Books for when...
Valentine's themed recommendations
You are romantically inspired:
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Aside from all the preposterous happenings in this classic magical realism novel (the Devil incarnated, his sidekick cat, and the chaos they impart), the crux of The Master and Margarita is built on the relationship that our characters are fighting for, withstanding sanity, life, and death.
You feel like giving up on romantic love:
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
Sputnik Sweetheart depicts a lot of romantic love, but none that is reciprocated. If you love someone romantically and they don’t love you back, or if you don’t love someone romantically but love them wholeheartedly, what ends will you go to to be there for them? Sputnik Sweetheart renews and wrecks my faith in many things. Love is one of them.
You feel like falling in love with the world:
Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
Perhaps pushing the limits of abstraction, Pure Colour explores all the peculiarity of being outside in your garden, from any perspective you might be able to fathom from in your garden. Sprinkled with thought-provoking lines, it is a reminder that there is so much to the world. Once I finished, I sat and thought. And then I felt a little bit more whole.
