Love & Marriage

Nonfiction:
1.  Dr. John Gottman & Nan Silver: The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work 
2.  Po Bronson: "Why Do I Love These People?": Understanding, Surviving, and Creating Your Own Family
3.  Judith Wallerstein, Julia Lewis, Sandra Blakeslee: The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study
4.  Eric Weiner: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
5.  Laurence Gonzales: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

Fiction:
6.  Anne McCaffrey: Crystal Singer (series) & Freedom's Landing (series)
7.  Robert Heinlein: Friday
8.  Jennifer Crusie: Crazy For You

Something Else:
9.  Kahlil Gibran: The Prophet
10. Elizabeth Gilbert: Eat Pray Love

Focus for this list:
Yes, I'll admit, one can (fairly easily) see from this list that, as a child of divorce, I have some issues with love, commitment, and marriage.  My general approach when something scares me silly is to do research; thus the extensive nonfiction selections.  If the nonfiction list delves into the nitty gritty of what can go wrong (and how to avoid having things go wrong) then the fiction gives visions of what love can be. 

Relationship lessons I've learned from reading Anne McCaffrey's books? 
1. Things work out in the end, if both are willing to work hard at it, but it may take several books to get there. 
2. Partnerships work best when strengths are balanced and complementary. 
3.  Love pops up in some unexpected places!

Lessons from Robert Heinlein:
1. Family (& humanity) is what you make of it.
2. A little sexual mischief is always fun!

Lessons from Jennifer Crusie:
1.  Reach for happiness, even if you can't see how you'll there from here.
2.  Always adopt the stray dog.  ;)

 And that, my friend, is my list of books that have influenced my view of love and marriage.  I've been married (quite happily) now for 5 months and 9 days! 

Happy Valentine's Day, and may we all one day be free to marry whomever we love. 
-Mrs. Turkey Bird

Well-Written Junk Romance

1.  Linda Howard: Son of the Morning
A murder-mystery meets Knight Templar, and you've got one of my most re-read books. 
2.  Jennifer Crusie: Bet Me
Wildly funny romance . . . with great shoes!
3.  Laurell K. Hamilton: A Kiss of Shadows
A real-life modern faerie princess . . . with killer relatives.  Warning, this could be cross-listed with horror.
4.  Jane Feather: The Accidental Bride
Historical romance, set in England in the 1600s, with wildly independent female heroines.
5.  Jennifer Weiner: Good in Bed
Modern romance: tears and laughter.
6.  Linda Howard: To Die For
Flat out the most amusing blond in the genre.  This one veers between murder-mystery, romance, and slap-stick comedy.  Delightful!
7.  Laurell K. Hamilton (and others): Never After
This collection of short-stories speaks to those of us who "dodged a bullet" when it comes to matrimony.
8.  P.C. Cast: Divine By Mistake
An English teacher gets tossed into another dimension where she's treated as a goddess.  How could I not love this?! 
9.  Tanith Lee: The Silver Metal Lover
This one is an odd little book wandering somewhere between sci-fi, fantasy, fairy tale, and romance.  Enjoy!
10.  Dan Parkinson: Starsong
Another tale that merges sci-fi and romance, this one will break your heart.

Focus for this list:
This genre is rapidly evolving, and the variety of cross-genre books is encouraging to me.  This list has everything from modern romance to a fairy princess and knights templar.  Some would even argue that a few of these belong on a sci-fi, humor, or horror list.  Best of all though?  They're all quite well-written.  I won't tell you who, but one of these authors has her doctorate in the structure of women's literature; I'm just delighted that she's making millions and helping revolutionize this genre!  Note: read the reviews / summaries as the titles tell you practically nothing about the book.  Oh, and yes, I do recommend these authors, not just these specific books, as a glance at my shelves will tell you!

Nonfiction for Those Who Love Fiction

1.  Lawrence Gonzales: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
2.  Stanley Bing: Rome, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the First Multinational Corporation
3.  Olivia Judson: Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex
4.  Gavin De Becker: The Gift of Fear (and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence)
5.  Karen Pryor: Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training
6.  Po Bronson: "Why Do I Love These People?": Understanding, Surviving, and Creating Your Own Family
7.  Oliver Sacks: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
8.  Dr. William Maples: Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist
9.  Lynne Truss: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
10. Eric Weiner: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

Focus for this list:
I don't consider myself an avid reader of nonfiction.  Yet, I find myself drawn to nonfiction when flying.  These are the books that not only kept me happily absorbed during an airline ordeal, they're also the books I recommended to others once I'd touched down!