Publication year 1926
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Beauty, Joy, Love, Nostalgia, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Art
Tags Animals, Japanese Literature, Asian Literature
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.
The Grasshopper and the Bell-Cricket
The Great Divorce
The Great Santini
The Great Unexpected
The Guncle
The Guncle Abroad
The Hallmarked Man
The Hand That First Held Mine
The Happy Ever After Playlist
The Hating Game
The Heartbreak Hotel
The Heart Goes Last
The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
The Heat of the Day
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly
The Hero and the Crown
The Hero of Ages
The Highwayman
The History of Love
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
Publication year 1926
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Beauty, Joy, Love, Nostalgia, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Art
Tags Animals, Japanese Literature, Asian Literature
Publication year 1945
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fear, Forgiveness, Love, Grief, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt, Order & Chaos
Tags Symbolic Narrative, Christian, Religion & Spirituality, Fantasy, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction
C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, first published in serial form in 1945 and as a novel the following year, explores an unnamed narrator’s experiences in Heaven and Hell. Although Lewis is best known for his contribution to children’s literature in The Chronicles of Narnia series, he also wrote many works of adult fiction and nonfiction. Almost all of his published work is either explicitly or implicitly religious in nature; many of his nonfiction works are... Read The Great Divorce Summary
Publication year 1976
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Family, Loyalty & Betrayal, Fear, Love, Masculinity, Coming of Age
Tags Life-Inspired Fiction, Military & War, Southern Literature, Historical Fiction
Pat Conroy’s 1976 novel, The Great Santini, is a semi-autobiographical work of fiction that explores the tumultuous life of a military family in the American South during the early 1960s. The story centers on Ben Meecham, the eldest son of Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meecham, a charismatic but violently abusive Marine Corps fighter pilot. As Ben navigates his 18th year, he grapples with the intense psychological conflict of loving and fearing his father, whose brutal warrior... Read The Great Santini Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fear, Gratitude, Love, Memory, Revenge, Death, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Place, Family, Friendship
Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech’s 2012 novel, The Great Unexpected, follows the relationship between two best friends, Naomi Deane and Lizzie Scatterding, both orphans who know little about their families. They have felt heartache and loss, though these experiences impact them in contrasting ways: Lizzie is talkative and enthusiastic, while Naomi is guarded and anxious. In a discussion of her inspiration for the text, Creech recounts her realization that when faced with the unexpected, children... Read The Great Unexpected Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Grief, Loneliness, Love, Sexual Identity, Death
Tags LGBTQ+, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Grief & Death, Parenting, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Love, Aging, Family, Marriage
Tags LGBTQ+, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor, Romance
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Guilt, Love, Disability, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Death, Fathers, Social Class, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Crime & Law, Science Fiction
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Art, Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Memory, Mothers
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, British Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Love, Art
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Love, Wins & Losses
Tags Romance, Humor, Coming of Age, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Trust & Doubt, Loyalty & Betrayal, Self Discovery, Family, Love
Tags Romance, Contemporary Literature
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Power & Greed, Fate, Marriage, Conflict, Economics, Social Class
Tags Science Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last is a work of speculative fiction released in 2015. The novel is a reworking of her Positron series for the website Byliner: four interconnected stories that were digitally released as episodes over the course of a year, starting in March 2012. The project aimed to recapture the literary tradition of serialization, but the final installment was never released, and the novel is intended to bring things together and provide... Read The Heart Goes Last Summary
Publication year 1998
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Gratitude, Love, Self Discovery, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Self-Improvement
Publication year 1948
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, War, Loyalty & Betrayal, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, World War II, British Literature, Military & War, Irish Literature
Publication year 2000
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Love, Birth, Death, Animals, Plants, Nature Versus Nurture, Mothers, Self Discovery, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies
Tags Children`s Literature, Animals, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Fantasy
Publication year 1984
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Love, Femininity, Coming of Age, Animals, Family, Politics & Government
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Disability, Action & Adventure
Written by Robin McKinley, The Hero and the Crown is a 1984 fantasy novel that acts as a prequel to McKinley’s 1982 novel, The Blue Sword. The Hero and the Crown focuses on the life and exploits of Aerin Dragon-Killer, the legendary wielder of the titular blue sword Gonturan, which first appeared in the previous novel. The Hero and the Crown focuses on Aerin’s personal development into a hero and a queen, emphasizing the physical... Read The Hero and the Crown Summary
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Hope, Love, Regret, Self Discovery, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Justice, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure
Publication year 1906
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Love
Tags Lyric Poem, Love & Sexuality
English poet Alfred Noyes wrote and published “The Highwayman” in 1906 during the early period of his literary career. The poem was written during the Edwardian Period of English literature but reflects influences from the romantic period a century earlier. Told as a narrative, “The Highwayman” recounts the doomed romance between a highwayman and a landlord’s daughter, Bess, who he visits in the night. Their love is sabotaged by jealousy; the poem romanticizes Bess’s sacrifice... Read The Highwayman Summary
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Community, Literature, Family, Fathers
Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Jewish Literature, Love & Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
The History of Love (2005) is a novel by American writer Nicole Krauss. The book, Krauss’s second novel, was awarded the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and was a finalist for the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction. It is a novel about the intersection of love, loneliness, language, and literature, as three characters are connected by a mysterious book called The History of Love. The novel plays with postmodern techniques like fragmentation and... Read The History of Love Summary
Publication year 1749
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Social Class, Coming of Age
Tags Coming of Age, Classic Fiction, Satirical Literature, Humor, Romance, Historical Fiction, British Literature, World History
First published in 1749, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling is considered one of the best and most influential early novels in English literature. Henry Fielding was a respected dramatist, essayist, and satirist, and as a public official, he helped to establish London’s first professional police force.A comic novel that blends romance, realism, picaresque, and social commentary—while passing itself off as a true history of a life as well as a reflection of human... Read The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Summary