time favorite books to see how many end up in the “sad” category. So here it is… (slight spoilers if you don’t want to know which books have happy endings…)
Happy Ending!
A Wrinkle in Time
Sad Things Happen, but Ultimately a Happy Ending
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Harry Potter (as a series)
The Stand
The Giver
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Sad
Tuck Everlasting
The Little Prince
The Catcher in the Rye
The Spectacular Now
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Devastating
The Likeness
In the Woods
The Book Thief
We Were Liars
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Fault in Our Stars
Cutting for Stone
One Day
…okay, so I like sad books. What does this say about me?
I don’t think it means anything bad. I like things that make me feel. Some days I feel like I walk through life kind of numb to stuff–I talk to people on the elevator about the weather, I tell my significant other about my day at work. Most of us–actually, I shouldn’t speak for others–I do not experience high highs and low lows in my every day life. I’m fortunate to have never been involved in war, or murder, or dealt with the loss of a significant other.
But that’s why we read. To live more lives. To feel.
Do you also tend to prefer sad books? Why do you think this is?
MK Pagano 
I love this! My friends say the same thing about me! I agree with all the books you’ve listed here that I’ve read, and I’ll have to check out some of the new ones!
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Thanks! Let me know if you have any recos as well 🙂
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Sad books can touch something in us and help us to understand our own experiences and make our way through them. I think this is the reason I like chic lit as a counter to this occasionally. It’s got me thinking about my recommended reads lately and a lot of them are sad! Daughter, Girl on the train, Even in Paradise, Swimming through clouds!!!!
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Ooh I haven’t read any of those, thanks for the recos!
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Not to self promote but I have reviewed a few of them lately on my blog if you wanted a bit more about them 🙂 Daughter & girl on the train are going to be some of my all time faves i think x
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I think sad books strike that place in us that tells us we are not alone. Everyone experiences something traumatic or sad and if a book or a character can tap into you personally then it has some of the greatest therapeutic affects. I’ve been told I read a lot of sad books too. Mind you, I always switch to something light and funny after reading a heavy book. I find some of the best books are the ones that balance sadness and humour (like A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby). Great list btw!
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Thanks! I’ve never read Nick Hornby but have been meaning to. Yes yes yes to balancing sadness and humor–recently read Jonathan Tropper’s This is Where I Leave You, it was brilliant. I’d also really like Joss Whedon to start writing books as he is the master of that.
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