I ugly cried for an hour at the end of that one. It was my first Picoult, and I knew not of her twist endings. It hit me hard.

Hiroshima, by John Hersey. Humanity.

I loved The Shipping News. I saw the movie first, and read the book later. Maybe I connected more with the book because I had that background to draw from, though.

Under the Tuscan Sun and Stones From the River. Both were book club selections by others in our group years ago. I only lasted a chapter or two of each. I just couldn’t get into either of them. These were the first two books I ever DNF’d. Up until then, I always finished any book I started, whether I liked it or not. Someone before this had picked Fool’s Crow, which I forced myself to slog through, and that was the book that made me vow to never slog again.