February is National Library Lover’s Month

Libraries are often the first point of contact someone will make when moving to another place. They are a hub of information, community connection, and a great place to relax with a story or movie. Some get their first library card when they are very small, and some come to the library much later in life. Many find the library to be a place where they can feel at ease and welcomed.

Founded by Friends and Foundations of California Libraries in 2003 to garner support for libraries in the state, National Library Lovers Month is celebrated in February across the United States.

Celebrate Library Lover’s Month by enjoying some books and movies available in the Cannell library or through the Summit system.

Romance anyone?

Enjoy a collection of romantic twists and turns from the more modern to the classic:

The song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Patroclus, an awkward young prince, follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate. Set during the Trojan War.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This edition features beautiful two-color artwork. Absolutely delightful. Sweet, romantic, kind. Beautifully paced. I loved this book. — Rainbow Rowell, author of Carry On. Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn’t think he has a chance. But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship — the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Maurice : a novel by E. M. Forster

The story of two young men in pre-World War I England who meet at Cambridge and fall in love and then must struggle with the moral standards of the time. Clive bows to societal and family pressure and enters a loveless marriage, while Maurice resists and finds lasting love with a working-class man. Forster was reluctant to publish the book in his lifetime because such stories were not supposed to end happily.

The house of doors : a novel  by Twan Tan Eng

The year is 1921. Lesley Hamlyn and her husband, Robert, a lawyer and war veteran, are living at Cassowary House on the Straits Settlement of Penang. When ‘Willie’ Somerset Maugham, a famed writer and old friend of Robert’s, arrives for an extended visit with his secretary, Gerald, the pair threatens a rift that could alter more lives than one. Maugham, one of the great novelists of his day, is beleaguered: Having long hidden his homosexuality, his unhappy and expensive marriage of convenience becomes unbearable after he loses his savings–and the freedom to travel with Gerald. His career deflating, his health failing, Maugham arrives at Cassowary House in desperate need of a subject for his next book. Lesley, too, is enduring a marriage more duplicitous than it first appears. Maugham suspects an affair, and, learning of Lesley’s past connection to the Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat Sen, decides to probe deeper. But as their friendship grows and Lesley confides in him about life in the Straits, Maugham discovers a far more surprising tale than he imagined, one that involves not only war and scandal but the trial of an Englishwoman charged with murder. It is, to Maugham, a story worthy of fiction

The henna wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

Nishat’s parents say she can be anyone she wants–as long as she isn’t a lesbian. Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled–but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back. As the competition heats up, NIshat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance

Anything but fine by Tobias Madden

Luca’s entire identity and future are entwined around dance until he loses his performing arts scholarship after a debilitating injury. Gutted and demoted to public school attendee, the only bright spots in his new future are two friends he quickly makes, but knowing that one is gorgeous, popular, and avowed heterosexual, Luca can’t help feeling he is setting himself up for another heartbreak.

Lesbian love story : a memoir in archives by Amelia Possanza

When the author moved to Brooklyn to build a life of her own, she found herself surrounded by queer stories: she read them on landmark placards, overheard them on the pool deck when she joined the world’s largest LGBTQ swim team, and even watched them on TV in her cockroach-infested apartment. These stories inspired her to seek out lesbians throughout history who could become her role models, in romance and in life. Centered around seven love stories for the ages, this is the writer’s journey into the archives to recover the personal histories of lesbians in the twentieth century: who they were, how they loved, why their stories were destroyed, and where their memories echo and live on.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

In early nineteenth-century England, Elizabeth Bennett, a spirited young woman copes with the romantic entanglements of her four sisters, and her feelings for Fitzwilliam Darcy, a brooding gentleman.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

A poor, unwanted orphan, Jane Eyre seems destined to live a sad and ordinary life. But chance has brought her to Thornfield, home of Mr. Rochester, and secrets no one will explain.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Presents the timeless love story between a farm boy named Westley and the beautiful Princess Buttercup.

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Pretty, flighty Daisy Devreaux can either go to jail or marry the mystery man her father has chosen for her. Arranged marriages don’t happen in the modern world, so how did the irrepressible Daisy find herself in this fix? Alex Markov, as humorless as he is deadly handsome, has no intention of playing a loving bridegroom to a spoiled little featherhead with champagne tastes. He drags Daisy from her uptown life to a broken down traveling circus and sets out to tame her to his ways. But this man without a soul has met his match in a woman who’s nothing but heart. Before long, passion will send them flying sky high without a safety net… risking it all in search of a love that will last forever

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

As soon as Anne Shirley arrived at the snug, white farmhouse called Green Gables, she knew she wanted to stay forever. But would the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected — a skinny girl with decidedly red hair and a temper to match. If only she could convince them to let her stay, she’d try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes or blurt out the very first thing she had to say. Anne was not like anybody else, everyone at Green Gables agreed; she was special — a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreamed of the day when she could call herself Anne of Green Gables. Annotation. As soon as Anne Shirley arrived at the snug, white farmhouse called Green Gables, she knew she wanted to stay forever … but would the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected — a skinny girl with decidedly red hair and a temper to match. If only she could convince them to let her stay, she’d try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes or blurt out the very first thing she had to say. Anne was not like anybody else, everyone at Green Gables agreed; she was special — a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreamed of the day when she could call herself Anne of Green Gables.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Two sisters, one practical and conventional and the other emotional and sentimental, find that only through compromise of their mutual differences can they get along.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

A Love story set in the foreboding, heather-covered, wind-swept Yorkshire moors in the early 19th century.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater who is just starting to return her affection. So she’s less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French and feeling like an outcast, meets some interesting new people and begins to be charmed by Paris, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend, even if she might want more. Unfortunately he’s taken — and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she’s been waiting for?

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

An edition of Shakespeare’s tragedy, including discussion of its plot, characters, themes, language, production, and author.

Library Specific

Some books about libraries, the people that love them, and the people that keep them running:

Book lust : recommended reading for every mood, moment, and reason by Nancy Pearl

Presents one hundred and seventy themed reading lists designed for any type of reading, from “chick lit” to books on bicycling, covering a wide variety of tastes and topics.

The Library: An Illustrated History by Stuart Murray

The Library takes the reader on a compelling and informative journey through the dynamic history of our beloved libraries.

The Library by Sarah Stewart

Elizabeth Brown loves to read more than anything else, but when her collection of books grows and grows, she must make a change in her life.

Magic & Madness in the Library: Protagonists Among the Stacks edited by Eric Graeber

Fiction on the “magic” that authors have conjured up or experienced over the centuries in libraries fantastic or conventional, from Don Quixote and Gulliver’s Travels to modern classics and including several surprising discoveries.

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