Love in Literary Form
I am a sorry sucker for love in all forms; romcoms, dramatic, dramady, comedy. Give me a good love story and I will forever be a fan. Obviously, love is a topic explored in movies, music, television, and books. But regardless of how much we examine it—and our relationship with love—we seem to be on a permanent quest for more on the subject.
So as we continue that journey of understanding what love means to us in every form, I offer a few book recommendations to help us along the way.
All About Love: New Vision by bell hooks
Published in 2000, bell hooks examines romantic love in the modern age, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of love. While there are moments of dated ideas, the whole of the book holds up very well. It challenges what our collective society thinks about love, how we interpret what we are told about love, and how we can rethink love and grow into a space that brings us to a better understanding of what love means. hooks references the many male researchers and philosophers of love while bringing her perspective of the subject as well. On a personal note, this book took me on a journey as I am getting closer to the ten-year mark of being a singleton. Not only that, as my child ages and grows into adulthood, the love I feel for him is changing too. I’m not suggesting this book “fixed” me. It did, however, answer some questions I didn’t even know I had.
Harper, 2000 (272 pages)
Every Summer After
Every Summer After is the contemporary love story of my dreams. Written by Carley Fortune, this story is told through a series of flashbacks starting when Percy is in the 8th grade and then takes us through the next six years. While spending her summers in Barry’s Bay Percy develops a deep friendship with the neighbor kids, Sam and Charlie. What I love about this book is that it explores how complicated young love can be when the world you experience it in, exists in a vacuum. It balances youthful innocence and broken hearts. Every Summer After feels like a Taylor Swift song in the best way. You know the way Swift captures the whimsy and nostalgia of love's past? Fortune has that same skill. It’s beautiful and sometimes cozy. Even if you never experienced young love, Persephone and Sam capture you in a way that feels familiar and warm.
Penguin Publishing Group, 2022 (320 pages)
Heartstopper Series
Krikus calls Hearstopper: Volume One, “An adorable diary of love’s gut punches.” I give that review a hard agree. Hearstopper is a graphic novel series written by Alice Oseman. It follows Charlie and Nick as they navigate friendship and blossoming love. The series, five in all so far, also navigates mental health, coming out, and self-identity all while being wildly and enamored by someone. It’s a beautiful navigation of love in that these two characters have very different life experiences. Charlie’s family, traditional—in the sense that there is mom, dad, and several siblings—is supportive of him to an extent. We see that his parents love him, but have reservations when it comes to him dating. They are protective of their son and sometimes that translates in a way that feels frustrating for Charlie. Nick’s family consists of his mother and brother. Nick’s mother loves her sons very much and she has built a relationship with them that makes space for Nick to feel comfortable going to her for guidance when he’s worried about Charlie. Heartstopper not only gives us a beautiful story about first love, but also how complicated relationships can be. Though this is a graphic novel series, I dare you not to read them and fall in love with the story. Netflix adapted this series in 2022 and because of Alice Oseman, the screen adaptation captures the essence of the graphic novels.
Hachette Childrens Group, 2019, (1578 pages, 5 Vol Series) Originally self-published in 2016.