Nine books for a good cry

Eight Vogue staffers shared "the books that make them well up every time, whether in sadness or happiness or just flat-out amazement at a perfectly put-together sentence." One pick from Jessie Heyman, executive editor, Vogue.com:

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

What I found most remarkable about Didion’s 2005 memoir—which tells the story of the death of her husband and longtime creative collaborator, John Gregory Dunne—was the way that in it, she functioned as both the subject and the observer. As she chronicled that event and its aftermath, when Didion was also caring for her ailing daughter, Quintana Roo, she created a kind of manual for grieving, one that I’ve returned to in moments of loss throughout my life.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Year of Magical Thinking is among Ali Millar's ten books that explore the possibilities and perils of remaking one’s life, Mary-Frances O'Connor's five books for the grieving brain, Karolina Waclawiak's six books on loss and longing, Tara Westover's top four inspirational memoirs, Mark Whitaker's six favorite memoirs, Adam Haslett's five best deathless accounts of mourning, Douglas Kennedy's top ten books about grief, and Norris Church Mailer's five best memoirs. It is a book that made a difference to Samantha Bee.

--Marshal Zeringue