Love is complicated. It can feel wonderful or terrible; it can make your toes tap or crush your soul. And Valentine’s Day, like love, can be filled with romance and joy or a painful reminder of love lost. Oh, l’amour, l’amour.
I think February 14 can be so much more than roses, chocolates, and valentines. Not that there is anything wrong with these things, but loving something doesn’t have to involve romance or Cupid. For example, I love to laugh, and I love animals, homemade meals, warm and inviting spaces, and pretty fabric. So, don’t be surprised that these reading suggestions revolve around my interests. Yes, it’s all about me today.
Animal rescue stories, interior decoration ideas, comfort food recipes, Roz Chast cartoons—they may not all be your favorite things, but I hope at least one of these topics resonates with you and prompts a visit to the library (in person or online). And even though I said February 14 is more than a valentine, I do feel compelled to include one relationship-related title. Love is for all ages, which is why I am offering Gray Love: Stories About Dating and New Relationships After 60.
"There’s nothing like unrequited love to take all the flavor out of a peanut butter sandwich.” – Charlie Brown (Charles M. Schulz)
- Daisy to the Rescue: True Stories of Daring Dogs, Paramedic Parrots, and Other Animal Heroes by Jeff Campbell.
- Gray Love: Stories About Dating and New Relationships After 60 edited by Nan Bauer-Maglin and Daniel E. Hood.
- House + Love = Home: Creating Warm, Intentional Spaces for a Beautiful Life by Jenny Marrs.
- Let’s Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart & Home by Dan Pelosi.
- Pretty Handmades: Felt & Fabric Sewing Projects to Warm Your Heart by Lauren Wright.
- You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time: Rules for Couples written by Patricia Marx, illustrated by Roz Chast.
New at the Library
Fiction
- Always Remember by Mary Balogh.
- Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson.
- Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles.
Nonfiction
- The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen.
- Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes.
- Transient and Strange: Notes on the Science of Life by Nell Greenfieldboyce.
Children
- Courtesy of Cupid by Nashae Jones.
- Programmed to Paint written and illustrated by Mauricio Abril.
- Rising Above: The Wataru “Wat” Misaka Story written by Hayley Diep, illustrated by Naomi Giddings.
This is just a small sampling of the many new titles added each week to the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries collection. Find more in our catalog, or call 360-906-5000 to reserve titles or find additional listings.
Jan Johnston, Collection Manager
Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries
You can email Jan at readingforfun@fvrl.org
