Love stories can be the most engaging of reads--especially around Valentine’s Day. From a love story written in 1813, to a lost love spanning decades, to the journey of grief after a loss, our picks this month have something for everyone with a passion for reading. With help from Walter Boyer, owner of Bookends in Ridgewood, and his staff, these timeless gems will make your heart soar.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Many have seen the movie and TV adaptations of this classic novel of love and manners written in 1813. Return to the original source for Austen’s wit and to follow the delightful Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’ Bennet and her four sisters on their search for true love. The opinionated Lizzy catches the eye of Mr. Darcy and their love story begins.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
In December of 2003 Quintana, the only daughter of Joan Didion and writer John Gregory Dunne, falls into a coma. Days later, Dunne dies suddenly of a heart attack. Tragedy strikes again a few months later when Quintana passes away as well, and the author is left in deep bereavement. This penetrating and frank portrait of Didion’s unimaginable losses written in her own honest and eclectic style touches on learning to live on her own.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
Nobel Prize winner Márquez writes the unforgettable story of Florentino, in wait for "fifty-nine years, nine months and four days" to reunite with his true love Fermina. Separated when Fermina marries a wealthy doctor, Florentino flourishes in his business career and has 622 affairs but never forgets his first love. When she loses her husband, Florentino takes one last chance at love.
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
This book has been an under-the-radar reader favorite for almost a decade. It tells the story of a New York lawyer who suddenly disappears leaving his wife and daughter, Julia, behind. When Julia finds a decades-old love letter in her father’s belongings she sets out to find him and ends up in Burma in the village where the woman he once loved lived. Their love story leaves both Julia and rapt readers, breathless.
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