It must be all that spring air at Stray Talk
an archive of my forays into fact and fiction

20th May, 2008
It must be all that spring air
— Love @ 21:36 Comments (4)
Filed under: General booktalk

Since I last spent a couple of hours updating with reviews (that’d be last night), I have read seven books, which means I am now caught up with my personal goal of reading an average of four books a week. I was way behind on that after my reading slump back in March/April, but after all these brilliant (and, to be honest, some less than brilliant) YA finds from the library, I am back on track. Twenty-seven books so far this month, and I’d be surprised if it stops at that.

I re-read and read, respectively, Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy tonight, and it’s left a taste for love stories. Thing is, I’ve re-read most of my old favourites fairly recently, so what I’d quite like is recommendations, if anyone has any. They don’t have to be romances, strictly speaking, as long as there’s some sort of love story involved. I’m also a fan of classical stuff, where things are implied, rather than spelled out exactly. They don’t have to be classics, though.

However, if anyone happens to recommend The Time Traveller’s Wife, I fear I will have to stab myself in the eye. I tried that one once and only got about two pages in before I chucked it away in a corner and looked for another book to read.



4 comments
  1. Eva wrote:

    Have you ever read Middlemarch? It’s got lots of kinds of love stories in it. And, of course, a little bit of Pride and Prejudice never hurt anyone. ;)

    If you haven’t read Love in the Time of Cholera, I really liked it. Oh! And Possession!

    I think that’s about the extent of my ‘love story’ suggestions; I guess I just don’t read all that many. :)


  2. Kim L wrote:

    OMG, have you heard of The Time Traveler’s Wife? That would be perfect! (JUST KIDDING!)

    I don’t read too many romances, but I’m a fan of Pride and Prejudice when I need a little romance.

    Sadly, the only other book coming to mind is The Secret Life of Bees, which was mostly about woman power, but if I remember right, it did have some romance.


  3. chartroose wrote:

    I hated “The Time Traveler’s Wife” too! It was total tripe.

    If you want a real honest-to-God romance that’s pretty good, read “Through a Glass Darkly” by Karleen Koen. I think she recently came out with a prequel to the book, although I don’t think I’ll read it because one romance every 10 or so years is about all I can stand!


  4. Love wrote:

    Eva: I haven’t, though I keep meaning to. Maybe this’ll be the year!

    Kim L: I don’t think I’ve heard of The Secret Life of Bees before (at least not that I can recall). I’ll check it out when I have the chance.

    Chartroose: I’ll definitely put that on my TBR list, then. We seem to have sort of the same take on at least some books.


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