I WILL judge a book by its color: green vs red?

Happy Palentine's Day! Though I don't have any romantic plans, I plan on celebrating the love I have for my roommates tonight with a fancy palentine's dinner. I baked a batch of crème brûlée last night and they're chilling in the fridge next to the tiramisu I made for a delicious dessert with my roommates!

Of course, I also plan on reading! Here are some books featuring my favorite palentines in deeply loving relationships - just not necessarily the romantic kind:







"Room", by Emma Donaghue: a mother sacrifices her well-being to preserve the innocence of her child. While "the Room" is a prison for Ma, she turns it into a place of wonder and learning for her child (Jack) through creativity, resourcefulness, and grit.







"How To Build A Girl", by Caitlin Moran: Johanna Morrigan is trying to find a way to escape and shed her working class image. Her opportunity comes along when she reinvents herself as a wild party animal, underground music connoisseur and sassypants extraordinaire. Kite eventually takes her under his wing and mentors her as she strays, crashes and burns, and eventually comes into her own. The massive crush -> disillusionment -> massive respect -> mentorship -> genuine care and love trajectory of their relationship is very sweet.





"Tell The Wolves I'm Home", by Carol Rifka Brunt: I swear I write about this book every year because I love it SO MUCH. June and Toby have lost someone very dear to them: a beloved uncle to June, and to Toby, his true love. They cling to each other as they learn more about Finn through each others' eyes and work to enjoy life as Finn would've wanted. This coming-of-age novel is an absolute sob-fest but worth all the ugly-crying you're going to do later.







"The Giving Tree", by Shel Silverstein. Like "Room", this is another mother-gives-all relationship where the tree gives and gives. Yes, the boy is a greedy little shit, but my takeaway from this is to love unconditionally and to be generous to those you do love (within reason, I guess)...







Putting this post together made me realize that these books featuring a more platonic love story have very little red on the covers and instead, feature the exact opposite, complementary hue: green. Just like how green is opposite to red on the color wheel but complementary in color combinations, you'd need to appreciate one to build on the other when it comes to types of love.

Mind. Blown.