Love Between the Pages: Literature and Valentines

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and it may be said that this most romantic time of year is best suited to the world of literature with all its declarations of love and legendary figures.

To give you that loving feeling, here's a collection of loved-up literature lists from the internet that should warm your heart and perhaps help to woo the (other) book lover in your life...

Top 50 most romantic lines from literature (Stylist.co.uk)
The greatest works of literature are chock full of sentences to make you swoon and also stay within your soul once the chocolates have been eaten and the flowers have wilted. This selection includes beautiful lines from books and poems such as Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Wuthering Heights, Stop All The Clocks by W.H. Auden, and even Winnie the Pooh.

What is the Best Portrayal of a Marriage in Literature? (NY Times)
Writers Charles McGrath and Leslie Jamison give their take on what they believe to be the best fictional representations of matrimony in literature. Though not always the happiest of tales, they offer a number of recommendations including the Palliser series by Anthony Trollope.

25 Painfully Unrequited Love Stories from Literature (Flavorwire)
Love Against the Odds in Books (The Guardian Children's Books site)

The path of true love never did run smooth, and tragic love stories can seem to be more common in literature than those that are blissful (take Romeo and Juliet as a prime example...), and it could be argued that it's the tales of heartbreak and loss that resonate with us the most. Flavorwire presents a heartwrenching choice of literary love destined to go unfulfilled (no matter how many times you read them), while The Guardian presents stories that are full of romantic obstacles for any number of reasons, such as Pride and Prejudice and Noughts and Crosses.

16 Hilarious Dating Profiles of Famous Fictional Characters (Hodder and Stoughton)
Even wondered what it would look like if certain characters decided to sign up for online dating? Well, wonder no more, as some of the most well-known have had their profiles created. In the spirit of Valentine's Day they remain something of a mystery - could you figure out who 'Trimalchio17' and 'meek_and_mild82' are?

And if all of this romance talk has left you rather forlorn, then remember that there's always a place where you're guaranteed to find love... (photo courtesy of @nationalbook)