Read passionately: books for Valentine's Day (and Anti-Valentine's Day.)

How the martyrdom of Saint Valentine of Rome turned into a day of candy hearts, roses, chocolates and endless rom-coms is anybody's guess, (though it wasn't a holiday invented by greeting card companies.)  Valentine's Day has been associated with love for centuries; Geoffrey Chaucer's poem from 1375, "The Parliament of Fouls," is the first written account linking this day as a celebration of romance:

"For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate."

Our current holiday may have also replaced the Roman celebration of Lupercalia, a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, that took place on February 15th. This pagan festival was eventually outlawed, and in the 5th century Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St. Valentine’s Day.

No matter how we got here, & whether you love or hate Valentine's day, there are so many great reads!  There are the epic love stories that will have you pining, and the disastrous ones, which sometimes fit the mood perfectly.  See the titles below: ​

Love:

Anti-

In praise of being single: