5 Classic romances to read for the Valentine’s Day

5 Classic romances to read for the Valentine’s Day

Do you have any special Valentines Day plans? I wish I could say yes but I am gonna try to be truthful and just accept the truth that I will most likely end up spending the day reading some books.

Does that sound like you? Then you won’t be disappointed with this listicle.

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Classic romances to read around the Valentines Day

I am bringing you five of the world’s favorite classic romances for you to curl up to.

Even if you have fabulous plans, this list of classic romances will sure make you stocked up for weeks to come. Yes, most of them are huge.

5) The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald

Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald Classic romances

Set in the 1920s when the American stock market shot up the roofs and the wealthy became wealthier, the Great Gatsby is a tale about hope, love and despair.

Nick Carraway, a bond salesman, befriends his neighbour Jay Gatsby, who is obscenely rich and is always throwing the wildest parties. But Gatsby is secretly pining away in darkness for his one true love Daisy, who is married to the ‘old money’ Tom Buchanan.

What better way to spend the Arguably one of the best novels of Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby is filled with quotable quotes and you won’t regret reading it even on your down day.

4) Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare Classic romances

That couldn’t have come as a surprise. One of the most famous romances by Shakespeare now stands the standard to compare any modern love to.

The young lovers Romeo and Juliet find themselves on the opposite sides of the familial feud between the Montagues and Capulets. In order to save their love they try to cheat death that seemed inevitable and fail infamously.

Even if not for the romance part, you should read it for the funny conversation between Romeo and his friend Mercutio. The play is definitely funny and will provide you a comic relief, despite its flowery, archaic language.

3) Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

The colorful world of the unhappily married Anna and her lover Vronsky is seldon overlooked while talking of classic romances. Who would not fall in love with the magnificent Anna who struggled to fit in a society she didn’t feel a part of, while she pined for Vronsky?

I know the size of the book is terrorizing yet once you start reading you will have no choice but to finish it.

Tolstoy’s masterpiece should be on your must read list if you want to choose a classic romance novel for this V-day.

2) Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

Are you a firm believer of ‘true love conquers all’? Then you should read Love in the Time of Cholera for this Valentines Day. Love finds Fermina and Florentino when they are quite young.

When Fermina marries an older doctor Urbino, Florentino pines for her (though has about 622 affairs) for about 50 years until Urbino dies. He once again proposes his love for Fermina after all these years, seeking a second chance.

Yes this is a love story, but just not a love story. It talks about pain, jealousy, obsession and sex (a lot of perverse, sick sex). Above all, the language and prose of the Nobel laureate Márquez is to die for.

1) Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Gone With the Wind could easily be my favorite romance of all times. We can’t help but love Scarlett O’Hara (who is one of the most badass female character written ever) though she can be bitch-y, annoying and too head strong at times.

To make matters worse (or better) for her (and us) we have the ultimate bad boy, the arrogant, handsome devil who has a liking for her.

This American Civil War saga will feed your Valentines Day craving as long as you don’t look for your own Rhett Butler. If you have not read Gone With the Wind yet, you should definitely pick it up during this Valentines Day.

No time to read these books? I am sure all these classic novels have a film or two made on them. You can catch them up as well.

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5 Classic romances to read for the Valentine’s Day

2021 plans: What to expect of me

While this is not exactly the “New year, new me” moment, I just wanted to talk about the 2021 plans for Elgee Writes to give you an idea of what to expect during this year.

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What are my 2021 plans?

I also consider this post as a part of my goal setting process that will help me following it more consistently. So fingers crossed, eh?

Reading Plans

Without a reading plan and schedule I am inclined to slide into a reading slump. And that’s why I join up as many reading challenges as I can, just to keep me motivated.

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020

I have been reading 45 books or so for the past few years. So I think I can safely increase it to 52 in 2021.

I know it doesn’t sound like much when you compare the 100s of books that other bloggers read in a year. But it is definitely a challenge for me to reach this number considering how busy I get around the mid year.

Target: 52

2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

I read non fiction books once in a while. But I want to make it official in 2021, and I will participating in the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Bookdout.

