Literary Love Stories

First up, happy Valentine's Day. Hope you a) had a romantic dinner with your loved one (or ones. No judging) b) enjoyed watching bad romantic movies with friends c) treated it like any other day and didn't really think about it too much d) anything else you may have done to celebrate/anti-celebrate. However you were hoping to spend it anyway.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, this week's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and The Bookish: what are your Top Ten Favorite Literary Love Stories? I'm trying to keep my list focused on the stories instead of just great literary couples, which was already a top list.

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare - I wouldn't call this my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, but it is my favorite. I actually own 5 copies of this one: 2 in Complete Work anthologies, 1 Arden version, 1 version from the First Folio and 1 version in Italian. And while I wouldn't say this is the best love story out there, it is ridiculous, and really that's all I look for in a love story.

2. Pride and Prejudice (and Zombies) by Jane Austen (and Seth Grahame-Smith) - Because I haven't read the normal P&P (it's on my shelf, I'll get to it) I'm going with the zombie version. And anyway, the love story is the same in both of them. Spunky girl and stoic guy trade verbal (and in the zombie version physical) jabs.

3. Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare - Anytime I think of love stories I think of Shakespeare.  The love story between Hero and Claudio is meh, but the dynamic between Beatrice and Benedick is fantastic. The added bonus to this one is I can't help but think of the 1993 movie version with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice (wonderful) and Keanu Reeves as Don John (hilarious and not on purpose).

4. You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore -  Look, "love story" is right in the title! This is actually the second part of a Moore vampire trilogy (no one sparkles) but I didn't know what when I picked up the book so this is the only one of that series I've read. It has typical Moore wit and sarcasm and a cute story between a couple of San Franciscan vampires.

5. Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare - I'm trying not to make this list all Shakespeare, but honestly, love stories aren't really my normal genre of choice, so I don't have many stories to choose from. I'm attempting to spread out the Shakespeare but I'm failing a bit. Anyway, R&J is the obvious love story choice. Even if I think Romeo and Juliet are acting like angsty, impulsive teens, at least they whole heartedly believe in their love.

OK, I'm actually out of love stories unless I just go ahead and list a bunch of Shakespeare ones (Othello, As You Like It, Twelfth Night) I may as well stop. I actually gave myself extra time to try to come up with this list and really thought I'd make it to ten. I guess there's always next week.