Before I get into this article, I want to thank Marie from Drizzle & Hurricane Books for her own article, Pairing 10 books I recommend with 10 songs I love, for inspiring this article! Make sure you check her blog out and the amazing articles she writes!
Salutations Chapterlings! I wanted to do something a tad bit different compared to what I usually do. You’ve seen me make dedicated playlists for various books, but you haven’t seen me recommend a single song for specific books. So below, I have chosen ten books and ten pairing songs. You may dance, you might laugh, you might feel a little nostalgic, and some you may end up crying. No matter what, I hope you will enjoy these books and these matching songs.
🎶 Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa 🎶
I love this series with my whole heart and soul. From the characters to the mythology, I love every piece of this series and I can’t recommend it enough. So would you be surprised if I told you that the only way to read this series is to listen to the Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack? I couldn’t choose only one song and since it feels like I’m recommending the whole trilogy, well… you just need to go listen to the soundtrack as you read!
🎶 Check Please! by Ngozi Ukazu 🎶
This duology is just my whole heart and soul. I love the way Bitty and Jack come together, the way they love each other, the way they handle the challenges that face them, and it just turns my heart into a giant puddle. And only one song came to mind when I decided to feature this graphic novel duology, You Are the Reason (Duet Version) by Calum Scott feat. Leona Lewis. Every time I hear this song, I instantly think of Check Please and everything these two graphic novels talk about, the romance, the way they’re friends and teammates support one another, and just…everything. This duology is everything!
🎶 Heartstopper by Alice Oseman 🎶
Who doesn’t know about Heartstopper by now? Just like the duology before, this is a series that I love with my whole heart especially because of the way bisexual representation is shown in this graphic novel series. But I also love the way this series tackles so many important topics like homophobia and learning about one’s sexuality. And even though I love all of these things equally, I really love the way Charlie and Nick come together. It’s so wholesome, so realistic, and my heart just melts when I think about it. So I had to, I absolutely have to recommend Can’t Help Falling In Love by Haley Reinhart. I love how perfectly this song matches to Charlie and Nick falling in love, becoming a couple, and just them being together. What can I say? I’m a die hard romantic.
🎶 There Will Come A Darkness by Katy Rose Pool 🎶
Of course I had to put this book on this list! This made my top books for 2019, this book has it’s own playlist, and I am dying to get my hands on an arc of the next book in this series! I love these characters, I love the world building, and I loved how it was so easy for me to fall deep into the story line. Bonus, this has multiple povs and I never, ever rave about a book that has more than two povs. And to pair this book with a song that’s outside of the playlist I have already created, well… Born For This by The Score is the perfect choice! This is a song that’s sure to get your blood pumping as you read about these five main character with an intertwined destiny and a prophecy to fulfill.
🎶 Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco 🎶
Oh ho, it’s time to talk about one of my all time favorite series! A series is which I still need to finish, but that’s besides the point! I love this series, I love Audrey Rose, Thomas Cresswell is bae, and each book’s world building sucks me in immediately. It’s no surprise that Kerri Maniscalco is an auto-buy author for me and it’s all thank you my spouse when they gifted me Stalking Jack the Ripper one morning. And if I had to choose one song to pair with this series, I would have to choose Revelation by Abel Korzeniowski. With the setting of each book, this is a perfect song to help enrich the chills you’ll experience as you read each book. I really love it and it’s from one of my favorite television series.
🎶 The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum 🎶
Okay, I promise I won’t get too emotional and sappy. Oh god, I love this book so much for so many reasons. This is one of my favorite reads for 2020 and I’m still not over it. Every time I think of this book, my heart ignites with so many feelings. Plus, there’s so many themes involving space! Now, it might be a little cliche, but the song that reminds me of this book the most is Vanilla Twilight by Owl City. I know, it’s a total throwback song, but it makes me think about so many things this book deals with. From space, relationships, and friendships, this book fits perfectly with the constant theme of family and love.
🎶 How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow 🎶
Yup, I’m going to make you feel all the emotions with this this book and song recommendation. This was the first book I ever wrote a review for on this blog and it was the first book that I cried the whole way through in a long, long time. I’m not going to lie, this book wrecked me in so many ways, but I have to talk about this book. I feel that this book isn’t talked about enough in the book community and it’s a greatly underrated book. In case you didn’t get the hint, this is me telling you to go read this book… and we should have a conversation about the whole thing! But while you’re reading this book, I can’t recommend the pairing song, Heart by Sleeping At Last. It’s no secret that Sleeping At Last is one of my favorite bands to listen to, but this particular song of their’s fits so well with the atmosphere, the constant change in emotions, and learning to find your place with a family member you don’t know much about.
🎶 Leo Loves Aries by Anyta Sunday 🎶
I recently finished the audiobook and I can already tell I’m going to love this whole series. I’m still finalizing my review, but oh, this book is so good. I love how this book shows what it means to explore your sexuality, learning what it means to truly try before dismissing something or someone, and the slow burn is so, so good. This book also explores what it means to try to overcome bad relationships and really shows the reality that things are easier said than done. Aside from the romance, there’s also a character in this book who is visually impaired and I think the representation was well done. This is just an all around great book that I really enjoyed. Still kicking myself in the butt for not picking this up sooner. But you need a song recommendation and I can’t think of better song than Deep Blue by The Midnight. This song describes our main character, Theo, absolutely perfectly and how he learns about his sexuality, his desires, and eventually, him coming to the realization that he loves the main love interest.
🎶 Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles 🎶
I absolutely had to include this book! First anticipated release of 2020 to be five stars and it has so many themes similar to Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge. I absolutely loved this book. I’m still thinking about it, still spamming my friends whenever I get the chance about this book, and counting down the days until the next book is released. I loved the characters, the world building, and mystery of it all. So naturally when I was thinking about a perfect song to pair with this book, I instantly thought of Just Like Fire by Pink. What better song to give you a glimpse at how headstrong, ambitious, and spectacular our main character truly is!
I have debated for hours if I wanted to add this book onto this list. Yes, yes I do. I read this book in 2019 and wrote a pretty emotional, heavy review for it. We’re now in 2020, this book is always on my mind, I carry a piece of this book with me and this book a piece of myself. I would champion this book so hard, if only you knew. If you haven’t heard of this book before, I don’t want to spoil anything for you. I will say that this book is a letter from all the victims of molestation and rape who never had their story told, never received justice for their suffering. So, I will leave the only song I can recommend to pair with this book. How To Save a Life cover by Boyce Avenue
Okay, friends! I may have gone a little soft, a little sappy, and shared a piece of my heart with all of you. I really, really cherish that book though. Who am I kidding, I cherish all of these books! They wouldn’t be on this list if I didn’t love them in some way. If you haven’t checked out any of these books yet then you definitely need to change that. Each one is so amazing in their own way. Please, feel free to tell me in the comments below about the books and song pairings that you have. Until next time, please continue to stay safe, stay healthy, I love you! 💕
