Anti-Valentine’s Day book recommendations

What has been there every time you’ve been hurt or feeling down? A book! If you don’t choose to celebrate Valentines Day in the traditional sense, why not have a date with literature?

Before I share my book recommendations with you to read this February…

Here are some things to remember when preparing for a date with your book:

• Think about protection, if the book is coming in the bath with you, or eating dinner with you, it needs to be kept safe.
• Don’t rush into things, if it’s not the right book, that’s okay, there’s plenty more!
• Don’t just choose it based on the cover, look at the contents of the book too and make your choice.
• Try not to pick a book someone else is reading, don’t set your heart on reading a book you know you’ve leant to a friend.
• Maybe you could buy a new bookmark to celebrate this special night.

Now that’s out of the way, onto the book recommendations!

I’ve tried to pick books that are far from romance novels, that offer distraction and entertainment and that I have loved. I could write about all of these books in great detail, but I thought it would be more useful to offer some quick fired recommendations for you guys. If you want to see my full thoughts on each book, I’ve linked my reviews in their titles.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman

Funny, immersive, easy to sit down for hours and jump into and a bit (A LOT) on the emotional side at the end, a fantastic example of the good in humans.

Vicious, Victoria Schwab

Bad ass characters, friendship, extraordinary abilities, enemies, basically all the excitement with some magical powers thrown in!

Angels and Demons, Dan Brown

100% a page turn, totally distracting and easy to get lost in, mystery and adventure, art history.

IT, Stephen King

Definitely very different from the real world, distracting, multiple narratives to keep you interested, huge in size, so will definitely keep you busy!

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

Has some amazing pop culture references, all about reality gaming, totally addictive story with characters you will love.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Amazing lead character, gripping plot told in a way you won’t ever want to put it down, a brilliant glance at a not so long ago period in the past, a different take on romantic relationships.

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, Rick Riordan

Non-stop fun that will definitely make you laugh, an amazing set of diverse characters, exciting story and follows Norse Mythology.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman

Totally weird, but completely brilliant, an obscure plot that you won’t be able to step away from, a uniquely beautiful style of writing.

Is that enough to keep you guys going for now? These are all books I have loved and thought you would all enjoy to if you haven’t already! I hope these quick little summaries give you some help when picking your book date for valentines day. Feel free to add any more in the comments!