Not looking for romcoms or cheap romantic thrills, but books that are emotionally deep and/or aesthetically romantic. Can have a happy or tragic ending.
I tried reading books that are often mentioned on social media, like the ones by Emily Henry, Colleen Hoover etc, but I didn’t like them at all. They felt like a waste of time. On the flip side, I enjoyed a couple of Murakami’s works, Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” and “Emma,” and “A Sport and a Pastime.”
I enjoy movies such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, In the Mood for Love, Amour, Cold War, Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Call Me by Your Name, Her, the Before trilogy, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 500 Days of Summer, Lost in Translation.
I’d appreciate if the suggestion aren’t the typical classics like Bronte and Austen, even though I do enjoy Jane Austen’s work. Occasionally, after a long day, I find reading them a bit tiring and less engaging.
Thankyou so much 🙏
by allgoodnames-R-Gone-
15 Comments
the spires series by alexis hall. they’re contemporary romances (m/m), but prettily written and emotionally resonant. i read lots of romance and they’re my favorites. cat sebastian and kj charles also write very good, often queer, historical romances.
call me by your name, maybe, though its a bit polarizing, i loved some parts and found others strange and dull. brokeback mountain, again, for beautiful prose and heartbreak.
just realising these are all m/m so in terms of m/f outlander, maybe? it’s very immersive.
Old Filth, Jane Gardam. About a recently widowed former HK-UK judge reflecting on his life. (Not a romance but it’s wngaging and came to mind) (FILTH = failed in london tried hong-kong)
Last of the Wine, Mary Renault. Two athenians in a time of the peloponnesian war. Some historical fiction reads thinly, I can’t quite place the time and place from the writing and I need to research. This novel does not have that problem.
Rabbit Run, John Updike a favourite novel
Less, Andrew Sean Greer funny and award winning story of a man running from his life.
The Friend, Sigrid Nunez pithy brief book about mourning a friend
Johno, David Malouf
Alice Munro
Carol (The Price of Salt) by Patricia Highsmith
The age of innocence by Edith Wharton should be a good read for you.
The movie based on this book stars Michelle Pfeiffer.
You may enjoy the below:
[Normal People](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41057294) by Sally Rooney
[The Vegetarian](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25489025) by Han Kang
[Intimacies](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55918474) by Katie Kitamura
[The Bell Jar](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/395040) by Sylvia Plath
[The Goldfinch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18655998) by Donna Tartt
Danielle Steel “The Ring,” “Palomino,” and “Message from Nam,” to name a couple. I found these books so emotional that I cried through them. Fantastic books.
Colleen Hoover is pulp. Jane Austen is literature. Unfortunately, romance is a genre with a lot of pulp. Perhaps you could relax with crime instead?
I enjoy Mrs Gaskell eg North and South but that does fall into your known classics box.
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsian has the merit of being funny.
Just last night by Mhairi McFarlane
Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali is a deeply romantic and melancholic story. I think you will like it based on the movies you mentioned.
For brain-free reading, it’s hard to beat Edwardian motoring romances. Alice and Charles Williamson’s (solo and together) fit the bill nicely. “The Motor Maid” is perhaps the very form of the sun-genre.
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. I read this book almost 30 years ago, but it still holds up as one of my very favorites.
You might like Pasternak’s *Doctor Zhivago*.
Fault Lines By Emily Itami
maybe try georgette heyer! she wrote a ton of regency romances in the 20s/30s. they have the same romantic vibes as austen/bronte but a bit easier to read after a long day imo!
if you want something more modern i’d recommend the brown sisters trilogy by talia hibbert! they’re silly and fun but i think a lot more enjoyable than colleen hoover books haha
outlander literally if you have seen the show season one is almost word for word from the book but the book is a thousand times better