I read on the subway every day and keep track of the books…including which ones were able to make me cry in public like a big o’ baby. Here are the 48 that made strangers stare at me weird from 2008-2012.
Graphic novels are marked in RED.
Row 1:
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached
Taft 2012 by Jason Heller
Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
The Last DragonSlayer by Jasper Fforde
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Row 2:
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Joe and Azat by Jesse Lonergan
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau
Row 3:
Feed by Mira Grant (not to be confused with MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME THAT MAKES ME CRY EVERY SINGLE TIME: Feed by MT Anderson. I really should re-read that again!)
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht
The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
Machine of Death (short story collection by various)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Row 4:
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Masterpiece by Elise Broach
White Cat by Holly Black
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Abby Cornelia’s One and Only Magical Power by David Pogue
Happyface by Stephen Emond
Row 5:
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Y The Last Man, Vol 10: Whys and Wherefores by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
The Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Sixteen Miles to Merricks by Barnaby Ward
Top Ten by Alan Moore and Gene Ha
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
Row 6:
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Overqualified by Joey Comeau
So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Bone #9: Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith
Row 7:
Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa
The Ticking by Renee French
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Slow Storm by Danica Novgorodoff
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Row 8:
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex (illustrated novel but it has mini-comics INSIDE of it)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Neptune’s Children by Bonnie Dobkin
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Bone by Bone by Bone by Tony Johnston
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Goodgod, this is so similar to my list.
Feed by MT Anderson is so high up there, as was another of his books that came out a few years before, Thirsty.
Stargirl was a defining moment in my young adult fiction days, because I read it at the right time.
Habibi and Blankets, nearly everything Craig Thompson does is a gut punch, and I’m excited to see how his new graphic novel (for kids!) will rip me apart.
And damn, the Amber Spyglass.
Three Shadows for sure – especially when I read what inspired the story. Stargirl – even though I just read it last year (I’m 35!) and Robot Dreams because it’s just so damn good.