Our staff share the books that made them cry this year.

‘I cried while reading Julia Leigh’s Avalanche. Whatever your thoughts on assisted reproductive technology, this account of the author’s experience, written after her decision to finally stop IVF treatment, feels heartwrenchingly honest. Depending on the reader’s own experience, this is an eloquently written and informed insight into the human side of the 'process’, or it’s the journal they might have written themselves. Either way, it touches very deeply.‘ – Jan Lockwood, human resources manager

'I read Jennifer Down’s Our Magic Hour at the start of the year. This exceptional debut novel burrowed under my skin and has stayed there. The grief experienced by Down’s characters still pops up every now and again; sharp pangs that feel indistinguishable from my own memories. Down writes about loss and struggle with breathtaking accuracy and her novel is an upsetting, extraordinary read.’

‘I also need to mention Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City. This is an absorbing, personal work of cultural criticism that examines the role of art as a remedy for loneliness. I read the book alone in public spaces, and cried my way through the final pages, firmly attached to Laing’s subjects and deeply moved by their stories. A fusion of scholarship and memoir, Laing weaves together elements of travelogue, philosophy, biography and art criticism with great tenderness and insight. The result is a truly compelling meditation on New York, art and the internet.’ – Stella Charls, marketing and events coordinator

‘I’m not an overly romantic person, so I felt somewhat abashed at how emotionally invested I was in the love story that lies at the heart of The Sun is Also A Star: Natasha is a rational, science-mad pragmatist, and Daniel is a romantic wannabe poet/dreamer, and they really do belong together. Very early in the book, the reader finds out that Natasha is due to be deported from the US back to Jamaica within 24 hours, but it’s impossible to stop yourself from hoping that they will find a way to stay together beyond the first flush of young love. If only the American government would agree.’ – Leanne Hall, children’s and YA bookseller

‘Ece Temelkuran’s brilliant elegy for her homeland, Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy, is a moving combination of memoir and political analysis. She unflinchingly outlines coup after bloody coup, the details of the Armenian genocide, and the Turkish state’s persecution of the Kurds. In good humour and grace, she laments the country’s conservative and authoritarian turn and upends the popular idea that Turkey is a secular model that other middle-eastern countries should follow.’ – Michael Skinner, bookseller at St Kilda

‘To be unaffected or unmoved by Maxine Beneba Clarke’s The Hate Race seems impossible to me. I felt appalled, angry, horrified, upset and embarrassed about how the author has been treated in what is meant to be a a modern and evolved Australia. Reading The Hate Race took me back to the school yard, and raised questions about whether I was courageous enough to stand up for what what was right. Did I defend those who were mistreated? Or was I simply frozen with inaction, almost happy that it wasn’t me being targeted by bullies and their followers, maintaining my insecure standing within the pack?’ – Anthony Shaw, project manager

‘Lindy West’s incredible book, Shrill made me laugh, because she’s a very funny lady, but it also made me cry. The intensely personal essays cover everything from body image to comedy, and the chapters that deal with the death of West’s beloved father, and the trolling that she endured after he passed away got me right in the feels. It’s an extraordinarily honest book, and an absolute pleasure to read.’ – Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager

‘About three months after reading Jennifer Down’s Our Magic Hour I passed Ugo Rondinone’s large rainbow 'Our Magic Hour’ sign in Richmond. ll the feelings I’d felt reading Down’s stunning debut – the love, the pain, the yearning for everything and nothing – came flooding back, and I’m not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two.‘ – Alan Vaarwerk, editorial assistant for Readings Monthly

'Nothing gets to me more in fiction than trauma or angst between mothers and daughters, and Micheline Lee’s lovely, and often heartbreaking, novel The Healing Party offers that up in spades. I cried through the last several chapters of this Australian debut, and thought about it for a long time afterwards.’ – Nina Kenwood, marketing manager

‘I’ve come late to Claire Zorn’s 2015 award-winning YA novel, The Protected, but I’m so glad I read it this year. This is one of the most distressing and realistic portrayals of bullying I’ve ever read, and it broke my heart. I also cried while reading Sally Morgan’s exquisite verse novel, Sister Heart, which looks at the Stolen Generation for tween and teen readers, and Elspeth Muir’s book of her brother’s death, Wasted, is a haunting read that packs a real punch at the end.’ – Bronte Coates, digital content coordinator

‘I cried while reading The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke. I cried with the shame of not having fully paid attention to how wretched and insidious racism is in our cities, and I felt ill because I knew that somewhere along the line I must have been witness to such behaviour without even realising it. Reading Beneba Clarke’s story is an emotional journey. Her writing is powerful, and she highlights the importance of the individual in stopping racism.’ – Chris Gordon, events manager