Valentine's Day is in the air

Spiked discusses children's books and how they can help address gender inequality.

What you read to your children does matter. But this has nothing to do with providing gender-appropriate role models. A good book can inspire young minds. In Jane Eyre, a young Jane describes escaping from her torturous foster family by hiding behind a curtain to read Bewick’s A History of British Birds, in which ‘each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, yet ever profoundly interesting’. And that’s what a good book does – it takes a reader beyond herself and expands her understanding. (Ella Whelan)

Indianapolis Monthly features local bookshop Indy Reads where

Perusers of used books will find a bargain, as only a few pre-owned options cost more than $10. Bigger budget? Check out the shelves of rare volumes with familiar names like Dostoevsky, Hawthorne, and Brontë on the spines, or the selection of books signed by their authors, including several by Indianapolis’s own John Green. (Sarah Moreland Byrne)

According to The List all Scorpios will love Wuthering Heights uniformly.

As a Scorpio, you're probably known for being a bit dramatic. This is because, as a water sign, you're more attuned to your emotions than others (via Style Caster). There's no middle ground for a Scorpio — when you feel something, you feel it all the way through. Which is why you'll fall in love with "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë. This novel is a classic for a reason. It's filled with lust and longing, darkness and grief, and every other emotional adjective you can imagine.

"Wuthering Heights" tells the tale of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. The romantic relationship between the two is oftentimes volatile and unpredictable, and the novel explores the impact this has on them both. You'll be completely embroiled in their theatrics, to the point where you'll feel emotionally invested in what happens to their characters throughout the novel. It's the perfect reading experience for someone who's as attuned to their emotions as you are — though you may find it difficult to separate yourself from the story upon its conclusion. (Sam Cohen)

Perhaps trigger warnings for Wuthering Heights should go along the lines of 'read at your own risk if you are not a Scorpio'.

Is it us or Valentine's Day mentions starts earlier every year? The Independent shares '20 of the best romantic quotes from literature that will make you swoon' including

Literature is full of some of the greatest love stories of all time. Heathcliff and Catherine in Wuthering Heights; Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s play; Cecilia and Robbie in Atonement – they’re just a few examples of literature’s most famous romances, which strike right to the core of how it feels to be deeply in love. [...]

Professing love doesn’t always come easily in real life, but brought to life on the page by authors such as Leo Tolstoy, the Brontë sisters, and, of course, the master himself, William Shakespeare, we can instantly relate to the turbulence of matters of the heart. 

We’ve picked out some of the most romantic quotes in literature below.

“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” Catherine to Nelly – Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, 1847 [...]

“I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest – blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully is he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company.” Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, 1847 (Charlotte Cripps)

‘Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same' also makes it onto Metro's '23 best quotes about love that will unleash your inner romantic'.

Finally, The Eyre Guide's Jane Eyre Files: Chapter 14 is now available.