February is short and it has Valentines Day. I like to pull out a new romance to read in February. It can be contemporary, it can be a classic, it can be cross-genre. Here are some books I have read in previous years that I would recommend:

Jane Eyre , Charlotte Bronte Anna Karenina , Leo Tolstoy Pride and Prejudice , Jane AustenEmma, Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility , Jane Austen Northanger Abbey , Jane Austen Wuthering Heights , Emily BronteRomeo and Juliet, William ShakespeareSonnets, Shakespeare The Song of Achilles , Madeline Miller A Long Petal of the Sea , Isabel AllendeSonnets from the Portuguese, Elizabeth Browning The Princess Bride , William Goldman Love in the Time of Cholera , Gabriel Garcia MarquezA Severe Mercy, Sheldon Van AukenA Midsummer Night’s Dream, William ShakespeareAnne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery (through the first three) Rilla of Ingleside , L. M. MontgomeryLes Miserables, Victor Hugo Betting on You , Lynn Painter To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , Jenny Han Book Lovers, Beach Read , People We Meet on Vacation , or Happy Place , Emily Henry Little Women , Louisa May Alcott Universal Love , Alexander WeinsteinStay with Me, Ayobami Adebayo Normal People , Sally Rooney Fourth Wing , Rebecca Yarros If I See You Again Tomorrow , Robbie Couch

I noticed that I have read a lot of unconventional or anti-love stories this year. If that is your jam for Valentines, then here are a few of those:

The Marriage Portrait , Maggie O’Farrell (Yeah, it doesn’t turn out too well for this princess) Miss Iceland , Audur Ava Olafsdottir (the real love here is between friends)The Vegetarian, Han Kang (a book about isolation, with failed love at every turn)

As for Valentines-appropriate books that I haven’t yet read but would like to:

Me Before You, Jojo MoyesAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire SaenzEleanor & Park, Rainbow RowellFunny Story, Emily HenryThe Love Hypothesis, Ali HazelwoodThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Victoria E. SchwabLove, Theoretically, Ali HazlewoodACOTAR series, Sarah J. MaasIron Flame and Onyx Storm, Rebecca YarrosBetter than the Movies, Lynn PainterHeartstopper series, Alice OsemanDivine Rivals, Rebecca RossLegends & Lattes, Travis BaldreeNorth and South, Elizabeth GaskellThe Thornbirds, Colleen McCulloughRed, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuinstonOn Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean VuongEverything I Know About Love, Dolly AldertonImogen, Obviously, Becky Albertalli

Books that are being published in February that the experts (and fans) tell us we should be excited about:

Three Days in June, Anne TylerWe All Live Here, Jojo MoyesFamous Last Words, Gillian McAllisterThe Queens of Crime, Marie BenedictYou Are Fatally Invited, Andre PliegoBlack Woods, Blue Sky, Eowyn IveyListen to Your Sister, Nina VielSomething in the Walls, Daisy PearceDeep End, Ali HazlewoodScythe & Sparrow, Brynne WeaverNeedy Little Things, Channelle DesamoursRebel Witch, Kristin CiccarelliMemorial Days: A Memoir, Geraldine BrooksCleavage, Jennifer Finney BoylanSource Code, Bill GatesThe Bones Beneath My Skin, TJ KluneStone Yard Devotional, Charlotte WoodBooster Shots, Adam RatnerNothing Serious, Emily J. SmithAir-Borne, Carl ZimmerBibliophobia, Sarah ChihayaVictorian Psycho, Virginia FeitoPure Innocent Fun, Ira Madison IIINesting, Roisin O’Donnell

I also want to mention a book that was published in 2023, but has sprung to the top of the bestsellers lists. Why? It is by Mariann Edgar Budde, the bishop who delivered the homily for the inauguration a couple weeks back and confronted President Trump by asking for mercy for scared Americans and immigrants. Her third book, which is the one trending, is crazily (I mean appropriately) enough about being brave and is titled How We Learn to Be Brave. You may find it back-ordered, right now, but I’m sure the publishers are getting right on that.

Like everything I read last month is recommendable, though I certainly enjoyed some reads more than others. The only book I would not recommend, I am not even going to review because it is self-pubbed. Let’s forget that ever happened.

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1), Neal Shusterman Miss Iceland , Audur Ava OlafsdottirChildren of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky (if you are that sci-fi type)Lucky Jim, Kingsley Amis (if you are an older Anglophile)The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (if you are insistent on classics)James, Percival Everett

The Vegetarian, Han KangBeasts of Prey (Beasts of Prey #1), Ayana GrayOrbital, Samantha HarveyThe Warden (The Warden #1), Daniel M. Ford

I have crammed the February TBR full of other books, too. I will never get through these, but I have a system for carrying over so that I don’t feel too guilty about that.

Me Before You, Jojo MoyesThe Secret of the Tower, Andrew BeattieThe Angel Player, Andrew Beattie (ARC)Solito, Javier ZamoraJulie Chan Is Dead, Liann Zhang (ARC)Wicked, Gregory Maguire (finish)The Eyes and the Impossible, Dave EggersLove & Lemon’s Simple Feel Good FoodPainted Devils, Margaret OwenAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire SaenzHold Me Closer, Necromancer, Lish McBrideBreakfast of Champions, Kurt VonnegutI Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, Lorrie MooreA Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy TooleEleanor & Park, Rainbow RowellCreation Lake, Rachel KushnerChain-Gang Allstars, Nana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahRed, White and Royal Blue, Rajani LaRoccaPrayer, Timothy KellerADHD Is Awesome!, Penn and Kim Holderness (finish)Save the Cat! Writes a YA Novel, Jessica Brody (finish)