Exhaustion

A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron


I love the idea of exhausted readers, not only because they've lived several lives, but also because they were up until the wee hours of the morning with a good book. Here are some of my favorite books that were downright exhausting.


The Hunger Games & Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (I won't give you a synopsis on this one- if you haven't read them yet there's a problem.)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Boy on boat with a tiger, dying zebra, and hyena. The ending is a killer.)
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (PLAGUE!)
Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George (Ummm.. Pretty self-explanatory.)
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn (A gritty look at ancient Rome; a Roman gladiator and slave fall in love, but are torn apart.)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (A college student joins the circus during the Great Depression, falls in love, and trains an elephant.)


So I enjoy fighting to the death, being shipwrecked, nursing people with festering buboes, ruling Egypt (duh!), being mistress to the Roman Emperor, and working for a corrupt circus during the Great Depression.

What about you? Who do you enjoy being? What are your favorite, and yet exhausting, books?