25 Great Books to Read in a Long-Distance Relationship

I enjoy reading, so compiling a list of great books to read if you\’re in a long-distance relationship is my idea of a relaxing Monday morning!! I had a lot of fun going through my physical and streaming bookshelves to compile this collection for you.

There should be enough here for almost all. Long-distance romance literature, relationship self-help books, memoirs, comics, young adult, and general non-fiction titles can all be found there. There\’s also one book that\’s part comic and part novel. The majority (but not all) of these books are about long-distance partnerships.

And, while we\’re on the subject of long-distance relationships, you\’ll benefit from reading some of the books mentioned here. However, you will gain much more if you and your companion both read the same book and then discuss it.

Try reading the same book and getting a \”book club\” video date if you\’re searching for something different to do with your long-distance partnership.

Step ahead and do it. You don\’t have anything to risk. Even if it doesn\’t seem like your idea of a \”nice night out,\” it\’s a smart habit to fall into existence. Book-Club-For-Two will offer you something different to think about and discuss, as well as teach you something about how your companion views the universe. Win-win situation!

All of the book covers and longer reviews can be found farther down. But first, a short primer for those of you who are unsure where to begin.

If you like…

  • A book that the guys can love… Select between Illuminae, The Hunger Games, and Station Eleven.
  • Anything well-written, engrossing, and fast-paced for young adult lit lovers… Choose from Warcross, Ember In The Ashes, The Hunger Games, and Code Name Verity.
  • A book that will provide you with 12 weeks of enjoyable long-distance dates to make you get closer and stronger… The Long Distance Dating Blueprint is a good option.
  • A book to help you truly understand each other and strengthen your friendship… Select The 5 Love Languages.
  • A real tale of a long-distance friendship that succeeded despite all odds… Select Love At The Speed Of Email.
  • A book that can help you gain a broader, more complete understanding of existence… Pick Tiny Beautiful Stuff.
  • A book that will push you (both physically and culturally)… Choose between Americanah and The Far Pavilions.
  • Strategic suspense… Choose between I Am Watching You and Code, Name Verity.
  • Anything to make you reconsider parenting and/or cross-cultural partnerships… Select Bringing Up Bebe.

A book that can make you more imaginative, passionate, or happy with your life… Choose between Big Magic and Stumbling On Happiness.

 

Books On Relationships

The Blueprint for Long-Distance Dating (Lisa McKay)

This is a 12-week collection of long-distance dates designed to make you do enjoyable stuff together and though you\’re apart and lead you into meaningful and engaging conversations. You can discover more about each other\’s talents, sense of humour, conversation style, and personalities while having a lot of fun together.

The Five Languages of Love (Gary Chapman)

As I asked my friends and daily readers which partnership book had had the greatest influence on them, this best-seller was the most frequently listed. Dr Gary Chapman describes five love languages (methods of expressing and obtaining love) that will enable you to enjoy deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your spouse. This is the book for you if you want to dive further into the subject of love languages.

 

Novels For Young Adults

Illumination (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff)

Kady figured breaking up with Ezra would be the most difficult thing she\’d have to do in the morning. Her earth was attacked in the afternoon. The year is 2575, and two competing megacorporations are at odds over a world that is nothing more than an ice-covered speck at the universe\’s edge. Regrettably, no one thought to alert the citizens who live on it. This is a fast-paced, harrowing, and witty book about lives cut short, the cost of reality, and the bravery of ordinary heroes.

Warcrossing (Marie Lu)

“When the world\’s attention is drawn to a game named Warcross, one person hacks her way into its perilous depths…” This sci-fi, teen-gaming, a with rags with-to-riches novel about virtual worlds, virtual confidence, and real-time love is a fast, clever, and enjoyable read.

