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.

Behind Her Eyes

by Sarah Pinborough

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Love, Marriage

Tags Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Romance, Relationships, Mental Illness, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Grief & Death, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Behind Her Eyes, a psychological thriller, was written by Sarah Pinborough and published in 2017. The book has sold over 1 million copies worldwide and was adapted for a TV series by Netflix. While clearly a best seller, there is great divergence of opinion on the book’s very unexpected twist at the end, with the publishers using the hashtag #WTFThatEnding to promote the book.Plot SummaryLouise is a single mother living in London and working as... Read Behind Her Eyes Summary

Bel Canto

by Ann Patchett

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Indigenous Identity, Colonialism, Politics & Government

Tags Music, Historical Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Ann Patchett’s 2001 novel, Bel Canto, tells the alternately life-affirming and heart-wrenching story of a disparate group of people who are taken hostage in the Vice Presidential mansion of an unnamed South American country. The group has gathered to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese businessman and passionate opera lover. Mr. Hosokawa has requested that Roxanne Coss, a renowned soprano from America, sing at his party. She is captivating, but at the end... Read Bel Canto Summary

Between The Acts

by Virginia Woolf

Publication year 1941

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Gender Identity, War, Order & Chaos, Self Discovery

Tags British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

Between the Acts (1941) is Virginia Woolf’s final novel. It was published posthumously, four months after the writer’s death. It is a modernist novel that takes place on one June day in 1939, on the eve of World War II. Set in the English countryside, the novel focuses on the residents of a village who are preparing for their annual pageant at a time of looming international tension and domestic unease. Since much of the... Read Between The Acts Summary

Bewilderment

by Richard Powers

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Grief, Environment, Family

Tags Science Fiction, Symbolic Narrative, Climate Change, Grief & Death, Mental Illness, Science & Nature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

... Read Bewilderment Summary

Beyond Order

by Jordan B. Peterson

Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Love, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Marriage, Self Discovery, Art

Tags Psychology, Self-Improvement, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Science & Nature, Religion & Spirituality, Leadership

... Read Beyond Order Summary

Beyond That, the Sea

by Laura Spence-Ash

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Love, Truth & Lies, Conflict, Nostalgia, Self Discovery, Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Siblings, Friendship, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Hope

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Romance, World War II, Social Class, Education, Finance, Love & Sexuality, Relationships, Military & War, Grief & Death, World History, Parenting

... Read Beyond That, the Sea Summary

Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

by Joyce Carol Oates

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love

Tags Romance, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Big Mouth & Ugly Girl is a young adult novel written by Joyce Carol Oates. Published in 2002 after the high-profile Columbine High School shooting and attempted bombing in Columbine, Colorado, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl recounts three months in the lives of two 16-year-old high school juniors, Matt “Big Mouth” Donaghy and Ursula “Ugly Girl” Riggs. Oates is also known for We Were the Mulvaneys (1996) and Blonde (2000), among many other critically acclaimed... Read Big Mouth & Ugly Girl Summary

Binding 13

by Chloe Walsh

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Love, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Coming of Age, Family, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class

Tags Romance, Sports, New Adult, Modern Classic Fiction, Trauma & Abuse

... Read Binding 13 Summary

Blackbird House

by Alice Hoffman

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Grief, Hope, Loneliness, Death, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Plants, Place, Family, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil

Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, World History, Romance, Fantasy

Published in 2004, Alice Hoffman’s novel Blackbird House chronicles a house on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and its inhabitants over a 200-year span. The story, which invokes elements of magical realism, begins during the War of 1812 and ends in the present day. Shifting between first-person and third-person point-of-view, the novel delves into the themes of Love as Motivation, Resilience Resulting from Adversity, and The Power of Place in Shaping Lives.Other works by this author include... Read Blackbird House Summary

Bleak House

by Charles Dickens

Publication year 1853

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Justice, Love, Family

Tags Classic Fiction, Victorian Period, Satirical Literature, British Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Victorian Era

Bleak House is a novel by English Victorian author Charles Dickens, published between 1852-1853. The expansive narrative covers many plots, including the first-person account of the life of Esther Summerson and an ongoing court case concerning a large inheritance thrown into chaos by the existence of contradictory wills. Bleak House has been adapted for the theater, radio, film, and television (most recently in 2005) and is considered among Dickens’ greatest novels. This guide uses an... Read Bleak House Summary