In this week’s 5 Best Books we are asked to list our Five Best Books: Love. We can use the standard interpretation of love and list our favorite romances or love stories.
I am not much into romance. Even if I have read some books that contain a romantic plot, it has always been a classic, nothing modern. Anyway, here is my top 5:
1. 
Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen. – The ultimate romantic story, in my opinion. A book with a very, very strong and assertive heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, one of the main reasons I love this book.
2. 
Persuasion. Jane Austen. – The silent love between Anne and Captain Wentworth is enough to melt the heart of even a cynic like me.
3. 
A Kiss for Cinderella. J. M. Barrie. – A heartbreaking play by J. M. Barrie. Set in London during WWI, a poor young girl works as a domestic help. Hungry and alone, she imagines that she is the fabled ‘Cinderella’ and waits patiently for her invitation to the Royal ball. She is befriended by a policeman. A simple, unimaginative, unromantic man, he tries his best to comfort her. When he says ‘I wish I was a Prince’, I felt like crying!
4. 
Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë. – Set against the bleak backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, this is the story Heathcliff and Catherine and their obsessive love for each other. Their untamed, defiant natures destroy not only their own lives but also that of many others. Emily Brontë wrote about raw and unrestrained human emotions without the fear of meeting with the disapproval of the 19th century audience. I think she is probably one of the most honest writers I’ve ever come across.
5. 
A Tale of Two Cities. Charles Dickens. – Just one name, Sydney Carton. A deeply unhappy alcoholic, he himself believes he is beyond redemption. But his ultimate sacrifice for Lucie and Charles proves him to be otherwise.
A Paperback Life 
Good choices. I too put PRIDE AND PREJUDICE on my list. I would have put PERSUASION as well, but I got side tracked with other books. I love these 5 Books Lists.
I haven’t read TALE OF TWO CITIES since high school. It was forced on us. Hated it. But then when I got to the famous speech, I cried. It must have moved me more than I thought. It’s still one of the most moving speeches ever written.
Thanks! Glad to know there are more Jane Austen fans out there.
It’s a good thing I was never forced to read anything while at school. Young people’s distaste for classics start from this kind of situations.
A Tale of Two Cities has always been a secret favorite of mine. It’s not often that I admit to liking the classics 🙂
I love J.M. Barrie, so I’m disappointed that I’ve missed this one so far. I’ll have to get a hold of it sometime soon! I love plays.
This is a great list! I’m glad you joined us 🙂
Thanks! I love this week’s top 5!
Ah the exact opposite of me! It’s not often that I would admit to liking anything modern. 😉
I love plays too! Unfortunately I haven’t read that many plays this year as I normally do.
I have read all of them except kiss for cindrella and it sounds very interesting .. I can see you had a lovelt time 🙂
A Kiss for Cinderella is pretty good. The first two acts are my favourites. I especially love the second act when the stoic policeman gets slowly drawn into the world of ‘Cinderella’. But the play does have its flaws. I just overlooked all of them in favour of the policeman’s love for the poor, plain looking, possibly unbalanced ‘Cinderella’.