Absolute Adoration (Jessica Park)

Julie, a college freshman from Boston, is temporarily homeless and staying with old family members. Julie has no intention of falling in love with either of the children. Particularly the one she\’s never met before. But what difference does it make? Finn understands her as no one else ever has. They share a bond. She expected it to be uncomfortable, but she didn\’t anticipate her increasing attraction to both brothers, particularly the one she\’s never met. The reality that she and Finn have only ever spoken electronically doesn\’t seem to matter… before it does.

You and I\’s Geographical Location (Jennifer Smith)

This romantic young-adult novel tells the story of a chance encounter that permanently transforms two people\’s lives. As Lucy and Owen meet during a blackout, they instantly bind. However, after the lights are turned back on, reality sinks in, and the two find themselves on different sides of the planet. An optimistic story about the ability of passion to overcome space.

The Ashes of Ember (Sabaa Tahir)

Laia is a servant. Elias is a military guy. Neither is it costless. “It has the addictive appeal of The Hunger Games mixed with the imagination of Harry Potter and the violence of Game of Thrones,” said Public Radio International of this novel. Saba Tahir is a fantastic blogger. This category contains several powerful tales and strong characters. There aren\’t many written with such artistry. I can\’t wait for the next one!

The Hunger Games are a series of games that take place in (Suzanne Collins)

If you haven\’t ever read The Hunger Games, you can. There\’s a cause this book is a worldwide sensation and a runaway best-seller. It\’s engrossing, sure to hold you up late, and also features a long-distance relationship–sort of.

 

Books

I\’m keeping an eye on you (Teresa Driscoll)

It\’s part psychological suspense, part mystery, and it\’s a lot of fun. I\’m keeping an eye on You place one woman in a position that most of us have been in–a moment where you question whether you should do or say anything and decide not to. You\’ll be left wondering until the very end.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is a literary and potato peel society in Guernsey, England (Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows)

Another award recipient, this best-selling book is set in 1946 and consists of a collection of letters between writer Juliet Ashton and the people of Guernsey regarding their encounters during the German occupation. It\’s a long-distance love story about the benefits of connecting in unexpected ways. I was especially fascinated that a story set in this period could be amusing, charming, and romantic all at the same time.

Verity of the code name (Elizabeth Wein)

“In Nazi-occupied France, a British intelligence plane crashes. The pilot and the rider became childhood mates. One of the girls could be able to survive. The other player has already lost the game.” This intricately plotted story of deep friendship, grit, and bravery is gripping and moving, and it is another World War II book.

Eleventh Station (Emily St. John Mandel)

Many, intertwined stories unfold in this brilliantly crafted, suspenseful, engrossing book. A prominent Hollywood actor collapses and dies onstage just days before a flu pandemic wipes out humanity. Years later, a tiny Shakespeare troupe roams the countryside, aiming for more than just life.

The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy novel written by J.R.R. (J.R.R. Tolkien)

This classic novel is an exciting tale of adventure, darkness, and passion, with valiant adventures, lengthy travels, and lovers torn apart. The tale of Aragorn and Arwen would resonate with someone who has been in a long-distance partnership. (Warning: this book is over 1000 pages long!)

Americanah is an abbreviation for Americanah (Chimamanda Agozi Adichie)

This best-selling novel is about two Nigerian teens (Ifemelu and Obinze) who fall in love at school in Lagos, only to be divided when Ifemelu flees her increasingly violent homeland to study in the United States. Obinze wishes to follow her, but he is expected to live an illegal life in London due to visa restrictions. Strong, moving, and motivating.

Regards, John (Nicholas Sparks)

I\’m not a fan of Nicholas Sparks, but I bought this book yesterday because of the LDR storyline. I\’m not far in, but so far it\’s fast reading, and I\’m curious to see where it goes. In September 2001, a couple named John and Savannah is in a long-distance partnership and on the brink of making a significant commitment. After September 11, John re-enlists in the army for another tour of service. When John is gone, the friendship deteriorates… does so, or not?