I will probably read more of Self help and essay collections under this category.

Target: Nonfiction Nibbler – Read 6 books, from any category

Books in Translation Reading Challenge 2021

Another reading challenge that I am participating this year would be the Books in Translation, where we read translated books (from any language to any other language, not just English).

I have been wondering why I have not read as many Indian regional literature as I would like to have, and I would be correcting it in 2021.

Target: Conversationalist: 4-6 books

Reading more classics

I have been trying to do this in the past few years but I have not covered a lot. So I think 2021 might be the year that I actually read more classics, including children’s.

Anyone has a good reading list or guide to follow? Please do share.

Blogging plans and actions

After a tumultuous year that broke most of us emotionally and mentally, I just need an action plan to go forward. You know, an attempt to make things more normal. So here comes by blogging plans for 2021.

Blogging content

I have a fairly regular blogging schedule and I hope I don’t have to change it – because it works for me and you guys, based on my statistics.

  • Sunday – Personal and blog related updates
  • Monday – Book reviews
  • Wednesday – Discussion posts related to books, blogging or self development.
  • Friday – Listicles, quotes and quizzes. An occasional guest post.

I love how far I have come in making the schedule consistent, despite 2020, and I hope it continues.

I will be joining Nicole and Shannon’s Book Blog Discussion Challenge in 2021 as well, and it has become a staple in my yearly challenges. Nicole and Shannon, thanks for hosting it.

Action plan

  • Do a series on quotes, again
  • Create a resource page for authors and bloggers

Increasing blog engagement

Just like every other blogger here, I love getting comments and shares on my posts. The more the merrier.

I started the Comment 4 comment challenge in 2019 and it turned out to be a success. And then 2020 happened where we struggled to just float.

But I am hoping 2021 will be different and that is why I have resurrected the Comment 4 comment challenge from dead. You can read all about it here and it is not too late to sign up.

Join us to leave no comment un-replied and un-returned!

Increase your blog's engagement by participating in the Comment 4 Comment Challenge 2021 #C4CC2021! Join us to leave no comment un-replied and un-returned and it is not too late to sign up. Click To Tweet

Action:

  • Visit blogs I follow at least weekly once.
  • Reply to all the comments on my blog
  • Return the comments by visiting their blogs
  • Learn to care about the follower counts and blog statistics.

Final note

Though it is 2021, we are still under the throes of the pandemic and we are not yet normalcy. I am not going to be trying too hard or be stressing myself with these plans, but using these action plans as guidelines and take it as they come.

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5 Classic romances to read for the Valentine’s Day

Bullet journal ideas for books and reading

With the New Year just around the corner, it is time to pull out your planners for tracking your TBRs and reading challenges for 2021. Here are some bullet journals spread ideas for book lovers to organize your reading schedule.

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Bullet Journal ideas for books and reading

I love lists and planners. But as someone with minimal artistic talent, I totally suck at bullet journaling (or BuJo). Of course, that doesn’t stop me from drooling over these amazing bullet journal set ups over Instagram. How about you?

Reading list

I usually have a hard time choosing my next read, often. Having a reading list for the month or week, or even the year would be a great idea for your reading bullet journal set up. These are some of the ones that I loved for your inspiration.

Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: kaylasbookgram
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: reyanoenikki
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: robinwilljournal
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: bujoprincessx
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: lillebujo
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: darlingjournals

Tracking your reads

How do you track what your reading habits? I do so on notion and excel but BuJo spreads are much more fun and interesting, especially if you are artistically inclined. Here are some bullet journal set ups to help you track what you read during the month.

Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
amarisafloria
Bullet journal inspiration tracking your reads
caseysplansandpages
Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
jennikreads
Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
amarisafloria
Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
caseysplansandpages

Know your reading habits

I love being able to look at how my reading style and habits have been over the year or month. Bullet journals can help to do just that too.

