Dear BookBrowsers,
Yes, love is in the air. Cupid is about to strike. But if you're tired of the cheap romance novels that are as cloying as a batch of candy hearts, we hear you. This special issue of BookBrowse Highlights recommends books that you will want to read this Valentine's Day and beyond. And if you're one who would rather celebrate the occasion with a big Bah, Humbug, if you're more liable to celebrate it as Singles Awareness day, well, we've got what you'll like too!
For a limited time you can read our full reviews and "beyond the book" articles for each featured book (which are normally available only to members).
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
Hardcover Dec 2014. 304 pages. Published by Simon & Schuster.
You've got love and everything's coming up roses. But are you ready for life's unplanned detours just when you least expect them? Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman know how to do airy and light-hearted. This follow-up to The Rosie Project will delight newcomers and fans alike.
More info including review & beyond the book article
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Hardcover May 2014. 448 pages. Published by Scribner.
Yes, it won BookBrowse's 2014 Award for Best Fiction. Yes, you're tired of hearing yet another recommendation about it. But then how many love stories do you get, set against a panoramic backdrop of World War II, featuring lovers trying to find each other against improbable odds, all woven in with a compelling mystery. Believe the hype, this one's a winner. And, you're welcome.
More info including review & beyond the book article
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Paperback Mar 2014. 384 pages. Published by St. Martin's Griffin.
Long before they crashed and burned, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald were the literary world's "it" couple. What exactly did a handsome Yankee from Minnesota and a spoiled Southern girl from Georgia see in each other? What toll did their marriage exact on their careers? Their own selves? As Fowler's beautiful novel shows us, love can be a many-splendored thing but also, complicated.
More info including review & beyond the book article
Me Before You: A Novel by Jojo Moyes
Paperback Jul 2013. 400 pages. Published by Penguin Books.
Louisa Clark's life could not be more ordinary. Then there's Will Traynor, her boss, whose outsized life is in sharp contrast. Bound to a wheelchair Will can be a trying patient and Lou's patience is tested. This is a love story that goes beyond the "opposites attract" trope. There's plenty of doses and redemption and analysis of self-worth, thrown in with stunning language.
More info including review & beyond the book article
Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
Paperback Apr 2014. 432 pages. Published by Broadway Books.
Think you really know your spouse?
Gone Girl will make you look again. The runaway bestselling book, now also a blockbuster movie, shows that love is not all red roses. There are plenty of thorns in there to tear you up. The many facets of marriage form the more subtle undercurrent, wrapped in one pulse-pounding mystery.
More info including review & beyond the book article
Us: A Novel by David Nicholls
Hardcover Oct 2014. 416 pages. Published by Harper.
What do you do when love has run its course? When only one person remains invested in a relationship? This novel shows us that not all need be lost and that there are many ways to craft a life worth living. Even better, opportunity can come knocking at any time. You just have to stay open to its possibilities.
More info including review & beyond the book article
The Story of a Marriage: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer
Paperback Mar 2009. 208 pages. Published by Picador.
Think the 1950s was a time of innocence? Think again! This gorgeously written page-turner will leave you questioning your conventionally held views not just about America's happy decade but also about marriage and its many complexities. Top it all off with an atmosphere of fear and repression and the result is revealing insight into just what we will do to escape rigidly defined societal boundaries.
More info including review & beyond the book article
"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." -- Charles M. Schulz
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