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.
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Society: Class
Tags Historical Fiction, Survival Fiction
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Self Discovery, Life/Time: Aging
Tags Romance, Humor
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Romance, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence
It Ends with Us is a 2016 romance novel by Colleen Hoover. The novel tells the story of Lily Bloom and her doomed romance with Ryle Kincaid and traces her past history growing up in an abusive home, her fall into an abusive relationship, and her escape from that relationship. Colleen Hoover is the author of several best-selling novels, including Verity, Ugly Love, and All Your Perfects. In 2022, Hoover published a sequel to It... Read It Ends with Us Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Self Discovery, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Romance, Humor, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Romance, Realistic Fiction, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Grief / Death, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Romance, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1819
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Society: Nation, Society: War
Tags Historical Fiction, Romanticism / Romantic Period, British Literature, Classic Fiction, Action / Adventure, Medieval Literature / Middle Ages, History: World, Romance
Ivanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Walter Scott, first published in 1819. The novel or “romance” is a fanciful account of English life in the 12th century, during the time of King Richard I (Richard “Coeur de Lion”). The protagonist of the story is Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a knight returning home from fighting in the Third Crusade. His journey weaves together historical events, religious conflict, and Medieval folklore and explores themes of Chivalry as... Read Ivanhoe Summary
Publication year 1871
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Natural World: Animals
Tags Mythology
Publication year 1961
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Fantasy, Classic Fiction, Humor, Children's Literature, Magical Realism, Animals, Action / Adventure
James and the Giant Peach by British author Roald Dahl was first published in 1961. This critically acclaimed children’s novel was made into an award-winning film in 1996. It tells the story of a giant peach that magically grows in a young boy, James’s, back garden—big enough for him to enter the center of the peach and have adventures with the insects who live in there. Dahl is known as one of the 20th century’s greatest... Read James And The Giant Peach Summary
Publication year 1996
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Masculinity
Tags Magical Realism, Relationships, Fantasy
Robert Olen Butler’s 1995 short story “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot” has been widely reprinted and anthologized. Its themes, which typify Butler's work, include alienation, desire, and the challenges of communicating with others. Butler is a best-selling American author and won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his short story collection A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, which explores the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants in the United States. “Jealous Husband,” however... Read Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction
Publication year 1949
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Fear
Tags Religion / Spirituality, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, African American Literature, Race / Racism, Philosophy, Philosophy, Social Justice
Publication year 1932
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: War
Tags French Literature, Philosophy, Auto/Biographical Fiction, WWI / World War I, Modernism, The Lost Generation
Journey to the End of the Night is a modernist novel by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, first published in the French language in 1932 by Parisian publishing house Éditions Denoël et Steele. It is a semi-autobiographical work centered on the life and travels of cynical antihero Ferdinand Bardamu, set over several decades of Bardamu’s life, beginning at the outbreak of World War I. The novel became influential in the development of post–WWI literary modernism, but like many... Read Journey to the End of the Night Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness
Publication year 1892
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Fathers, Self Discovery, Relationships: Friendship
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: The Future, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: The Past, Self Discovery, Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government
Tags Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale / Folklore
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community
Tags Romance, Sports, New Adult, Modern Classic Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence
Publication year 1980
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Fate
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Teams, Society: Class, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Action / Adventure