Bullet journal ideas reading habits
tiaandallthebooks
Bullet journal ideas reading habits
kateereadsbooks
elgeewrites Bullet journal ideas for books and reading morenamonologues
morenamonologues
Bullet journal ideas reading habits
jojobuckreads

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5 Classic romances to read for the Valentine’s Day

Ten must-read books for middle schoolers

Choosing age appropriate, yet entertaining books for middle schoolers can be a daunting task. But fear not, here are some wonderful books that your young reader might find joy reading and getting lost in the literary world.

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Ten engrossing books for middle schoolers

Between 11 and 12 years, a middle schooler can read independently for extended time period. And keeping their piquing curiosity and short attention spans in mind, here are some great books for tween readers.

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin

In the valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli spends her days working hard in the fields and her nights listening to her father spin fantastic tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon. Minli’s mother, tired of their poor life, chides him for filling her head with nonsense.

But Minli believes these enchanting stories and embarks on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon and ask him how her family can change their fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest.

The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

The 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?

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.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Longstocking. Nine year old Pippi is an unusual and unpredictable character, she lives alone with a monkey, a horse, and no rules whatsoever!

She has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, and a flair for the outrageous that seems to lead to one adventure after another!

Every day is a crazy adventure with Pippi, but what else would you expect from the daughter of a swashbuckling pirate captain?!

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban Middle graders books

Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience’s applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she’ll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall.

But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe’s dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn’t the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn’t the only part of Zoe’s life in Michigan that’s off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day.

Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises–and that perfection may be even better when it’s just a little off center.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl – Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.

She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction.

Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill books for Tweens

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town.

But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own.

When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known,

Up for Air by Laurie Morrison

Up for Air by Laurie Morrison books for middle schoolers

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she’s unstoppable. She’s the fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she’s asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes.

Suddenly, she’s got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she’s somebody special—and Annabelle thinks she’ll finally stand out in a good way. She’ll do anything to fit in and help the team make it to the Labor Day Invitational, even if it means blowing off her old friends.

But after a prank goes wrong, Annabelle is abandoned by the older boy and can’t swim. Who is she without the one thing she’s good at? Heartwarming and relatable, Up for Air is a story about where we find our self-worth.

Hound Dog True by Linda Urban

Hound Dog True by Linda Urban

Do not let a mop sit overnight in water. Fix things before they get too big for fixing. Custodial wisdom: Mattie Breen writes it all down.

She has just one week to convince Uncle Potluck to take her on as his custodial apprentice at Mitchell P. Anderson Elementary School. One week until school starts and she has to be the new girl again. But if she can be Uncle Potluck’s apprentice, she’ll have important work to do during lunch and recess. Work that will keep her safely away from the other fifth graders.

But when her custodial wisdom goes all wrong, Mattie’s plan comes crashing down. And only then does she begin to see how one small, brave act can lead to a friend who is hound dog true.

The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski

The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski

WANTED: Maid for the most popular kids in 8th grade.

Cleaning up after the in-crowd gets Rachel all the best dirt.

Rachel can’t believe she has to give up her Saturdays to scrubbing other people’s toilets. So. Gross. But she kinda, sorta stole $287.22 from her college fund that she’s got to pay back ASAP or her mom will ground her for life. Which is even worse than working for her mother’s new cleaning business. Maybe. After all, becoming a maid is definitely not going to help her already loser-ish reputation.

But Rachel picks up more than smelly socks on the job. As maid to some of the most popular kids in school, Rachel suddenly has all the dirt on the 8th grade in-crowd. Her formerly boring diary is now filled with juicy secrets. And when her crush offers to pay her to spy on his girlfriend, Rachel has to decide if she’s willing to get her hands dirty…

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman middle schoolers

In Coraline’s family’s new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it’s different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

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5 Classic romances to read for the Valentine’s Day

What Should You Read Next?: Quiz

There are two questions that can fluster any bookworm. One is the infamous “What’s your favorite book?”. And the other is our very own “What should you read next?”. Of course I am speaking from my own experience (you can read about my method in choosing my next read here).

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But do not worry. I am here to help you choosing your next book.

Just answer these easy questions and I will tell you what to read next! Are you ready to do this?

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