The Literary Love Meter: Meet your (literary) match
Valentine's Day is the perfect time to curl up with the one you love — just try not to bend the pages.
From swoon-inducing to "love is dead," this reading list runs Cupid's gamut. Follow your heart to find your perfect (book) match.
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How do you feel about love?
I'm deep in the throes of it!
I would hold love's hand.
It's complicated.
Love and I are on a break.
I loathe it. Love is a four-letter word.
For those who love love
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are one of the most beloved couples in literary history. Austen's romantic classic still holds up, but those in search of new version have plenty of choices: Pride and Prejudice has been reimagined in modern London and in a field of zombies.
"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Looking for a fanciful, swashbuckling love story? As you wish! Goldman's novel, which inspired the much-loved film, follows Princess Buttercup and Westley the farm boy through a land of "beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions." Don't love it? Inconceivable!
"Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami
Murakami is best known for his more supernatural or surreal tales, but with "Norwegian Wood," he turns his eye on love. The book opens with a middle-aged Toru reflecting back on his college days in 1960s Tokyo. Thus begins a nostalgic unfolding of the memories, and scars, of first love.
"Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love & Karaoke" by Rob Sheffield
What can shake a young widower out of his grief? Turns out Karaoke can do the trick. Sheffield, a writer for Rolling Stone, told the romance of his first marriage in "Love Is A Mix Tape." He returns to tell the story of his second great love, which is intertwined with karaoke stand-bys like Bonnie Tyler's "Turn Around Bright Eyes."
For those who like love
"Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak: by Writers Famous and Obscure" edited by Smith Magazine
Great love stories — six words each.
"The Price of Salt" by Patricia Highsmith
This book was so risque when it was published in 1952, suspense master Patricia Highsmith (of "Strangers on a Train" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley") used a pseudonym. "Salt" follows two women who flee their oppressive lives and take to the open road to be together. In the 50s, it was hailed as "the novel of a love society forbids."
"The Post-Birthday World" by Lionel Shriver
What happens when you give into temptation? What happens when you don't? Shriver tells both stories. His book includes two alternate futures for his main character, Irina: one in which she stays with her steady love, and one in which she pursues a mysterious man.
"Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald" edited by Cathy W. Barks and Jackson R. Bryer
The Fitzgeralds' relationship was notoriously volatile; their intimate letters capture their wild love over the years. The inside view isn't always pretty, but it's always fascinating. For a slightly tamer collection of love notes, consider "My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams." John Adams was quite the flirt, opening with "Miss Adorable."
"It's complicated"
"Just Kids" by Patti Smith
The Godmother of Punk unspools the astounding story of her life with photographer Robert Mapplethrope. What began as a feverish love between starving artists became the famous friendship of two art world icons.
"Super Sad True Love Story" by Gary Shteyngart
Boy meets girl in a futuristic America that's on the brink of financial collapse. Printed books are a thing of a past and the planet is threatening to implode. Can a love story save it all? Remember the title...
"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas
Things don't get much more complicated than your beloved coming back from the dead under an assumed name, bent on destroying your new husband and winning back what's rightfully his. Dumas's classic explores the things you'll do for love (and revenge).
"High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby
What went wrong? Hornby sends his main character Rob Fleming on a quest to find out. Fresh off a new break-up, Fleming reaches out to five ex-girlfriends to see why they think it didn't last.
For those who don't want to talk about it right now
"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver
Let Carver tell you all about love — just buckle up, because you're in for a bleak ride. The title story in this collection is widely regarded as one of the best of the 20th century. In it, four friends discuss the sometimes brutal and strange realities of love. The rest of the collection is filled with similarly raw stories.
"Why We Broke Up" by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman
An illustrated guide to the end of a relationship. Min and Ed are over. Now Min is sending Ed a box filled with all the reasons why: a ticket stub, a box of matches, a toy truck and other souvenirs of a relationship gone sour. Handler weaves the story behind each item and Kalman illustrates them one by one.
"The End of the Story" by Lydia Davis
What's left after the love affair is over? Davis' unnamed narrator tries to put the pieces of a brief and burned-out affair in order, but nothing seems to fit as it should.
"Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on love and life from Dear Sugar" by Cheryl Strayed
Cheryl Strayed became a household name thanks to her memoir "Wild," but before her life on the trail made headlines, she gave advice in her column "Dear Sugar." Many of the best pieces are assembled here, and with chapter titles like "Icky Thoughts Turn Me On," "Hell is Other People's Boyfriends" and "The Ghost Ship Didn't Carry Us," it's a wicked and wickedly smart collection.
For those who hate love with the passion of a thousand fiery suns
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" by Edward Albee
Yes, this one is a play, not a book, but if you're looking for a title in this category, you're in for a little drama. Albee's famous play captures a marriage in free fall and the very dangerous mind games one couple plays.
"Bad Behavior" by Mary Gaitskill
Think your relationship is dysfunctional? Let Gaitskill comfort you with a collection of stories about characters in much more complicated situations than your own.
"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn
"Gone Girl" is a wild ride of deceit, but once you finish, you may very well believe that love is dead.
"Dangerous Liaisons" by Pierre Choderlos De Laclos
Can you destroy someone with love? Two rival Frenchmen give it their all in this cunning and twisted novel from 1700s France. Filled with seduction, revenge and double-crossing, you may have trust issues after reading it.