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.

House Made of Dawn

by N. Scott Momaday

Publication year 1968

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Justice, Apathy, Perseverance, Loneliness, Love, Place, Animals, Religion & Spirituality, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Order & Chaos, Colonialism, Community, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, American Literature, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Social Justice, World History

The novel House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday, was first published in 1968. Heralded as a major landmark in the emergence of Indigenous American literature, the novel won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. House Made of Dawn blends fictional and nonfictional elements to depict life on an Indigenous American reservation like the one where Momaday grew up.This guide uses an eBook version of the 2018 First Harper Perennial Modern Classics (50th Anniversary)... Read House Made of Dawn Summary

House of Flame and Shadow

by Sarah J. Maas

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Love, Race, Coming of Age, Environment, Place, Teamwork, Colonialism, War, Equality, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure, Fairy Tale & Folklore

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Howards End

by E. M. Forster

Publication year 1910

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Art, Social Class

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Social Class, British Literature, World History, Romance

E. M. Forster’s Howards End (1910) tells the story of two families, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, who represent different aspects of society in Edwardian England. Specifically, it follows the Margaret Schlegel, the novel’s protagonist, amid her attempts to manage her own family as she becomes engaged to and marries the widowed Mr. Wilcox. In 1992 it was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, directed by James Ivory, and in 2017 it was adapted into... Read Howards End Summary

How Does It Feel?

by Jeneane O'Riley

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Plants, Family, Mothers, Self Discovery, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Horror & Suspense, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Religion & Spirituality

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How I Live Now

by Meg Rosoff

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, War, Fear, Mental Health, Coming of Age, Death, Family, Safety & Danger

Tags Science Fiction, Survival Fiction

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff was originally published in 2004. It is a young adult dystopian novel about an American teenager experiencing a near-future world war in England, and it won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Printz Award. In 2013, How I Live Now was adapted into a film directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Saoirse Ronan. Rosoff also won a Carnegie Medal, a Whitbread Award, and other awards. How I... Read How I Live Now Summary

How I Met My Husband

by Alice Munro

Publication year 1974

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Love, Memory, Coming of Age

Tags Romance, Coming of Age, Social Class, Gender & Feminism, Love & Sexuality, Post-War Era, World History, Historical Fiction, Canadian Literature, Classic Fiction

“How I Met My Husband” is a short story by Alice Munro. It appeared in her 1974 collection Something I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You. Munro's other works include the collection Runaway (2003) and the novel Dear Life (2012). This guide is based on the Vintage eBook edition of the collection, published in 2014.Fifteen-year-old Edie comes of age in postwar rural Canada. She is from a large, farming family. When she fails high school, she... Read How I Met My Husband Summary

Howl’s Moving Castle

by Diana Wynne Jones

Publication year 1986

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Power & Greed, Language

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure, Love & Sexuality, Children`s Literature, Classic Fiction

Howl’s Moving Castle was written by Diana Wynne Jones and published in 1986. It won the Phoenix Award for Children’s Literature 20 years after its publication. It is the first in a series of three books, followed by Castle in the Air, published in 1990; and House of Many Ways, published in 2008. Howl's Moving Castle introduces the main characters of Howl and Sophie and discusses themes of acceptance, identity, and the enemies-to-lovers trope. Howl’s... Read Howl’s Moving Castle Summary

How to Be Both

by Ali Smith

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Grief, Love, Memory, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Future, The Past, Self Discovery, Social Class, Justice

Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+

How to be Both is a 2014 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith. The narrative explores common threads of grief, identity, and memory from the perspectives of recently bereaved 16-year-old English schoolgirl George and a character named Francescho, inspired by the real 15th-century Italian artist Francesco del Cossa. The book, exploring themes such as The Impact of Grief on Personality, Ambiguity as an Inescapable Feature of Life, and Everyday Resistance to Injustice, was a critical... Read How to Be Both Summary

Hum If You Don't Know the Words

by Bianca Marais

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Revenge, Race, Coming of Age, Death, Future, The Past, Friendship, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags World History, Arts & Culture, Historical Fiction, Race & Racism

... Read Hum If You Don't Know the Words Summary