This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning

Dating has never been easy. When my colleague Faith Hill scoured the Atlantic archives for early accounts of romance, she found the following proclamation from the 20-year-old female protagonist in a 1888 short story: “I wish I knew some young men! … I should like to know some interesting men!””

But young people today have come of age in a particularly complicated dating era. Dating apps have been around long enough that the swipe is losing its luster; many young daters are both dependent on apps and smart enough to see their shortcomings. Plus, the pandemic upended many people’s social development. Meanwhile, some teens are moving away from romantic relationships entirely: Faith recently spoke with a college professor who spends a lot of time trying to convince her students that a partnership is worth pursuing. Romantic love is an opportunity to add beauty to one’s life, and to spark growth—but that can be hard to remember when searching for it feels so awkward.

On Dating

Teens Are Forgoing a Classic Rite of Passage

By Faith Hill

Fewer young people are getting into relationships.

Read the article.

‘Nostalgia for a Dating Experience They’ve Never Had’

By Faith Hill

Young people are tired of swiping. Now they want serendipity.

Read the article.

The Most Awkward Part of Living With Your Parents as an Adult

By Ginny Hogan

For many young adults, living in their family’s home is a new norm. Their dates still don’t always get it.

Read the article.

Still Curious?

The golden age of dating doesn’t exist: Romance in America has never been easy. Faith Hill explored early accounts of dating in The Atlantic’s archives. Why it’s so hard for young people to date offline: Meet-cutes are difficult when nobody wants to talk to strangers, Ashley Fetters wrote in 2019.

Other Diversions

The man who owned 181 Renoirs An unabashedly intellectual murder mystery Lady Gaga sounds like herself again.

P.S.

Courtesy of J. Jourdain

Each week, I ask readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. In 2017 “I spent a week in Brienz, Switzerland,” J. Jourdain writes. “When the sun set one evening, it cast this golden light on the alps. It was magical.”

I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.

— Isabel