This was last year, but IT was probably the one that stuck most intensely. And you make a good point about the length of the book, I think that did play a role for me too. Also, I had never read Stephen King before that and had no idea how absolutely trippy his work is. But it was one of those books that has me thinking about it all day and wanting to get back to it. Then when I was done, I was still thinking about it all day. It was weird. In a good way though.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson were two others (also read in previous years)

Omg this one has stuck with me too, since I read the novel version two decades ago and have read/watched the play and every version on it I could find since. I’m not one for mushy “true love” kinds of stories but I honestly think it’s the greatest love story (that and Evangeline - another tragedy lol), even though it’s got so much cat-fishing going on XD but for someone to commit basically their entire life to someone else’s happiness (or her perceived happiness anyway), and then to realize too late her actual happiness would have been his happiness too… it’s just 😩 and the characters, like you said, are fun and interesting. And you can see why the main two like each other, they are both clever and witty and have overlapping interests, and have spent a lot of their lives together. It just has so much more depth than a lot of other romances.

I’m an animator and it’s been my dream to make an animation of this. How weird how some stories just stick

Ahh I’m reading Moby Dick now and I’m loving it! What’s funny is that I hated the tangents in IT, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Secret History that explained things around the story but not the actual story… which seems to be what you’re talking about. But Moby Dick is so far the ONLY book I actually really enjoy the tangents! I think it’s because he is so dramatic and over-the-top about everything.

This Melville quote was hanging on my grandpa’s wall for my whole life: “Give me a condor’s quill! Give me Vesuvius’ crater for an inkstand! To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” and it makes so much more sense now that I understand his writing style! To me, that man can write about the dullest things (and does) and make it epic and interesting, because he makes it deeper than it ever had a right to be.

But seriously, grade 5 is too young for it. I read the abridged version at that age, and even that was hard to get through.

This was the only one I could think of! It was the only book I really didn’t enjoy. I’ve been meaning to give it a re-read though, because I was 13 when it came out and I don’t think I understood it was about autism at the time, so I feel like my judgement is unfair.