The power of books to connect

Good morning booklovers! This is Paste BN’s books reporter Clare Mulroy and I’m here to bring you this week’s news in books. 

I’ve got a heartwarming story to tell you, just in time for Valentine's Day. Last week I wrote about a book that made me cry (“This is a Love Story” by Jessica Soffer) and this week I received an email from a reader that nearly kickstarted the waterworks all over again. Soffer's book delves into the complicated, beautiful mess of long-term love. It's never simple, but it is human and it is transcendent. In my review, I wrote that reading Soffer’s book reminded me of a quote on a Central Park bench that reads “How perfect is this, how lucky are we?” 

You can imagine my surprise and delight when I received an email from Barbara and Stan, the couple who commissioned that bench plaque. In sharing a little of their love story, Barbara told me how special it felt to mark their new marriage, the second for both of them, and a time of health hardships with something concrete overlooking the water in the park. She wanted a quote that would be "something for everyone to interpret for themselves," and she hopes for this novel to become a part of their Central Park connection now, too. 

The power of books and literature to connect never ceases to amaze me. 

If you come across a book that ties you to others or has special meaning like this, I would love to hear. My inbox is always open: cmulroy@usatoday.com.

In other book news, “Deep End” by Ali Hazelwood tops the Paste BN Best-selling Booklist this week. The romance author is best known for her “STEMinist” love stories like “The Love Hypothesis” and "Love on the Brain” as well as “Bride,” her foray into paranormal romance. Readers are saying “Deep End,” which centers on two student athletes, is Hazelwood’s “spiciest” yet.