Happy Valentines Day

I'm not a big fan of Valentines. It's a holiday created by various commercial groups to induce sales of chocolate, jewelry, and greeting cards celebrating the most shallow aspects of something really quite wonderful: love. Some of my most awkward and uncomfortable memories from high school were on various Valentines Days.

However love itself is a pretty amazing thing and a common theme in a lot of literature I love. I'm not a big fan of reading straight up romance, but here are some of my favorite books from the last few years featuring a love story:

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz - Odd loves Stormy in a way that transcends death. Despite being a horror novel, it's the relationship between the two of them that initially drew me in.









The Marvels by Brian Selznick - Love is often known in literature through loss. Profound loss can drive a story like no other thing.









Looking for Alaska by John Green - Not all stories about love, see that love recognized by the object of that love. Alaska is a beautiful tortured girl and Miles loves her in an unapproachable almost worshipful way as do all the other boys around her. However, none of them can save her.

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles - Not all love is romantic, that doesn't make it less valuable. Romantic love has a bad tendency to maim as often as it heals. The love between friends can be a balm that restores wounded even if between two girls that most would discount.