Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love

Our Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love Collection features titles centered on love and all of its complexities. This Collection represents authors who have grappled with romantic, familial, and other forms of love through writing. With titles ranging from contemporary romance picks to works by Shakespeare, this Collection has something to offer any reader who has ever lost or found love.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

by Elif Shafak

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Grief, Love, Memory, Femininity, Sexual Identity, Death, The Past, Family, Immigration, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Gender & Feminism, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

Elif Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World was published in 2019. Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist who advocates for women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights through her fiction. Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World examines the life of a sex worker who was murdered in Istanbul, Turkey, exploring key moments in her life while her friends desperately try to arrange her funeral. The novel investigates topics like violence against... Read 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Summary

12 Rules for Life

by Jordan B. Peterson

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Love, Mental Health, Truth & Lies

Tags Self-Improvement, Inspirational, Psychology, Parenting, Sociology, American Literature, Science & Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018) is Jordan B. Peterson’s second book. Peterson’s self-help book seeks to provide practical and virtuous rules to live by for a wide audience and general readership. The book streamlines, simplifies, and reimagines some of the more traditionally academic topics of Peterson’s first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. Each non-fiction work aims to explain human history and human nature according to universal frameworks. 12... Read 12 Rules for Life Summary

18 Days in Heaven

by Gabe Poirot

Publication year 2026

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Love, Death, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Religion & Spirituality, Biography, Self-Improvement

Gabe Poirot’s 18 Days in Heaven (2026) is a work of Christian nonfiction that recounts the author’s near-death experience (NDE). At age 20, Poirot suffered a traumatic brain injury in an electric-skateboard accident and fell into a coma for 18 days, during which he claims his spirit traveled to heaven and met Jesus Christ. The book details the revelations that he received during this encounter, exploring themes of Jesus’s Presence Defines the Meaning of Heaven... Read 18 Days in Heaven Summary

1Q84

by Haruki Murakami

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Truth & Lies, Gender Identity

Tags Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Japanese Literature

1Q84 is a novel written by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The book was first published in Japanese in three volumes and released in 2009 and 2010, ahead of an English translation published in 2011, and includes elements of magical realism and dystopian literature. Set in 1984 in Tokyo, the story concerns an assassin who stumbles upon an alternate world she refers to as 1Q84. There, she becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving an abusive... Read 1Q84 Summary

33 Place Brugmann

by Alice Austen

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Love, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Conflict, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Hope, Loneliness, Femininity, Language, Death, The Past, Environment, Place, Family, Friendship, Community, War, Equality, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Military & War

Alice Austen’s historical novel, 33 Place Brugmann (2025), focuses on a single apartment building in Brussels, beginning in August 1939 on the eve of World War II and continuing through the German occupation of Belgium. The story centers on the interconnected lives of the building’s residents, particularly Charlotte Sauvin, a young art student who has colorblindness, and her close relationship with her Jewish neighbors, the Raphaël family. As the Nazi threat grows, these relationships are... Read 33 Place Brugmann Summary

Across the Vanishing Sky

by Catherine Cowles

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Hope, Love, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Family, Friendship, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags Romance, Horror & Suspense

Catherine Cowles’s romantic suspense novel Across the Vanishing Sky (2026) is the first installment in the Starlight Grove series. The story follows Braedyn Winslow, a single mother who moves to the small mountain town of Starlight Grove one year after her best friend, Nova, vanished there during a hike. Determined to uncover the truth that the dismissive local sheriff has ignored, Braedyn begins her own investigation, but her mission is complicated by her reclusive new... Read Across the Vanishing Sky Summary

A Different Kind of Power

by Jacinda Ardern

Publication year 2025

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Perseverance, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Love, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Future, Place, Family, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies

Tags Memoir & Autobiography

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A Dog's Life

by Ann M. Martin

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Gratitude, Grief, Hope, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Aging, Childhood & Youth, Death, Animals, Food, Place, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Fate, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Animals, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction

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A Dowry of Blood

by S. T. Gibson

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Conflict, Hate & Anger, Marriage, Good & Evil

Tags Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic Literature, LGBTQ+, Addiction & Substance Abuse

... Read A Dowry of Blood Summary