Plano Reads: Love at the Library
10 mins read

Plano Reads: Love at the Library

Perfect choices for the most romantic month of the year! Be sure to check out our other book lists on the blog for reading inspiration.

Love-ly” Fiction for Adults

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – Sensual, rebellious Anna falls deeply and passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky. When she refuses to conduct the discreet affair that her cold, ambitious husband—and Russian high society—would condone, she is doomed. Through these and other characters, Tolstoy weaves a vast and rich tapestry of nineteenth-century Russian society.  Print | eBook | Audiobook | CD | Playaway  

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney – Millennials Eileen and Alice have been best friends since they first met in college, but differences in their social and class status, as well as their distance and time apart, have led to some drifting between them. The two keep in touch through email communications, where they talk about their romantic partners. Alice is seeing a man she met on a dating app, while Eileen navigates her feelings towards a childhood friend. A provocative look at today’s complex relationships.  Print | eBook | Audiobook

Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith – Alexander McCall Smith’s gentle satire and cozy, old-fashioned sensibility prove to be the perfect match for Jane Austen’s wit and characters, as he ushers Emma and her family into the twenty-first century. The summer after her university graduation, Emma returns to Highbury to set up her new interior design business, but can’t resist offering advice, and her matchmaking skills, to everyone she knows and loves!  Print | eBook | eAudiobook | Large Print | CD/Play

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole – As the Civil War rages between the states, undercover agents Elle and Malcolm plunge fearlessly into a storm of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past. The first in an exceptional romantic series set during the Civil War, this book has been praised for “its heart-stopping plot, richly detailed setting, and unforgettable characters.” Print | eBook 

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway – This timeless Hemingway classic is perhaps one of the author’s most ambitious novels. Set against the backdrop of World War I, the novel follows the love affair between the American expatriate Henry and the English nurse Catherine. While a touching love story, the novel’s five “act” structure and anti-war sentiment makes it a much more universal story, one that explores heroism and human weaknesses beyond the realm of love. Print 

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman – After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as a lighthouse keeper nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, a boat washes up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Isabel is determined to keep the baby as her own, but dire consequences await. Print | eBook | Audiobook | CD/Play | Large Print 

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwoood – When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman’s carefully calculated theories on love into chaos. As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation, kissing the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor. Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. For Olive, the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope. Print | eBook | eAudiobook

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson – Lillian takes a job caring for the twin children of her wealthy college roommate from many years ago. What Lillian doesn’t know until she shows up at the family’s door, is that these children have the strange ability to burst into flames when they are upset. Despite the risk that comes with caring for them, Lillian agrees, and over one long summer, discovers resources–and feelings–she never knew she had. A witty, tender look at an exceptional kind of parental trust and love. Print | eBook | Audiobook

Someone to Love by Mary Balogh – The first novel in the Westcott series introduces a family with a shocking secret that will change all their lives. The Earl of Riverdale had a secret marriage, and an unknown daughter, Anna Snow, who is named his heir. Facing her unforgiving family for the first time, Anna falls in love with Avery, Duke of Netherby, who steps in to guide her. A gentle romance and a delightful series. Print | eBook | Large Print 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón  – The first entry of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series and a best seller worldwide, this novel follows the love story of a young boy named Daniel and the interwoven story of Julián, a mysterious author from an older generation, through gradual yet mesmerizing discoveries. Set in Barcelona, 1945, the novel is also a window into post-war Spain and its many beauties, madness, and secrets of darkness. Print | eBook | Audiobook | CD/Play 

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren – Single mom Jessica Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in; she holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard… and lonely. GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company, claims to find soulmates through DNA. Her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: one of GeneticAlly’s founders, Dr. River Peña. She already knows Dr. Peña, and this stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate… Print | eBook | eAudiobook 

Especially for Young Adults

Frankly in Love by David Yoon – High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love–or himself–at all. Print | eBook | Audiobook  

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez – At home, 17-year-old Camila Hassan lives within her mother’s narrow expectations, her soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father. On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, she needs parental permission. To complicate matters the boy she loves is back in town and she is torn between her feelings for him and her passion for soccer. Print | eBook | Audiobook  

Lovely War by Julie Berry – In the perilous days of World Wars I and II, the gods hold the fates– and the hearts–of four mortals in their hands. They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette: a classical pianist from London, a British would-be architect-turned-soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it’s no match for the transcendent power of Love. Print | eBook | Audiobook | Large Print 

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le – High school seniors Bảo and Linh, whose feuding families own competing Vietnamese restaurants, conceal their budding romance, as well as Linh’s desire to become an artist. Print | eBook | Audiobook  

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly – In this adaptation of the fairy tale Snow White, the huntsman follows the queen’s order to kill Sophie, but the princess is brought back to life by the seven men of the woods, who, along with other brave friends, help Sophie overcome the story’s true villain and reclaim her throne. Print | eBook | Audiobook

Nonfiction

All My Friends Have Issues: Building Remarkable Relationships with Imperfect People (Like Me) by Amanda Anderson – Amanda Anderson provides the wise and witty answers, giving practical advice and sharing personal stories to guide us toward the kinds of friendships we long for. Blending faith-based insights and psychological truths, All My Friends Have Issues is a liberating guide to finding and becoming an authentic and encouraging friend. Print 

Eight Dates: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman – Strengthen and deepen your love with a fun, ingenious program of eight life-changing conversations—on essential topics such as money, sex, and trust—from two of the world’s leading marriage researchers and clinicians. Print | eBook 

Love Poems: (For Anxious People) by John Kenney – Thurber Humor Prize winner John Kenney returns with a brilliantly funny collection of poetry which connects two key emotions in all our lives today. Print 

Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption edited by Daniel Jones – A collection of the fifty most revealing, funny, stirring essays from the New York Times’s popular “Modern Love” column. Editor Daniel Jones has arranged these tales to capture the ebb and flow of relationships, from seeking love and tying the knot to having children and finding love that endures. (Cynics and melancholics can skip right to the section on splitting up.) Taken together, these essays show through a modern lens how love drives, haunts, and enriches us. For anyone who’s loved, lost, stalked an ex, or made a lasting connection, and for the voyeur in all of us, Modern Love is the perfect match. Print | eBook 

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