Our staff loves sharing their exquisite and varied taste in books, movies, and music, so what better way to celebrate February than with romantic recs in honor of Valentine's Day and Love of Reading Month? Find out why Jane Austen and The Empire Strikes Back make the list.
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DANA M, Director of Facilities
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray
The classic guide to understanding the opposite sex.
SHANE F, Flagstaff Store Manager
The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene...The ladies will love to hate you, I guarantee it!
LINDY H, Ina Administrative Assistant
He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
Funny and on the mark, well written. He has a second book out; I believe it is called She's Not That Into You Either. I haven't read it yet, but if it is a humorously written as the first I definitely will.
DENISE L, Grant Cashier Supervisor
Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair: Dual Language Edition (Twentieth Century Classics) by Pablo Neruda (Author), W.S. Merwin (Translator). It's a classic, and it's hard not to like a collection as passionate as this one. I thought Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen had a great love story. Also, as far as movies go, and I usually don't like movies with Nicole Kidman, but Moulin Rouge revolves around love, and it's a lot of fun.
JESSICA H, Speedway Administrative Assistant
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
A gorgeous time-traveling romance. I don't know about the other stores, but at least half of Speedway is obsessed...
gEnE R, Speedway Store Manager
For those of us who can only appreciate a love story when it involves poverty, alcoholism, and prostitutes, it's got to be...Quiet Day In Clichy by Henry Miller.
JODY P, Assistant to Director of Store Operations
How about A Room with a View, or (if you want the sadder side of love), Howard's End? Gotta love that E.M. Forster, dude. And how about Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov? It's a twisted sort of love story, but it is a love story of sorts. Plus, if you really love language, Nabokov is the man. Movie: Breaking the Waves. Heart-rending, but excellent. Invest in Kleenex stock prior to viewing.
ANGI C, Flagstaff Administrative Assistant
Pride and Prejudice - or for that matter, any of Jane Austen's books. Love in its truest and most enduring form...and, of course, St. Exupery's Le Petite Prince.
DESIREE D, Flagstaff Assistant Manager
At the risk of sounding like a hopeless romantic: Don Juan by Lord Byron - seriously good stuff. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas - If you haven't read this lately, read it again. Dantes is consumed by his revenge but is not truly happy till he forgives Mercedes and is able to find the strength to love another. Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Hate Them: The Masochistic Art of Dating by Nancy Linn-Desmond - it's funny 'cause it's true! The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller - Oh, Henry. And a big thanks to Gene for introducing him into my world.
In the realm of movies... The Princess Bride - "As you wish!" This one makes it to the list as a book too. The book (by William Goldman) is even better and proves that Love really is blind. So I Married an Axe Murderer - "If it's not Scottish, it's CRAP!" "That and she smelled just like beef vegetable soup." Shakespeare in Love - "It'll all work out." "How?" "I don't know, it's a mystery!" Elizabeth - "Do not presume to know anything about my heart." The Empire Strikes Back - Greatest kiss in cinematic history! "I love you." "I know." True Romance - Really, have you seen it? And to end on a super cheesy moment: Don Juan DeMarco, with oh-the-romantic crap that oozes off the screen in this one.
KATIE D, Phoenix Store Manager
How about Amelie and Cinema Paradiso as far as movies go?
BRENNAN W, Web Architect
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, or along the same lines, but a little bit lighter fare, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera. I simply like his sensibilities and humor regarding love. Movie: A Little Romance, starring Laurence Olivier and a very young Diane Lane. I saw this movie first in '79 and it really got to me then. Saw it again a few months ago and enjoyed it even more. Since the love story is really between 13-year olds as chaperoned by Olivier, it's also appropriate for the younger set.
CATHY C, Speedway Assistant Manager
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is pretty good.
HEATHER CEE, Web Monkey
I concur with The Time Traveler's Wife and True Romance recs, and add Harold and Maude as my favorite celluloid love story ever. There's also the mother of all Dumas film adaptations, Queen Margot (La Reine Margot), but I think it's less a love story than a bloodbath with very horny people. (And it's awesome, by the way.) I'll add Secretary, Splendor, and Brokeback Mountain to the list, too. On the music side, I find Van Morrison's Astral Weeks romantic in just about every way.
KATY R, Director of Store Operations
Music and Silence by Rose Tremaine, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, Possession by A.S. Byatt, and The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton if we're talking pretty straight-forward romance, though I'm a sucker for the unrequited kind. Non-love stories that are love stories for me - Perfumeby Patrick Suskind and Neuromancer by William Gibson, because I'll never find the Case for my Molly. Oh yeah, and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Force yourself through the first 60 pages. It's worth it. Wait, D.H . Lawrence's The Rainbow. Movie: Singin' in the Rain. Because it's so happy and hygienic.
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