I also read When Rabbit Howls many years ago and it still sticks to my ribs.

Kate, I read that book when I was in h.s. or college. It was very fascinating. They made a cheesy TV movie of it with Shelly Long that was so disappointing.

It sounds like a very disturbing, but fascinating book.

Sorry to add a really dark tale, but When Rabbit Howls is about a child abuse victim who suffers from muliple personality disorder thereafter. NEVER has a book stayed with me like that one.

The Famine by Liam O'Flaherty is one that I read many, many years ago. It is an historical novel about the Kilmartin family in Ireland during the famine. I was so moved by the extreme harships and events that took place during that black time in Ireland's history. Even today when I think of the book, I relive the intense emotions I had. This is also the book that cemented my love of historical fiction. I learned a lot that was not found in most history books and I went on to read more history on the topic.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Island of the Blue Dolphins and Anne of Green Gables are definite "rib stickers" for me. I read these all as a child/pre-teen and I believe they have influenced my love of reading and some of my attitudes about life. In fact, if I ever have a girl, I would love to incorporate the names of the main characters somehow into her name! In recent times, I would have to say The Glass Castle A Memoir, some of the essays in Sister Outsider Essays and Speeches (which I read as a Women's Studies Major in college), Do They Hear You When You Cry, and any of Jonathan Kozol's books.

After reading this, I suggest we add the topic "books with happy endings that cheer me up." Why is it always the sad stuff that sticks? (This is also in reference to the thread about Bleak and Depressing books). Maybe I should have posted my books in that group! :-)

One of my favorite books that has stuck with me is Morvern Callar, but I rarely recommend it to people. It was recommended to me by someone on goodreads but it's not for everyone. It starts off in Scotland and the author writes exactly the way they speak (a little tricky to follow at times with the Scottish slang). The story revolves around a young girl whose writer boyfriend commits suicide in their apt. Out of anger, guilt, and grief she decides to travel europe doing a lot of drugs and going to raves. It's dark, but the writing is incredible and you really start to identify with her after a while once you find out about her. I like how Warner never says "this is why she does this." He shows everything through her actions and conversations. People deal with grief in strange ways.

Great Expectations is another one that has always stuck with me. Classic characters! I need not dwell on this one!

I seem to be setting a theme here. This one has never left the brain: The Year of Magical Thinking. Again, it revolves around grief but Didion is a master of language and a fearless writer. Her husband dies and at the same time her daughter is in a coma. It's a true story and the book received a lot of praise. This one I definitely recommend everyone read!

Purple America. I think I liked this book. I'm not sure. I love Moody's writing. The subject matter is bleak, a suicidal mother's slow deterioration in a wheelchair, an alcoholic son who stutters... yeah, you can see where this is going. It was quite a disturbing story that still pops in my brain from time to time.

Another one I never recommend is:

And I Don't Want to Live This Life A Mother's Story of Her Daughter's Murder. I read it in high school many moons ago. It's the story of Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols) and Nancy Spungen and their relationship that unfortunately ended in murder (and later on Sid's "alleged" suicide). Written by Nancy's mother, it's a really touching/tragic story. I don't have many fond memories of high school, but I remember watching the movie Sid and Nancy and being enthralled with them (ah youth and how they glamorize tragedy!)

Ahhhh, rib stickers? With my first thing in the morning read, and now I have to think, too? LOL! I would have to say that The Story of Edgar Sawtelle immediately came to mind. Each and every one of the characters have certainly stuck to my ribs! And the scene where the father materializes from the raindrops is just too awesome. I know there are others, but I haven't completely woken up yet, so i am sure I will post a few more later. I'll be interested to see/hear what others have stuck to them!

If you're like me, then you probably read lots of books every year; but few of them leave a lasting impression. Over the years, I forget characters, plots and details. There are some books, however, that defy my faulty memory...........they stick with me forever, or as Miriam commented in another post, they're like oatmeal that sticks to the ribs.

Which books have you feasted on that you would consider "Rib Stickers"?