Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Because the ending is just heartbreaking. When she can't reach him before he disappears... I was distraught. It really is the saddest thing. What's worse is that you don't expect them to meet, but it still seems so cruel when it actually happens.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery The ending of this threw me into a slump for weeks afterwards since the pure sadness that took over stopped me from enjoying anything. It's an amazing book, it really is, but I hate that that had to be ending. And it was foreshadowed (I realised on second read) which bothered me more.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Most people probably know why this is heart breaking, because everything seems so disjointed at the end. I can't put my finger on it, but it just felt like all the joy and everything that was good in the book's world was lost and I just couldn't believe it ended so- to me- hopelessly.
The High Lord by Trudi Canavan The ending of this is kind of bitter sweet. Looking back, it made perfect sense and I can't fault it, but it was still so sad. To think that he who one is led to dislike becomes he who is loved and then once again his fate is turned on its head. I'm trying not to give it away, but I think you get the idea.
Enchanter's Endgame by David Eddings Not because of the love: because it was the end of the series I loved most! I found out there was a sequel series, plus two prequels, later on; but it killed me at the time to know that I had no more to read of that series. The others were good (especially the prequels) but never like reading those 5 books the first time.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Less heartbreaking, more bitter sweet, was how I found the ending and the book in general. There is some heartbreak in the hopelessness of the case, but it is there and it is poignant.
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson Mainly because we find out a lot more about Lisbeth and truly start to understand her situation. This is augmented by the next book (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) but realisng how terrible her life is just exemplifies the pity you already feel for her. But pity isn't the right word; since she is more than competent and above pity. Compassion, perhaps. Also, what happens in the end broke my heart in terms of how much had been done for such a small, empty even, gain.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern How things had to turn out with the Circus, and also the slow coming to this eventuality, just makes you ache with sorrow. It isn't particularly bad in some ways, but how much they gave up moves me into an area I can't express with words.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy They go so far in this novel, and the father remains hopeful no matter what befalls them. He is rock in the story and is amazing though we basically know nothing about him. The ending, then, is all the more tragic because it symbolises so much more than a loss of a person, but the loss of hope and driving force in an otherwise empty and broken world.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë As most people probably know, this boils down to a book of unrequited love and the things it can do to different people. Despite all the evil things done and the amount of times I wanted to scream out in anger, one is constantly emphatic with Heathcliff. Anyone can understand his motives, so we question whether we might do the same should such a fate befall us. This book, in some ways, is something that just keeps breaking your heart in several places.
Q: Many readers/bloggers are also big music fans. Tell us about a few of your favorite bands/singers that we should listen to in 2012.
Just as my reading is eclectic, so is my music. I'm a fan of music from some select musicals (my favourite is The Sound of Music), yet I am just as comfortable with Paolo Nutini, Gaga, Florence and the Machine, Adele, Mumford and Sons and many others. I don't pigeon hold myself as liking only one genre; provided I like the music, I will get it. And if an artist I like makes something I don't like, I won't get it. Just how people try to read books they want and avoid depression after a bad book, I try not to let stereotypes or expectations dictate my music.
I also tend to have phases. I'm in what I think of as 'My Dad's Music' phase at the moment. He's as eclectic as me, and used to listen to TLC, Black Eyed Peas and others. Growing up with them, they're subliminally ingrained in me!
Also, friends of friends played this song at New Years and I've fallen in love with it. I just can't stop singing or listening to it! I actually listened again as I posted this.
2012 Must Reads: Which books are at the top of your list to be read this year (new or old releases)?
NEW: I really want to read the sequels to many of last year's great debuts, such as Insurgent (Divergent), Outpost (Enclave) and A Million Suns (Across the Universe). There are other sequels I'm excited for such as The Rise of Nine (Lorien Legacies/I am Number Four) and there are bound to be things I'll hear about as they come out and think "Of course! How could I forget?!"
OLD: (I'm classing this as anything that has already been published) I've decided that Nicholas Nickleby is going to be my next Dickens read so I've got that ready for when I decide to read it, but I'm also excited about the prospect of my next Austen novel. I was thinking Sense and Sensibility.
I'd also like to read George R. R. Martin's series since I now have all the books. The same for the Lord of the Rings. Legend, Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Fire and Thorns are among those which are only really a month or so old but they are also something I'm hoping and looking forward to reading when I finally sit down with them.
I also have ends of series to read. throughout Autumn and December, I feel like I started the first books of many series, and now I have all the sequels to read. I have the few I've mentioned above, as well Chronicles of the Necromancer, Runelight, The Dead Tossed Waves and others I can't be bothered trying to find on my (recently tidied) shelf. I feel like I have too much.
It was a good hop, but I feel overwhelmed with how much I'm going to have to read this year! I'll leave you with this thought, which occurred to me when I read TGIF question.
Surely all so-called old books remain new books until you've read them? Just like all old news is new until you've heard it. (Courtesy of David Eddings)
