“When you’re looking for love and it seems like you’ll never find it, remember that you probably have a lot of love around you, maybe not romantic love. Keep that love close and never let it go.”
This quote is just one of the thousands of reflections presented in the book Everything I Know About Love. Written by Dolly Alderton, the book is a glimpse into the life of the author, who, through her memories and experiences, gives a view of friendships, relationships, work, personal life and, of course, love.
Dolly’s success has won over readers of all ages around the world, but especially those in their 20s who are trying to discover life, their sensations and, above all, themselves. With an easy and intriguing narrative about love, the book grips you completely throughout. After all, who doesn’t want to know more and more about the unknown that is love? So here are 4 books that, if you liked Everything I know about love, you should read!
1. Conversations on Love
The book Conversation On Love was written by Natasha Lunn, who, through her newsletter, discusses the various possibilities and issues that involve love. Through interviews with many people, such as psychologists, writers and anyone else able to talk about this feeling that is part of everyone’s life, she brings together countless opinions and visions of life about love.
A love that goes far beyond romantic love, it’s a feeling that involves friendships, family, parents, siblings… in short, infinite possibilities and relationships. Throughout the book, the quotes described by Natasha are like a manual that prescribes what cannot be prescribed: the formula of love.
She talks a lot about how to win the love, how to keep it, how to reformulate it, how to deal with losing it and much more. Who hasn’t lost someone because you didn’t know how to love them? Or even, who hasn’t lost you because they didn’t know how to keep you close? It sounds obvious, but loving and being loved can be much more complicated in practice. That’s why this book is a good choice to add to your bookshelf!
2. The Love Shelf
Written by the brazilian writer Valeska Zanello, an author known for her work in psychoanalysis, The Love Shelf takes a critical view of love. The title of the book alone is a reflection to be made, which, as the narrative progresses, will become more explicit with the criticism that the author proposes.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase: A single woman is an unsuccessful woman. It is exactly this point of view and thinking that she criticizes throughout her book. With a content that shows an analysis of the idealization and romanticized view of relationships, with girls being taught to become helpful women for their men, and that the search for a relationship is essential for their salvation and happiness.
The reflections are numerous and are present on every page of the book. It’s a good choice for those who are looking for a writing that takes them out of the obvious and gives a more critical look at things.
3. We Aim for Love and Hit Loneliness
We Aim for Love and Hit Loneliness, is another choice written by a psychoanalyst. In her book, Ana Suy brings a reflection that has been totally thought out and produced through her studies. This is one of the reasons that enriches the book, with quotes and references from many other authors, such as Freud.
Written on purpose to resemble a conversation, the book is very fluid, but needs to be read calmly and thoughtfully. It brings up thoughts of love and how we value relationships above all else, even ourselves.
Often, the most obvious things are the hardest to understand and that’s why they need to be remembered. This is the author’s aim, bringing concepts about types of love, loneliness, jealousy, processes of life and much more.
4. All about love: New Visions
All About Love, not only has a similar title, but the essence is the same as Everything I Know About Love. This, written by Bell Hooks, is a very comprehensive and detailed book, covering topics such as how social perspectives, like gender and class, change the meanings of love.
Love, then, is approached in her book as a social construction. It is often confused with other feelings, which can make it banal and superficial. That’s why, above all, it’s necessary to know what you want before you love just because you think you need to.
Love is an action, and your choice is not on feeling it but on the decision of keeping it. That’s why it requires maintenance and needs to be built up. And above all, it must nourish and complement you.
The options cited in the article are great choices for those who, like in the book Everything I Know About Love, want to enrich their knowledge of this feeling that is present all over the world. It’s worth remembering that all of these books have the author’s own experiences and opinions, based on their own experiences.
Getting caught up in all the opinions is not a good option. The ideal is to reflect on the content and teachings, not forgetting that everyone has their own personal experiences and so understand who you are and how love works for you. Well, with that… Have a good reading!
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The article above was edited by Larissa Vilapiano Prais.
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