Pick Up These Books When You Need a Good Cry
Sometimes
it feels incredibly good to weep along with the plot. Here, a few novels and
memoirs to dig into with a box of tissues by your side.
By Leigh Newman
10 of 10
One Day
By David Nicholls
448 pages;
Vintage
The Love Story You're Desperate to Work Out
Not your average boy-meets-girl fairy tale, this novel about growing up, moving on and never letting go resonates with just about everyone who's had to struggle to find themselves as well as find somebody to spend their life with. The story is told in snapshot versions of the same day in different years, as Emma goes from student to Tex-Mex waitress to writer and Dexter goes from student to reality-TV host to down-and-out reality-TV host. How their relationship evolves and shifts over the course of two decades is interesting, but their well-written personal lives (flaws and all) are what really draw you in. While many parts are laugh-out-loud funny, at the center of this love story is a specter of loneliness about what in life can pass us by if we don't decide to do something about it. If you're looking for an honest depiction of romance that's still delicious and dizzying to read, this combines the best of both worlds.
— Amber Kallor
Published 02/17/2012