Date Ideas From Your Top Literary Crushes

Well, naturally. Sign up for a ballroom dancing class together, or watch some how-to Youtube videos at home, then dress up all fancy and head out to your local ballroom dancing social (yes, ballroom dancing socials are a thing that exist). You'll be just as awkward and socially repressed as Mr. Darcy as you waltz around the room.

Look, I know there are a lot of Twilight haters in this world... and to be honest, I'm one of them. It's not exactly a book that models healthy relationships, you guys. But I'm not here to shame anyone for their childhood book crush, so pack up a picnic lunch and head to a field for a romantic afternoon (or spread out a picnic blanket in your living room, weather permitting). Dust yourself with glitter from head to toe for authenticity.

Who doesn't love Hermione? She reads voraciously, and if you cross her she'll punch you right in the face (or keep you trapped in a jar as a beetle). Channel your inner know-it-all, and check out the events at your local indie bookstore. Hermione would definitely approve of a date at a book reading, or a social justice themed open mic.

If you like party boys who also represent the folly of the American dream, take your date out to a 1920's style speakeasy in the name of the Great Gatsby. If there aren't any modern speakeasies in your area, try swing dancing lesson, or just dress up in your flapper best and make some '20s inspired cocktails at home. As long as it's over-the-top, Gatsby would approve.

If you like your men wickedly intelligent and... kind of mean, I guess, then go for a date inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Book a session at a real-life Escape the Room game, where you must puzzle your way out of a locked room in a certain amount of time. Or, for a far cheaper date, hide each other's Valentine's Day gifts somewhere, and leave each other clues to their secret location.

If you're more of a Wuthering Heights kind of person, you're going to want to take your date for a hike on the windswept moors. If you don't happen to live near a windswept more, however, any local hiking trail will do (preferably in bad weather). Go full Heathcliff and have a bad attitude the whole time, for extra flavor.

Who isn't in love with the beautiful Mother of Dragons? The real Daenerys-based date would involve riding a dragon or taking over a city, for sure. But when she's not in her fire-and-blood conquering mode, Daenerys is always trying to help and protect her citizens (with uneven success). Channel Dany's good side, and sign up for a volunteering shift together, make a donation to a food bank, or spend a day cleaning up your local park.

Do I personally get the whole Gilbert Blythe thing? ...eh. But a lot of people were in love with Anne's beau from Anne of Green Gables. And Gilbert and Anne have a famous academic rivalry. Honor their whole love-hate thing by trying to best each other at a trivia night, either at a bar or over a board game at home.

When it comes to literary crushes, it's hard to top Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars: he's tragic, he's pretentious, and he totally takes his girlfriend to Amsterdam. So I'm not saying that you have to take your S.O. all the way to Amsterdam... but a romantic weekend trip together (or even a romantic staycation) can make for the perfect low-stress Valentine's Day. And if you do go to Amsterdam, please don't actually kiss in the Anne Frank house... that's not cute in real life.

Oh, Peeta. So adorable. So totally wrong for Katniss in every way. But since everyone else from The Hunger Games is pretty much a creep and/or dead, Peeta seems to be a popular crush. Try a new baking recipe together, or sample your local bakeries for the sweetest Valentine's Day ever (or, you know, fight each other to the death on a reality TV show or something).