I recently posted looking for books about the greatest loves and got lots of good suggestions BUT am still looking for some books about other kinds of love to make up my quota. I'm talking familial love, maternal and paternal love, sibling love, self love, love between friends, etc. Open to fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, manga, really everything! (I've got a substantial list of books about romantic love but I'm open to new suggestions.)
Some books that radiate the deep kind of love I'm talking about: Fruits Basket (a manga about unconditional love), Song of Achilles (pure/doomed love), The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (love through boundaries, found family), really anything by Abby Jimenez, Pride and Prejudice… These books do not have to be primarily about love as you can tell. I'm hoping to create a list that serves as a tapestry of all the different ways humans can love!
Thank you everyone who commented before and in advance to anyone who comments here. 😀
by pillow-bug
5 Comments
I’m a broken record, but always recommending *f4gg0ts and their friends between revolutions* by Larry Mitchell
I like *Raybearer* by Jordan Ifueko because of its unusual approach to love. The main characters are magically linked by an intense bond that can only be formed through true love, and the book leaves a lot of room for what that may look like. It describes strong relationships, some of which are romantic, some are not, and all of which are treated as equally important. (The book as a whole has its strenghts and weaknesses, but I like its colourful world. There is a sequel that gets rather dark, as well as a third, loosely connected book set in the same world. The audiobooks are fantastic, in case that’s of interest.)
If you like Becky Chambers, I also recommend *To Be Taught, If Fortunate*. It is also set on a spaceship – but far less fantastical, more hard sci fi – and there is a crew of four people connected in a very loving way that doesn’t quite fit common categories.
And have you read *The Left Hand of Darkness*? It has a very deep bond between two people at its center, which is clearly *some* kind of love, but the book refuses to define it too narrowly.
(Following this post because I like your question a lot!)
Left hand of darkness – love appears a bit later in the story, you’ll need to get through quite some stuff. It’s a great book from other points of view too though.
Greenglass house – it’s a middle grade book and not about love as such, it’s a detective story, with play and imagination. But the MC’s parents’ love for him is a constant background.
Braiding sweetgrass – non-fiction. She sacrifices scientific truth for poetic an unsettling amount of times, but everyone raves about it for a good reason. Various kinds of love, esp nature.
Nothing to see here -this one wasn’t very powerful, but it wraps up nicely. >!Someone who wasn’t loved very much through their life decides to love someone else properly, because it’s going to fill the hole in their heart too.!<
These two, maybe not quite it.
Buried giant – they say it’s about memory, but there’s a married couple in the centre of the story and something happens to them. Tbh I don’t understand it very well.
Howl’s moving castle – reluctant participants. Nobody’s super open to loving anyone, or even liking. But life brings them together and they end up taking care of each other.
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Oddly enough- Project Hail Mary
The Frozen River
YA – The Secret Garden
Flight Behavior
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles shows love between siblings and friends. Britt-Marie was here by Fredrik Backman shows friends and somewhat maternal love. I think most of Fredrik Backman’s work tackles love in all of its complicated forms. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, definitely a complicated kind of love/friendship. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner tackles love for mom, self love and culture.