Days of Love...And Lack Thereof, Day 1

Gianna:

Men are hard to find. I’ve been looking for a good man (a good enough man) for my pal Liz for over two years now. Yeah, men are hard to find. And then once you have them, you got to hold on to their asses! They are forever wanting to get out and about and when they are out of the house, how do you know where they are…or when they’re coming back? Hard to find, hard to keep, hard to keep track of, hard to live with, the list goes on. I’ve said it before, ladies--I have the solution: dudes in lockup. Easy to find, easy to keep, and you don’t have to worry about anyone missing the bowl…let that be his cellmate’s problem. As you can read here, my efforts on Liz’s behalf have been exhaustive, but she isn’t having it. [More exhausting than exhaustive.] You know who is having it though? Bridget Kinsella.

Bridget Kinsella

Visiting Life by literary agent Bridget Kinsella tells the stories of women who love (and some who marry) men in prison, her own story included. It’s a truly original book. Kinsella was urged by a writer who taught a class at Pelican Bay to read some writing done by one of his students named Rory. Kinsella was blown away by what she read. Soon she found herself frequently corresponding with him, then visiting him, and eventually falling in love with him. The best parts of the book, however, are other women’s stories. The women are open and generous, and perhaps cherish an opportunity to talk.

I wanted to include Visiting Life on my list because it is filled with love stories from a sub culture that mostly goes unnoticed, but they are love stories nonetheless.

Liz:

And from the other side of the spectrum:

What could be a better Valentine's Day read than a book about a wedding night than can be (and should be) read in one sitting?  A couple so in love, a couple who have their dream wedding, a couple who take their honeymoon On Chesil Beach....

Ian McEwan's taut novella is amazingly good.  On Chesil Beach is basically the story of two innocent newlyweds in the 60's before, shall we say, test drives were the norm.  They are new to the bliss of carnality and, well, let's just say that the honeymoon doesn't go well.  It goes so unwell, in fact, that (SPOILER!) it basically ends the marriage.  It's an uncomfortable read with an extra helping of awkwardness, but McEwan masterfully captures an era and the heartbreak of fairy tales destroyed by reality.  Read it to your potential lovers, or your kids, or whatever.  Just read it.