Hey y’all! It has BEEN A WHILE since I did one of these! And even longer since I did them consistently! But I felt like a list today, and what easier time then to do it with a love / Valentine’s Day theme? Things I love!
Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish question idea that was originally created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, from way back in June 2010! Since January 2018, Top Ten Tuesday has been hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Thanks for taking it over! The idea is to make a list of ten books or bookish things on different topics each week. Check out her site for details on how to join and what the upcoming prompts are. š You can also see all the posts from other bloggers linked on each weekly post on their main site.
This week’s prompt as I kind of hinted at above is a freebie on the theme of love or focused on Valentine’s Day. Originally, I had gone through and looked at all the books I’ve read on or around Valentine’s Day each year to see if there was ever a pattern I wasn’t aware of. There wasn’t. xD I just read whatever I’m reading, and it wasn’t really what I wanted to do for the bulk of this post. However, I will include a simple list of those titles after the main post here!
I ended up going for something much simpler: books I’ve read with the word love in the title. xD Here we go!
The Books
The reasons
Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee
I had to read Anna Karenina by Tolstoy my senior year of high school and while parts of it were cool, parts of it (*ahem* LENIN) suuuper dragged. So I was HYPED when this YA re-imagining of the book came out, and was curious / wary of how it would end. In short: loved this book, have the duology, and will probably re-read it soon now that I’m thinking about it.
Twenty-One Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks
Shout out to one of my first ever Fasts Forward Friday books! This is a really unique book because it’s written entirely in lists. That might sound weird, but it’s incredible how versatile the author made it, and this is another I’m now thinking I should re-read because I still haven’t found another like it. The story was decent, but the presentation is really where it shines!
Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley
For a person who really doesn’t use social media, I frickin’ love books about it. This was my first foray into a Youtube-themed book, and goddamn was it excellent!!! I fell fully in love with this book and the characters in a way I did not expect from the title that kind of made me cringe.
Little Moments of Love by Catana
Ahhh, my comfort comics collection. ^.^ This is one of her several books of comics all focused on little slice-of-life moments with her person (and later, with their dog). It’s one of those that makes me smile and think “omg we do that same thing!!” and feel connected and seen. Plus, they’re just cute and funny. ^.^
Alexa, What Is There to Know About Love? by Brian Bilston
Poetry! There had to be poetry in my love collection, right? Though maybe this isn’t the usual entrant, I enjoyed Bilston’s collection that plays a lot with language, punning, cultural expectations, and so on. He’s like the everyman’s poet, just talking about trains that are late and missing socks and funny names.
Loveless by Alice Oseman
Technically this isn’t the word love, but love is in it and I really wanted to include it as a great representation of the many forms of love! Because even though the title is loveless and it’s about a character learning they’re asexual, there’s so much love in this book and I felt squeezed while reading it.
Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo
You can’t stop me from loving Teen Titans. The other two books before this were great, but their blending in this one was outstanding. The art itself said so much, but it still had that same wonderful humor and action combo. LOVE IT.
Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson
This is a book about love for career and one’s self, rather than much romantic love (though it’s in there a little as well). And, of course, a love of books.
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite
I was about one week away from going to teach in Haiti after quitting my job when I got a counter offer of another role I had really wanted and ended up staying. But this book fulfilled a lot of that Haitian longing I had. š„°
The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess
I’ve included this book in probably at least 10 posts by now, but I usually truncate the name because it’s very long. However, it does have love in it! And I loved this incredible narrative nonfiction book, because it was pain and light constantly alternating. And it’s real.
My Book Joy 
What a delightful list. š
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-liked-about-asexual-characters/
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I adore Oseman’s Heartstopper books but have not yet read Loveless.
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Great list! I love lists, so I’m going to have to check out Twenty-One Truths About Love. I’m super curious how a whole book can be written as lists.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/02/14/top-ten-tuesday-free-short-fiction-for-valentines-day/
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I love how many different ways “love” can be used in a title. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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What a fun post, The Cat I Never Named looks good and heartbreaking
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Great list, Jennifer! I was just thinking earlier today that I need to get a move on reading Yardley’s books and boom, here it is on your list! I’m taking it as a sign that I need to pick it up like, now! š The title does make me cringe a little too, ngl, but I’ve heard lots of good things about it. Glad to see you enjoyed it too!
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There are SOOO many “love” books out there! Wow. I don’t read much romance, so I never really noticed that before. Ha ha.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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I love this idea for this week’s freebie, especially since until you pointed it out, I didn’t realize some of those books had love in their titles! š
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