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.

Apprentice to the Villain

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Humor

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A Prayer for My Daughter

by William Butler Yeats

Publication year 1919

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia

Tags Lyric Poem, Parenting, Mythology

“A Prayer for my Daughter” by William Butler (W.B.) Yeats was originally published in his collection Michael Robartes and the Dancer in 1921. This book also includes one of Yeats’s most famous poems—“The Second Coming”—and was Yeats’s eighth collection of lyrical poems. “A Prayer for my daughter” was written in 1919, a year that marked the beginning of the Irish War of Independence. The war lasted until 1921 and heavily influenced Yeats. The poem’s location... Read A Prayer for My Daughter Summary

A Primer for the Small Weird Loves

by Richard Siken

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, LGBTQ, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Poetry: Dramatic Poem

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Araby

by James Joyce

Publication year 1914

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Classic Fiction, Irish Literature, Education, Education

“Araby” is a short story by Irish writer James Joyce. The story is a part of Joyce’s renowned Dubliners collection, first published in 1914, which portrays daily life in the Irish city of Dublin in the early 20th century. In “Araby,” a young boy falls in love with his friend’s sister and attempts to purchase her a gift from the Araby Bazaar. The short story has been adapted as a song and a short film... Read Araby Summary

Archer's Voice

by Mia Sheridan

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Romance, Disability, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy

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A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns

Publication year 1794

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Classic Fiction

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A Retrieved Reformation

by O. Henry

Publication year 1903

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Fate

Tags Education, Education, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Classic Fiction, American Literature

“A Retrieved Reformation,” by prolific American short story writer O. Henry, was first published as “A Retrieved Reform” in The Cosmopolitan in 1903. The story is an example of Realism, a literary movement popular in the US and Europe in the years between the end of the American Civil War and the early 20th century. Realism explores the everyday lives of ordinary people, using detailed descriptions and colloquial dialogue. Events in “A Retrieved Reformation” are... Read A Retrieved Reformation Summary

Ariel

by Sylvia Plath

Publication year 1965

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos

Tags Free verse, Animals, Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, Confessional, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), American Literature, History: World, Mental Illness, Classic Fiction

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Artemis Fowl

by Eoin Colfer

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Relationships: Teams, Natural World: Environment, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Mythology, Children's Literature

Artemis Fowl (2001) is the first of 11 fantasy novels in the Fowl Adventures series. It was written by Eoin Colfer, an Irish writer, and details the titular character’s attempt to restore his family’s fortune by kidnapping an elf named Holly Short. Taking place in Colfer’s home country of Ireland, the novel is also his first foray into the fantasy genre. The novel explores themes of community, environmentalism, and the line between magic and science.In... Read Artemis Fowl Summary

As Bright As Heaven

by Susan Meissner

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: War, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Self Discovery

Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II

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A Severe Mercy

by Sheldon Vanauken

Publication year 1977

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Christian literature, Grief / Death, Biography

Sheldon Vanauken’s celebrated memoir A Severe Mercy is a moving portrait of deep love confronted with suffering and death. Published in 1977, A Severe Mercy was written by Vanauken from the compilation of many years’ worth of journal entries, hand-written letters, and firsthand accounts of the people and events that the narrative relates. As a Yale- and Oxford-trained scholar and professor of English and an accomplished poet and author, Vanauken brings his literary expertise to... Read A Severe Mercy Summary

A Shadow in the Ember

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Self Discovery

Tags Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Religion / Spirituality

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A Short Stay in Hell

by Steven L. Peck

Publication year 2011

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction

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A Shropshire Lad, Poem XXXVI

by A. E. Housman

Publication year 1896

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Lyric Poem, British Literature

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As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

by Zoulfa Katouh

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: War, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Military / War, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World

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A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

by William Wordsworth

Publication year 1800

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Romanticism / Romantic Period

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) is the author of the lyrical ballad “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal” (1800). The poem appears in the second edition of Lyrical Ballads (1800), which featured poems by Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. There are four editions of Lyrical Ballads, and the first edition (1798) helped launch English Romanticism. The movement stressed the tumultuous power of nature and the individual human spirit. “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal” reflects the principles... Read A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal Summary

A Snicker of Magic

by Natalie Lloyd

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Friendship, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Music, Relationships, Children's Literature

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A Song to Drown Rivers

by Ann Liang

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Gender, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Nation, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

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