Last year Taylor Swift surprised everyone when she unexpectedly dropped her album folklore in July. It was an instant hit but, just 5 months later, she dropped evermore on her birthday with only a day’s notice. I think it is safe to say that Taylor Swift had a much more productive quarantine than most of us, writing, recording, and releasing two critically acclaimed albums. I spent most of my quarantine reading, so I decided to bring the two together. My last article before break was book recommendations based on each song off of Fine Line by Harry Styles and it was so much fun to write that I decided to do another one. While I love folklore, evermore quickly became one my favorite albums of all time. I would love to make a folklore version another time, but this list is going to focus specifically on the track list from evermore.
- Willow
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“The more that you say, the less I know. Wherever you stray, I follow”
Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn
This series follows lepidopterist (butterfly scientist) Veronica Speedwell on different adventures in Victorian London with her partner and friend, Stoker. The first book, A Curious Beginning, starts with Veronica and Stoker being forced together to solve the murder of their mutual friend when it seems Veronica’s birth family (who she has never met) may be somehow involved. Veronica and Stoker are unlikely allies in the beginning but eventually form one of the strongest connections I have ever read about. “Willow” reminds me of them because they truly would follow each other to the end of the Earth and back.
- Champagne Problems
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“’She would’ve made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s f*cked in her head,’ they said”
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
This novel tells the story of Anna who begins an affair with the dashing Count Vronsky that scandalizes much of the high society of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Anna suffers from some form of mental illness that makes it difficult for her to maintain healthy relationships. This song really reminds of her because Anna needs support but those around her just talk about what she could have been instead, leaving her helpless.
- Gold Rush
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“I don’t like that anyone would die to feel your touch. Everybody wants you, everybody wonders what it would be like to love you”
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
This retelling of The Illiad follows the life of Achilles from the point of view of his best friend and lover Patroclus. The story begins when they meet as children through the Trojan War, showing their friendship, falling in love, and Achilles’s struggles with having to be a hero. Achilles is not only a hero, but also a demigod and, physically, he is described as very beautiful while Patroclus is more awkward. Everybody wants their share of Achilles wherever he goes but Patroclus is the one that he loves most.
- ‘Tis the Damn Season
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“I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house and the road not taken looks real good now, and it always leads to you in my hometown”
Normal People by Sally Rooney
I really did not want to do any repeat recommendations from my Fine Line list, but I made an exception for this one as it’s the only book I felt truly fit this song. Normal People follows the intersecting lives of Connell and Marianne from high school through university. In the beginning of the novel, they begin a secret relationship and cannot seem to stay away from each other after that. No matter how much time passes, they always come back together.
- Tolerate It
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“I wait by the door like I’m just a kid, use my best colors for your portrait, lay the table with the fancy sh*t and watch you tolerate it”
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
This one might be cheating but I have to mention it anyway since it’s my favorite book. Taylor Swift revealed that she actually wrote this song after reading Rebecca when she noticed how the main character gives all of her love to her husband, but he just tolerates it instead of loving her back. No matter what she does for him, he never sees her as an equal, worthy of the same love she gives him. It is a heartbreaking song and a fantastic book, and I can’t recommend it enough.
- No Body, No Crime
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“She thinks I did it but she just can’t prove it. No, no body, no crime, I wasn’t letting up until the day he [died]”
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Since this song is about a wife’s revenge I know a lot of people have been comparing it to Gone Girl but, since I have not read that, I am going to be recommending The Secret History instead. This novel follows a young man named Richard who moves across the country to attend a prestigious college in Vermont where he is wrapped up into the dangerous world of the Classics students there. In the first sentence of the prologue, we learn that Richard and the others murder another member of their little group, but we do not know why. The first half of the novel leads up to the murder, with the second half unraveling the sinister aftermath. It is an incredibly clever and beautifully written with the most pretentious and difficult characters you could ever meet.
- Happiness
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“There’ll be happiness after you, but there was happiness because of you. Both of these things can be true”
Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield
This recommendation is a little different as the book I picked is actually a memoir, not a novel. Rob Sheffield married the girl of his dreams, but she died in his arms just seven years later. In Love is a Mixtape, Rob uses fifteen of his favorite mixtapes to show how music can heal a person, even when it feels like they cannot be saved. This is one of the most touching books I have ever read, and it moved me in ways I cannot even describe. I don’t recommend nonfiction often, but I think everyone should read this book…just read it with a box of tissues within reach.
- Dorothea
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“And if you’re ever tired of being known for who you know you know, you’ll always know me”
The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot
If you have seen the Princess Diaries movies then you probably think you know the story, but you don’t! This was one of my favorite series as a kid and I read them obsessively. When Mia’s distant father tells her that he’s actually a prince, she becomes an unwilling princess. High school was already hard enough for her, but now she has to do it with a crown on her head. This song reminds me of this series because it makes me think of Mia’s relationship with her best friend’s brother, Michael. Michael noticed her when she was invisible, but now she’s not so invisible anymore and it constantly threatens to tear them apart.
