Zibby Mag

By Emily Sharp

As Virgo season comes to an end, we welcome a month defined less by statistics and deliverables and more by unrequited romance and stories of strangers becoming best friends.

Libras, by nature, are one of the more extroverted signs who look for harmony and happiness everywhere they turn. They’re charming, charismatic, and, more often than not, absolutely brilliant. They love love because they love people and always strive to find a compromise between every option set before them.

Here are six books that capture the infectious Libra spirit (which are likely already some of their favorites).

PRIDE & PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN

Although Austen was a Sagittarius, in my eyes, she’s a Libra girl at heart. The best way to describe a Libra is by pointing to Elizabeth Bennet. You have your charm, you have your humor, but in the end, you’ll always have love (on your own terms).

There is something so quintessentially Libra about Pride & Prejudice. Perhaps because it is one of the most popular love stories of all time, or maybe because it never reduced love to a simple thing (something a Libra would never do). I’ve never met a Libra who didn’t at least enjoy Pride & Prejudice a little bit.

CONVERSATIONS ON LOVE BY NATASHA LUNN

Inquisitive Libra minds want to know: how do we keep, sustain, and survive love? Small wonder that those are the exact three topics Lunn’s book focuses on!

In her upbeat conversational voice, Lunn has crafted a real-life rom-com, one filled with gorgeous insights from incredible interviewees and lessons the author learned on her own. It’s smart, charming, and every adjective I used in the introduction, which makes it perfect for this list.

NORMAL PEOPLE BY SALLY ROONEY

Obviously, there had to be some Sally Rooney on a list for Libras. The uncertainty? The moodiness? Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones? (I’m getting ahead of myself.)

Rooney’s aesthetic both in her worlds and in her words are so pleasing and pack a full gut punch, even when she barely says anything at all. There’s a softness to her characters’ brooding—I imagine it has something to do with the lack of cliffs and abundance of Irish greenery—that undoubtedly manages to set a Libra’s heart ablaze.

FILM FOR HER BY ORION CARLOTO

I would love it if everyone here could pause and read the description of this title on Goodreads, then come back and tell me if you can think of another book more fitted for this list.

Carloto manages to appeal to and capture every Libra by combining photos with poetry and storytelling to look at love, time, and beauty. She really has the entire sign covered! Additionally, I would be surprised if the physical book itself didn’t make your Libra bestie swoon as they contemplated the best place to display this piece of art.

BOOK LOVERS BY EMILY HENRY

Of course I had to put something by Emily Henry on this list. As one of the reigning queens of the rom-com genre, Henry captures the essence of every Libra in her quick-wit banter and the tension she creates between her characters.

“Will they?? Won’t they?? I know they will in the end but I’m loving the drama on the way there!” is what I would imagine a Libra would say as they tell yet another best friend (who they just met) about their favorite author. Book Lovers, in particular, has that enemies to lovers trope (à la Pride & Prejudice) that will excite even the most cynical Libra—if ever there were such a thing.

BECOMING BY MICHELLE OBAMA

Is there anything dreamier than going on the journey to discover who you are? If there is, I wouldn’t know it! (Think about it: how many coming-of-age stories can you name off the top of your head?)

What the former First Lady does so well is that she doesn’t just take us through her life, she takes us into her mind and her heart so we grow up with her. We watch an icon evolve the way we do with our life-long friends, cheering her on and empathizing when times are rough. It’s a comfy-cozy, feel-good book that will remind you of the beloved Libras in your life. (P.S. They’ll love this book, too!)

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Emily Sharp is the Associate Editor of Moms Don’t Have Time to Write and the Associate Acquisitions Editor at Zibby Books. She writes and manages a weekly political Substack newsletter called Emily For President but most importantly, she’s trying to be funnier on Twitter.