Valentine’s Day reads: give anything but Normal People

So.. you want to avoid anything trite for Valentine’s Day. No heart shaped chocolates, no pink champagne…actually, no pink anything. No flowers unless they’ve been gathered from your actual garden, or someone else’s. So where does that leave the classy romantic? With books, that’s what. 

Essentially, any choice that’s based on what you know someone actually likes is touching. So, if you want to please a detective story fancier, Dorothy L Sayer’s Busman’s Honeymoon, might hit the spot … bookmark the wedding night.

There’s also a case for flattery…the poems of Catullus, say (and there are some racy ones), suggest you think the recipient is no dope. But make them work. Put the reference to the poem you want them to read in your card or in the frontispiece. Same goes with a play…if you’re giving someone Much Ado About Nothing, for instance – a gratifying choice – mark the bit you want to draw attention to…Benedict’s promise, ‘I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap and be buried in thy eyes’ for preference.