The Green Mile

Be prepared. If you want a good cry, this book is for you, as it has one of the saddest endings of any novel I have read.

The Green Mile is the riveting and tragic story of John Coffee, a giant, gentle inmate with supernatural powers, condemned to death for the rape and murder of twin nine-year-old girls.

Coffee is a simple and kind man with a deathly fear of the dark. Your heart will break. Mine did. 

The Green Mile wasn’t the first book by Stephen King that I read, but it was the book that addicted me for the rest of my life. Stephen King was the master and this story proved it beyond a doubt. Until this book, I didn’t realize just how beautiful and emotional a horror novel could be. It went beyond gross outs and creepy scares. The feelings brought out in me were deep and real and I honestly shed a few tears by the end of it.  

When I read this book, I got the feeling that I knew exactly what it was like to be a prison guard in the year 1932. And not just any prison guard, but a man who went to work every day with inmates on death row.

This takes place in a small town with a small cast of characters you’ll get to know very well and in the middle of it all is something magical. Unworldly. If you are not a reader of Stephen King, fear not as this is the kind of story that takes hold of you and… show more.

This might seem like a strange choice to include in my list of books, but hear me out. From a very young age I’ve been hypersensitive. A concern for others, and suffering in the world, led me to a career in international development. I wanted to learn more about the world, why it was so unequal, and why – so much of the time – it seemed so cruel. John Coffey, the central character in the book, suffered from a high degree of hypersensitivity, and he tried putting an unusual natural gift for helping others to work in a powerful… show more.