Read About Love in February!

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[NOTE: This article is reprinted from the February issue of Vital! magazine. You can also see it online here at the Vital! website, though I have included links to the book reviews in this blog post.]

Celebrate Valentine’s Day this month by reading about love. Love in books doesn’t necessarily mean romance. There are many kinds of love written about in novels. Here are some of my favorites:

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion– a different kind of love story, about a man with Asperger’s searching for a wife in a methodical way – fun and laugh-out-loud funny, like a romantic comedy in a book.

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls – a novel by the renowned author of the memoir The Glass Castle that focuses on the love between young sisters in 1975 who rely on each other when their mother leaves them.

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan – the story of an Irish immigrant to New York who must choose between her love and her dreams.

Time and Again by Jack Finney – a love story within a time travel plot, wrapped in historical fiction, as the main character travels back in time from 1970 to 1882.

The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry by Gabriele Zevin – a wonderful bookish love story full of life that will have you laughing and crying.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult – a unique and suspenseful story of a girl searching for her missing mother that highlights the unbreakable bond of love between a mother and her child.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver – three different kinds of love stories, interwoven and all set in the hills of Virginia, with a heavy focus on the love of nature as well.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – this combination of the reality of life in Alaska in 1920 and the fantasy of a child who comes to life in the snow showcases both the love between a husband and wife and between parents and a child.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick – a quirky, hilarious, and uplifting story about damaged people finding love in the unlikeliest places.

Redfield Farm: A Novel of the Underground Railroad by Judith Redline Coopey – a compelling novel about forbidden love set against a fascinating historical backdrop.

Suzan Jackson is a freelance writer who lives in Delaware with her husband and two sons. She writes a blog about books, featuring reviews, book news, and more at www.bookbybook.blogspot.com. You can find reviews of most of the books listed here on the blog.