For the better or for the worst, which book actually affected you. I’ll start, The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. Such an amazing book, well written and suprised me.
[SPOILERS]
The blurb on the back stated that each Lisbon sister k1lled themselves one by one. What I was expecting was throughout every 3 or so chapters, a Lisbon sister would kill themselves. But actually, 85% of the book, was only 1 Lisbon sister dead and the other 4 alive until the end when they all k1lled themselves. If I was told that the large majority of the book was just about the Lisbon girls life through the eyes of teenage boys and then eventually in the end they all k1ll themselves, I would probably be less interested in the book. But this book was hard to put down, it was so well written with amazing vocabulary and it spent the right amount of time explaining things (instead of using 12 pages to describe a staircase or only 3 sentences to describe a plot etc). It kept me interested and also with it being on a slightly alarming topic (suicide), it gave the book an eerie feeling which filled me with a strange comfort.
Replay by Ken Grimwood. I read it every few years and every single time it changes my perspective on my view of my personal timeline.
One hundred years of solitude, love in the time of cholera, the sun also rises, thus spoke Zarathustra, east of eden, swanns way, the dharma bums, a season in hell, the unbearable lightness of being
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.
I read it 50 years ago. No spoilers, except that it’s emotionally gut-wrencing, and unforgettable.
Not sure if it counts because it’s NF but I remember reading Unbroken & closing the book mid-page to just cry. I don’t even remember what was happening in the book but that man’s story is incredibly moving!
Piranesi
House of Leaves
Five Feet Apart
Up From the Sea
Every day by David Levithan
The alchemist… I read it as a teen & reread it every couple years.
Also I love Khalil gibran " the prophet"
“Dark Water” by Hanna Kent
Thanks for making this post.
A River Runs Through It
Where the Red Fern Grows
Both endings are KO punches
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. I first read it during my formative years and, by now, I’ve memorized practically the entire book. Despite (or maybe because of) her ruthlessness, Kate Blackwell is one character I’ve always aspired to be.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Travelling Cat Chronicles, by Hiro Arikawa. The first book to make me cry. Hugged my kitty extra tight that night.