Not sure what to read this Valentine's Day? Ekta Kapoor has you covered!
In February, the air is filled with love. Whether you're single or committed, February and Valentine's Day set up the mood for love. While COVID-19 has restricted all of us to our homes, we can still make the most of this month by consuming stories of love that fill us with warmth. Romantic books has the potential to take you into the land of imagination and live a love story. As you flip the pages, you go through love, compromise, heartache, heartbreak, and whatnot.
Hence, we reached out to Ekta Kapoor, a communication professional, an incorrigible reading bug, and a self-confessed fan of literary fiction. She enjoys critically evaluating her reading experiences on her Instagram page @thisbookmagnet. We asked her to recommend some books that you could add to your wishlist this month.
Here's what Ekta Kapoor had to say about romantic books!
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - I somehow find an excuse to add Rebecca to any book list I may be making, irrespective of the occasion. If you haven’t read this one, then this might be the perfect time to pick it up. A Victorian Gothic love story that stays unputdownable from the very first lines.
The age of innocence by Edith Wharton - This is an absolutely unforgettable story of thwarted love, lost time, and the impossibility of fate. It was also adapted into a movie, starring Daniel Day-Lewis. I would urge you to watch the movie too, after reading the book. Both are crafted very well and intimately portrayed.
Let's call the whole thing off by Kasia Boddy - An absolutely gorgeous anthology of short delicious love quarrels, from some very accomplished writers like Jhumpa Lahiri, Ali Smith, Anton Chekhov among others. It will surely bring a smile to your face and an occasional tear to your eye.
Image Credits: Penguin Random House
Atonement by Ian McEwan - This one is a classic. A master of prose and provocation, McEwan enthralls with this timeless story of love amidst war and hopelessness.
Image Credits: Penguin Random House
Tinman by Sarah Winman - This book has all the feels! I rarely cry while reading books, but I sobbed like a lost five-year-old at the end of this one. It's a heartwrenching story of all kinds of love. Gay, platonic, irrevocable, ill-fated, and the everlasting kind of love.
Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro - I am a huge Ishiguro fan. I love how he quietly explodes onto paper. His writing is very restrained, you wouldn’t find any sweeping declarations. However, in the end, you’ll find your heart indescribably full. Set in a dystopian world, a lot of people call this book science fiction, but I disagree. I think it's a love story, set in a world where love isn’t an option anymore and that's beautiful.
The song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - I love Greek mythology, and I love a modern retelling of old fables even more. This one is about the clandestine romance between Achilles and Patroclus. Against the backdrop of the Trojan war, this book focuses on what it means to love someone you know you’ll never have. It describes what it means to then lose them, even when you knew all along that they were never really yours.
Just Kids by Patti Smith - This is not really a novel, it’s a piece of Patti Smith’s heart. For the uninitiated, Smith is a singer, songwriter, and poet from the American punk rock movement of the ’70s. This is her declaration for her friend, her confidante, and the first boy she ever fell in love with, Robert Mapplethorpe.
A cat, a man, and two women - Now that I've given you nine stories about love between humans, let me end this list with this endearing story of the inexplicable bond between a man and his cat. Big-hearted and full of love, this one is a warm quilt on a rainy day.
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