The Outside Pavilions (M.M. Kaye)

Set in 19th-century India, this sprawling epic of love and war follows an English boy raised as a Hindu, the British soldier he becomes, and his intense and risky love for Juli, an Indian princess. This doorstop of a novel (960 pages) has been hailed by critics as a Gone With the Wind of the North-West Frontier. It is for anybody who enjoys complex historical fiction or immersing themselves entirely in a very different setting.

 

Memories

Beautifully Little Stuff (Cheryl Strayed)

Cheryl Strayed is well known for her bestselling memoir Wild, but this is my favourite of her books. It\’s a series of Dear Sugar wisdom columns on topics ranging from birth to sex to death and all in between. It\’s direct, incisive, amusing, beautifully composed, and extremely moving. This collection contains a plethora of topics for discussion!

Love Sent at the Speed of Email (Lisa McKay)

This award-winning memoir tells the tale of how I met my husband, Mike, by email when he was a humanitarian worker in a remote town in Papua New Guinea and I was a jet-setting stress management teacher in Los Angeles. This novel is my attempt to understand the essence of \”home\” and what it means to commit to a position and a human beneath the many funny misadventures and the happily-ever-after.

Dedicated (Elizabeth Gilbert).

Gilbert\’s best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love is the inspiration for Committed. It continues Gilbert\’s journey after he meets Mr Right (Felipe) in another country. After US Homeland Security refuses Felipe’s entrance into the world, the two know they must marry or Felipe will never be able to return. Elizabeth and Felipe relocate to Southeast Asia to sit out the procedure, while Gilbert attempts to calm her concerns by researching the past, practice, and sense of marriage.

One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting in Bringing Up Bébé: When Pamela Druckerman, an American journalist, had a kid in Paris, she had no intention of being a \”French parent.\” However, she did note that French children slept through the night by two or three months of age. They dined on braised leeks. They entertained themselves as their parents drank coffee. Nonetheless, French children were boisterous, inquisitive, and inventive. Why is this so? How so? This is an interesting, amusing, and worthwhile read for everyone in a cross-cultural long-distance relationship, especially for couples who have (or plan to have) children. You\’re impossible to leave without having seen at least one of the theories on how parenting \”can\” be handled questioned.

 

Non-fiction 

With Lost in Happiness (Daniel Gilbert)

We always make decisions that we eventually reconsider, whether it\’s to overeat, overdrink, or overspend. And we seem to be surprisingly poor at anticipating what would make us satisfied in existence. Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert investigates the neuroscience behind this in this smart, informative, and humorous novel.

Outliers: A Success Story (Malcolm Gladwell)

Gladwell claims in this insightful and amusing book that superstars are “the recipients of secret advantages, remarkable rewards, and cultural legacies that allow them to understand, work hard, and make sense of the world in ways that others cannot.” In this way, he investigates the various histories that produce tech billionaires, celebrity soccer stars, and great rock bands.

Big Magic: Living Creatively Without Fear (Elizabeth Gilbert)

Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) uses self-deprecating irony and her genuine incisiveness to dispel the stereotype of the tormented poet. She deftly addresses the unreasonable aspirations and needless melodrama that are often associated with the idea of making a living creatively, and she gives some straight-talking tips about how to hold anxiety in proper context. This book is lighthearted, playful, humorous, and inspiring. A must-read for any imaginative person (which Gilbert would argue is all of us).

Henrietta Lacks\’s Immortal Existence (Rebecca Skloot)

Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells were harvested without her permission in 1951 and became one of medicine\’s most effective methods. HeLa was the name given to Henrietta\’s cells. They have been marketed in the billions and have been critical in the creation of the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and other technologies. On the other hand, Henrietta’s story is largely unknown, and her remaining family cannot afford health care. This New York Times bestseller is a riveting true tale about the convergence between ethics, race, and medicine; science and spiritual healing; and a daughter obsessed with doubts regarding the mother she never met. Fascinating and, oddly, difficult to put down.