- Coney Island
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“Lost again with no surprises, disappointments, close your eyes and it gets colder and colder, when the sun goes down”
Looking for Alaska by John Green
This book is a young adult classic and I think it’s for good reason. The novel follows Miles before and after Alaska Young, the mysterious, alluring, gorgeous, self-destructive, and self-centered girl at his boarding school. Miles is obsessed with last words and he seeks, “The Great Perhaps”, and it looks like Alaska will lead him there. But apparently nothing is ever as it seems, and Alaska is not as she seems, and Miles is left to wonder if he even knew her at all. Other than the content itself, the feeling of this song and this novel are the same: draining, regretful, and leaving you searching for something more.
- Ivy
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“How’s one to know? I’d live and die for moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time”
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
This book is the entire reason I wanted to make this list because I cannot listen to this song without thinking about this story. This novel tells the story of Addie Larue, a young woman in 18th century France who makes a deal with a god, she wants more time, but she has to give something to him in return. He makes Addie immortal, with the promise that when she is done living, her soul belongs to him, however, he won’t make her life easy. He also curses her so that no one can remember her, as soon as she is out of sight she is forgotten. This makes Addie’s life incredibly lonely since the only lasting relationship in her life is the one with the man who cursed her, until she enters a bookstore in 2014 New York City for the second time, and the boy who works there remembers her.
- Cowboy Like Me
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“I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve. Takes one to know one, you’re a cowboy like me”
Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo
Six of Crows is the second series in Leigh Bardugo’s incredible “Grishaverse” and probably the best fantasy book I have ever read. The story follows Kaz, the money hungry leader of the Dregs, when he takes an impossible job that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, he just needs a crew: enter Inej, former acrobat and Kaz’s best spy, Jesper, a gifted sharpshooter with a gambling problem, Nina, a Grisha and former soldier to the Second Army, Matthias, an escaped convict in need of revenge, and Wylan, a privileged runaway. I have never read a book quite like this in my life. Part high fantasy, part heist novel, with six completely different and completely complex characters, this book is truly unforgettable. If you somehow need more convincing to read it soon, it’s becoming a Netflix show in April!
- Long Story Short
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“Pushed from the precipice, clung to the nearest lips, long story short, it was the wrong guy. Now I’m all about you”
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
As soon as I heard this song, I immediately thought of Marianne from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Unlike her sister, Elinor, Marianne acts on impulse, following her heart over her head. While that is not always a bad thing, she does find herself in some difficult situations because of it. She falls in love easily, but it takes her awhile to find the right guy.
- Marjorie
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“I should’ve asked you questions, I should’ve asked you how to be, asked you to write it down for me”
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
“Marjorie” is Swift’s heartbreaking dedication to her grandmother, who has passed away. The song deals with grief in an incredibly realistic and simple way, and perfectly describes how it feels to lose someone. In If Cats Disappeared from the World, Kawamura tackles grief in a way that had me crying more than I ever have before at a book. In the novel, the narrator is living alone, estranged from his father after his mother’s death, leaving him only with her pet cat, Cabbage. He is shocked when the doctor tells him he has only months to live, and even more shocked when the devil shows up at his door telling him he has only a day. However, the devil is ready to make a deal, and for each thing he is willing to make disappear from existence, he gets to live another day. This is a book about death, but it is also a book about life: learning what in it really matters and how to make it count.
- Closure
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“Yes, I got your letter, yes, I’m doing better. I know that it’s over, I don’t need your closure”
Circe by Madeline Miller
Just like her other novel that I recommended, Circe is a retelling, but this time of The Odyssey. On Odysseus’s journey, he comes across the enchantress, Circe and this novel tells her story. The reason I connected it to this song was because Circe has been wronged my countless men in her life, leading her to be stranded alone on her island in the first place. She starts the novel timid and bullied but this is the story of her growth and her strength, and how she does it all without any man’s permission. They let her down, but she doesn’t need them anymore as she has grown more certain of herself.
- Evermore
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“I had a feeling so peculiar that this pain would be for evermore”
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar is arguable the most famous novel about mental illness and depression ever written, but that is not the only reason I connected it to this song. This book follows a young woman named Esther and her downward spiral into herself, revealing the darkest parts of the human psyche. Obviously, there are moments in the novel where Esther feels much like the narrator of the song, that her pain will never go away. However, the ending of the novel is a bit ambiguous with a touch of hope for Esther, much like the ending of the song. We never know if Esther gets better after the events of the novel, but we do know that she has a chance, just like the narrator of this song.
I had so much fun making these pairs and writing this list, so I hope you enjoyed and maybe even found a new book to check out. If you didn’t find any here, feel free to check out my last article where I did the same thing but with Fine Line by Harry Styles! I truly do recommend every book on this list immensely and don’t think you can go wrong with any of them.
Happy Reading!
HCXO, Maeve