I have been casually counting down the moments until Taylor's Version of Red. Once we have all finished crying after listing to the 10-minute version of All Too Well, curl up with one of these books! (Also the word heartbreak appears about 19834 times in this list because, well, it's Red.)
State of Grace -This Time Next Year
Two different lives woven together seemingly by fate? A worthwhile fight? A ruthless game? An Achilles heel? This basically could be the description for This Time Next Year.
Red - The Great Gatsby
The second line in this song is about driving fast--there is no better pairing for this heartbreaking song than The Great Gatsby. Everything you wanted was right there in front of you?
Treacherous - Ask Again, Yes
This song feels like a saga and continual choice to stay with the person you love. No matter how treacherous the slope, will we keep choosing love? Ask again, yes.
I Knew You Were Trouble - Ghosts
This song feels like a millennial dating anthem, and I think it pairs perfectly with the most realistic book about dating I have read.
All Too Well - The Paper Palace
Absolutely heartbreaking. Few songs break my heart like this one, and few books have broken my heart like The Paper Palace. Filled with nostalgia and history, these two pair perfectly together.
22 - Malibu Rising
A party book for a party anthem. There is something about a night out that feels like coming of age in such a unique way.
I Almost Do - Fleishman is in Trouble
Breakups are messy. Moving on from a breakup is messy. This book illustrates that in such a beautifully heartbreaking way, just like this song.
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - The Flatshare
When TIffy and her boyfriend Justin breakup, she finds herself shouting, “We are never ever getting back together” from the rooftop of her new flat, which she conveniently shares with a very charming Leon...
Stay Stay Stay - The Unhoneymooners
Friends to lovers, you love to see it. Olive and Ethan have been friends for years, but after a vacation went badly, they need to figure out if their friendship has staying power. And, spoiler alert, it turns out they have been loving each other for quite some time, time, time...
The Last Time - Beautiful World, Where Are You?
This song is a hail mary plea. It pairs perfectly with a book about four twenty-somethings who are truly wondering if a beautiful world exists and, if it does, where they fit into it all.
Holy Ground - The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Though The Ocean at the End of the Lane is not a love book, it is a love letter to a simpler time and a sacred place. Both the song and the book call on the power of reminiscing and memory.
Sad Beautiful Tragic - When All is Said
When All is Said is filled with joy and regret as told through five toasts at the end of a man’s life (long handwritten note, you could say). A mix of all that life and love it, sad, beautiful, and often tragic.
The Lucky One - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (or Cynthia Starts a Band :) )
Okay, cheekily, I am including my book in this list, but that feels like cheating. The life of the rich and famous is rarely what it seems to be. The depth comes when we look beyond the sparkling lights and to the person behind them.
Everything Has Changed - Evvie Drake Starts Over
I just wanna know you better, know you better… and sometimes the best way to do that is by having that person move into your spare bedroom...a book and a song about letting walls down and learning to trust again.
Starlight - American Royals
This song feels like a YA love song. There is nothing like a Young Adult novel to help transport you back to the days when one dance could change your life.
Begin Again - All Adults Here
A book about new beginnings and finding yourself again. I love how this book highlights the subtly way we begin again. Sometimes all it takes is one Wednesday in a cafe...
The Moment I Knew - And They Called it Camelot
Heartbreak, abandonment, excuses. This pairs perfectly with the fictionalized version of Jackie Kennedy's life.
Come Back...Be Here - Call Me By Your Name
A retrospective tale of love lost. Both this book and song have a sense of longing for what once was when times were simpler.
Girl At Home - Luster
Literally a book about the girl at home.
Ronan - The Memory Keeper's Daughter
This song is about a different type of heartbreak. Listen and read with tissues.
Better Man - Rebecca
This is literally a book about haunting and one terrible man (plus a house). Sometimes in the middle of the night, I can feel you again...
Nothing New - The Idiot
How can a person know everything at 18 and nothing at 22? The twists and struggles of the early twenties leave us all with questions we may never have the answers to.
Babe - Gone Girl
A twisted take on how could you do this to me? The book is a slightly more dramatic take on this song.
Message in a Bottle - 84 Charing Cross Road
Though this book is not about romantic love (but it does have a love of books!), it is a great story told through letters sent from a woman in America to a bookseller in London.
I Bet You Think About Me - High Fidelity
A great breakup anthem paired with a breakup book. They both scream, "I am sure that you are taking this breakup worse than me!" And have a wonderful level of snarky elitism.
Forever Winter - All the Bright Places
This song felt like it needed to be paired with a Young Adult book. All this time I didn't know, you were breaking down. We need each other to help us through our winter moments.
Run - Where the Crawdads Sing
Forbidden love, sneaking around, running away from the law, these two fit perfectly together. Go where no one else is...
The Very First Night - The Sun is Also a Star
A love that neither saw coming, this song called for another YA novel. There is something about young love that both this book and the song capture beautifully.
All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - I'll Give You the Sun
A book and a song that will slowly break your heart into 2378343 pieces.
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