Words of love, hot off the press

It’s still February, and I have a fresh bouquet of books to suit the month of romance. Put on your rose-pink Gucci shades, and dive into these volumes, some all-out love stories, and some which make you pause, and think, and fall right back into love again.

Budding rose: 16th in The Princess Diaries series (including the ‘1/2s’!) from Meg Cabot. Amidst deepening angst, Mia’s dressed To the Nines (Pan Macmillan, Rs 399). Cupid’s so confused. With a surprisingly level-headed look at adolescent depression.

Worm in the rose: For the classic-lover whose idea of timeless ardour is epitomised by Sonnet 130, here’s harking back with a passion. Bittersweet love-stories and poems by our faves — Catallus to Kundera — in My Mistress’ Sparrow is Dead, compiled and edited by Jeffrey Eugenides (HarperCollins, Rs 295).

Roses for real: For Darlingji: the True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Dutt (HarperCollins, new in paperback, Rs 395), Kishwar Desai reconstructs this utterly filmi amour from the protagonists’ diaries — and their daughter’s. Warm, intimate account of the lives of the lovers, among the finest actors of their time, and of course, Bollywood.

War of the roses: In the nth volume from John Gray’s Men are from Mars, Women are From Venus series, we visit the battleground of the sexes. Why Mars and Venus Collide (HarperCollins, Rs 295) is racy, funny, and all about the troubles you and your man can get up to. Don’t worry, dear John also tells you what to do about it.

My bedside table is all full: what are you waiting for?