These days, everyone listens to music almost 24/7. While commuting to work or school, working out at the gym, biking, you name it. However, the one weird habit I have that hasn’t quite caught on yet is listening to music while I read. This sounds strange, but it’s true. And by this I don’t mean just instrumental stuff (although the classical orchestral pieces are always a vibe when reading older books), but I mean listening to anyone from Adele to Eminem while reading novels (often my favorite genre — historical fiction). Although it sounds like reading and listening to music are two things that don’t go together, with the way my brain works, they oddly pair very well together. So, here’s a list of book and music pairings that I think you should know about.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Pray for the Wicked by Panic! At the Disco
Okay yes, at first glance, it doesn’t seem like the 19th century horror novel will go with Panic! At the Disco’s 2018 album, Pray for the Wicked. However, you’d be shocked because they go together like peanut butter and jelly. Upbeat, horn-heavy songs like “Hey Look Ma, I Made It” and “High Hopes” perfectly capture the vibes of Shelley’s character Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who after experiencing familial trauma, decides to attempt to bring back the dead and crafts a monster made of portions of the deceased. Other songs like “Old Fashioned” and “Roaring 20s” capture Frankenstein’s despair after creating his monster and falling from grace, finally understanding the danger he has put his family and friends in by unleashing this violent creature.
Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle and #1’s: Destiny’s Child by Destiny’s Child
I know what you’re thinking- how could the characters in a book set in urban 1930’s England in a dilapidated castle have anything in common with the members of Destiny’s Child? Well, weirdly, many of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams’ songs about female empowerment and equality of the sexes pair nicely with Smith’s mid- 20th century novel. The book follows Cassandra Mortmain, a teenage girl who experiences various socioeconomic problems, familial issues, and the trials of first love. Destiny’s Child’s songs “Survivor” and “Soldier” capture the Mortmain sisters’ struggle to survive despite their circumstances, and their desires to find men to love who can help them. Additionally, the song “Girl” captures the nature of the relationship between the Mortmain sisters, Rose and Cassandra, and what happens in their love lives throughout the novel.
Alice Hoffman’s The Ice Queen and Trouble in Shangri-La by Stevie Nicks
After the movie Practical Magic (1998) was made with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock and Stevie Nicks was featured on the soundtrack, it became no secret that the singer’s witchy-vibes paired perfectly with Alice Hoffman’s magical books. One of Hoffman’s lesser-known books, The Ice Queen, goes really well with Nicks’ pop solo album Trouble in Shangri-La (2001). Songs including “Every Day,” “I Miss You,” and “Sorcerer” accompany the story of a young librarian who lives an ordinary life but then is one day struck by lightning and irrevocably changed. As the young librarian looks for Lazarus Jones, another survivor of a lightning strike, in order to compare experiences with him, she finds him and they begin a tumultuous love affair. The book highlights themes including mortality, love, loss, and magic, and who does a better job of singing songs about these very topics than Stevie Nicks.
V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Folklore by Taylor Swift
V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an epic historical fiction/ fantasy novel that took the world by storm after its release in 2020. The novel follows Addie LaRue, a young woman who makes a Faustian bargain to gain her freedom, but is cursed to wander the world alone for centuries, remaining invisible and forgettable to all who encounter her, until one day, a young man remembers her and everything changes. The novel is full of unmatched lyrical prose that etches itself into your mind, tattooing itself into your skin for all of time. Like the author, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is also a master lyricist, and her lyrics have that same unforgettable quality. She particularly shows off her unmatched fantastical storytelling abilities in her album Folklore (2020). Songs including “Mad Woman,” “Hoax,” “Illicit Affairs,” and “My Tears Ricochet” capture that same forlorn, nostalgic feeling that is constantly threaded throughout the novel.
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Wasteland, Baby! by Hozier
Donna Tartt’s epic dark academia murder mystery The Secret History pairs perfectly with Hozier’s album Wasteland, Baby! The psychological thriller follows a group of eccentric students studying Greek and classics at a college in Vermont, and Hozier’s album filled with enchanting lyrics and soft vocals allows you to immerse yourself in the autumn New England vibes. Songs including “Would That I” and “Almost (Sweet Music)” capture the unique and tangled relationships between the characters (and their twisted feelings of love, hate, and longing towards each other).
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander and Woodland (EP) by The Paper Kites
Diana Gabaldon’s historical fiction time-traveling fantasy Outlander pairs perfectly with The Paper Kites’s EP Woodland. This EP with fairy and magic woodlands vibes truly captures the magic that is the Scottish Highlands (that Claire Beauchamp accidentally time travels to). Songs like “Willow Tree March,” “Bloom,” and “Halcyon” depict Claire’s journey and eventual love story, as she tries to find her way in the Highlands and navigate her life with Jamie Fraiser.