4 Books To Combat Your Post Valentine’s Day Blues

The Valentine’s Funk

       We’ve all been there. February 14th is the day where all us single people get to watch the happy couples fawn over each other. So while we all say we don’t care that we don’t have a valentine, it can be sad to think we don’t have a significant other with whom to share the day. The good news is that you and I are in the same boat, and I have compiled a small list of charming and amusing stories that are sure to be better than any valentine you could’ve gotten. (Unless you received a stack of books from someone as a valentine. Or a giant cake. Then it probably won’t be better. However, it will come close. I promise.)

Click Here to Read More

We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a True Story, by: Josh Sundquist

       A bright, poignant, and deeply funny autobiographical account of coming of age as an amputee cancer survivor, from Josh Sundquist: Paralympic ski racer, YouTube star, and motivational speaker.
       Josh Sundquist only ever had one girlfriend.
       For twenty-three hours.
       In eighth grade.
       Why was Josh still single? To find out, he tracked down the girls he had tried to date and asked them straight up: What went wrong?
       The results of Josh's semiscientific, wholly hilarious investigation are captured here. From a disastrous Putt-Putt date involving a backward prosthetic foot, to his introduction to CFD (Close Fast Dancing), to a 

misguided "grand gesture" at a Miss America pageant, this story is about looking for love--or at least a girlfriend--in all the wrong places.

       ​We Should Hang Out Sometime is one of the most recommended books that I own. Josh Sundquist tells the tales of all his past crushes and encounters with girls while he is growing up. Told through the eyes of his future (and married) self, it pokes fun at young love and romance as a teenager. One of the reasons that I love this books is that Josh’s voice is so prominent, and made me laugh out loud throughout the story. I think that we have the same sense of humor, so the sarcasm and self-deprecation would catch me off guard and left the people around me very confused. It’s the perfect Valentine’s pick-me-up with is honesty and awkwardness.

---

To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by: Jenny Han

       What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once? 
       Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

       The Lara Jean trilogy is one of the cutest things I have ever read. At the beginning of the story, Lara Jean’s secret love letters she wrote to her past crushes get sent, leading to a domino effect of hilarious and clumsy events. She ends up pretending to date Peter, but as the book progresses, she has to question whether they are faking it. I love it because along with being a book about romantic relationships in high school, it covers topics of family, friends, and moving off to college. It’s a fabulous read for all, but a perfect story for high schoolers looking for a story to relate to as they get closer to university.

---

The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love, by: Sarvenaz Tash

       Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. Archie and Veronica. Althena and Noth.…Graham and Roxy?
       Graham met his best friend, Roxy, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.
       But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.
       When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy 

how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be…even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.

       Have you ever wanted to go to a nerd convention? (Sure you do. You’re reading this blog, for goodness sake.) The post-Valentine’s Day season is the perfect time to travel to one with a new book. Told over the three-day madness that is NYCC, Graham has some wild experiences regarding the geekiest things he loves and romantic relationships. I loved this book because it is as relatable and light as it is cute and awkward. It is not very often that a book is written specifically to appeal to the nerdiest of us, but it’s a good thing this novel is the exception and not the rule.

Click Here to Read a Full Review

---

Rebel Belle, by: Rachel Hawkins 

       ​Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.
       Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

       Who needs a Valentine when you can read about Harper Price, a southern belle by day, and a kick-butt Paladin guardian? Rebel Belle is the perfect book boost for Valentine’s Blues. Not only does this book feature plenty of heroine action, but it also has some unexpected love and hilarious dialogue. This book is another laugh-out-loud read, which is what I loved about it. It’s witty characters and snarky comments struck a chord with my sense of humor and promised to have something for everyone.

---

       Do you have any go-to books that fill the “rom-com” shaped hole in your heart? Let me know in the comments.

Love,
Ashton <3

Happy Valentines Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up. If you feel bad, send yourself a card. You must be worth it...

— Jeanette Winterson