Personal Selections No. 34- Sounds Like Fiction

songs for my favorite books I've read this year

Jun 28, 2024

I went to Instagram to solicit prompts for music curation and my people didn’t disappoint! Today’s prompt comes from my dear friend Emma: “books.” Thanks for the inspiration, Emma! ❤️

I call myself a reader, but I don’t habitually devour books. I know there are readers who knock out more than 100 books a year- good for y’all, I hope you remember even a tenth of them. At the height of my pleasure reading (probably middle school?), I never came close to that mass. Against all odds according to my personal track record of feeling like a fraud, I’ve never experienced any kind of imposter syndrome about being a real reader. I thoroughly enjoy reading my dozen books a year as much as you enjoy reading your 83, so what’s the difference?

I’ve read ten books so far this year, and the only thing they really have in common is that they each pushed me out of my comfort zone to some degree. A few were romance, which I’ve never given a good faith try, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the rollercoaster of a love plot. Another couple of books were the kind of literary fiction that tends to intimidate me, but neither were brutally abstract. I learned from a couple of YA novels how varying and wide the label “YA” is. All this to say: it’s been a transformative six months in my reading life.

In honor of this dynamic line-up of books in the first half of 2024, I narrowed down four1 of my favorites and paired each with a song. I wanted music that would capture the mood of the world I found myself in while reading them, so I imagined the film adaptation of the book in my mind as I brainstormed. It goes without saying that the book is always better, but these songs might serve as a good snapshot of the atmosphere in each of these stories.

Big Swiss x Jen Beagin sounds like Vampire Empire x Big Thief

“Big Swiss” was a book club pick selected by my friend Mary,2 who had actually already read it but wanted people to talk about it with. And she was so real for that, because this is a book that you absolutely want to debrief upon finishing. Set in Hudson, New York, the main character is the transcriber for a sex therapist who finds herself crushing on the voice of one of the patients.

I suppose this is the most succinct and unrevealing synopsis of the book, but there is so much more to this work than this messy little romantic predicament. All of the characters in this world range from charmingly quirky to concerningly weird. There is much humor and levity and also plenty of very dark and twisted back-stories. It’s silly and deep and absurd and disturbing. It reminded me of Paul Anderson’s movie “Licorice Pizza,” in the way it built a microcosm that is both truly painful and seriously goofy.

The song “Vampire Empire” strikes that same peculiar balance of pain and whimsy. Adrianne Lenker’s writing is legendary, and this book meets her skill for such emotional complexity. Sonically, it was a tough call to choose between this version and the more stripped down version on Adrianne Lenker’s EP from this year. I went with this one because the percussion in this record is perfect for the intensity and suspense that builds in “Big Swiss” as antics continue to ensue and stakes are raised. Ideally, the version that is most compatible with this book is probably this live performance of it for the way it conveys the anxiety of this song, but for streaming purposes, we’ll go for the Big Thief EP version, above.

American War x Omar El Akkad sounds like Hard Times x Ethel Cain

Where to start with “American War?” I went to a talk the author gave, and the editor that was interviewing him lovingly called his work “stone cold bummers,” and that really is the best descriptor for this book. El Akkad imagines a world in the not so distant future in which another civil war breaks out in the United States, but this time over the use of fossil fuels. New world superpowers like China and a greater Arab republic are the interlopers providing aid to a scorched-earth post-US South, according to their own agendas. It is a clever subversion and a grimly honest portrait of the rampage of war. Yes, on a larger scale it is a story about the depravity of politics, but it is also a tale about family- its power and its limitations.

Because so much of it takes place in the South, it also reads as a kind of futuristic Southern Gothic novel. When I think complicated family ties and Southern Gothic, my mind immediately goes to “Hard Times” by Ethel Cain. The cricket soundscape that opens up this record puts a pit in my stomach. Sonically, this song is so plainly melancholy in a way that is compatible with the steadfast and frank troubles of this novel. The refrain seems like it could be a direct quote from the book:

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“I'm tired of you, still tied to me 
Too tired to move, too tired to leave”

The Book of Longings x Sue Monk Kidd sounds like How Many Years x Yebba

In “The Book of Longings,” Sue Monk Kidd speculates about the possible, unrecorded, life of the wife of Jesus through fiction. She made a good point in her author’s note that it would have been the social norm for Jesus, by the age he began his ministry at 30, to have been married. There are many reasons we plausibly could have never heard of this wife- she may have passed away before his ministry began, she would have been at home with his family instead living nomadically with her husband, or, like many women in Biblical accounts, she could have been simply left out. Kidd doesn’t insist that Jesus did have a wife, but does argue that it is fascinating to wonder what her (“Anna” as she names her) experience would have been like.

This book is such a beautiful and tender telling of faith, grief, love, and hope. I was touched by Anna’s relationship with the mystery of God and and how it impacted her relationships with those around her, as well as vice versa. So much of this book is about Anna trying to seek whatever path is hers, though at times she doesn’t know exactly what that may be, all while processing tremendous loss and uncertainty. What better song, then, than this one from Yebba? The themes of this album are similar to those of the book- impossible hope in the face of unimaginable grief. In particular, the chorus of this song matches Anna’s journey:

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"Adventure as far as the eye can see
Try not to miss you too desperately
Live out the wonder way past the borderline"

Lastly, I loved how this book was written in a way that like a continuation of the writing style of the New Testament. It was very readable, but a little NIV-style formal. Similarly, the writing style of this song reminds me of one of David’s psalms. Yebba’s first line, “How many years will it take for these tears to dry?” might as well be ripped from David’s tablet.

Get a Life Chloe Brown x Talia Hibbert sounds like Here You Come Again x Dolly Parton

“Get a Life, Chloe Brown” is a book club selection by my friend Yasmene that I probably never would’ve picked up, otherwise. It’s a cute romance about a young woman that finds unlikely love upon making the decision to “get a life.” A relatively straight-forward plot, but the charm and complexities of all of the characters in the story is what really set it apart for me. What’s more, I had never read anything with this much steam that matched that sexiness with real tenderness and vulnerability. Partially because it’s set in England and partially because there’s list-making involved, it reminded me of “Bridgette Jones’ Diary,” complete with all the warm fuzziness of an early 2000s rom-com but none of the body-loathing.

Because of this kinship, I wanted a song that sounded like it could be the ending credits of such a rom-com that hasn’t been used for that purpose, yet. “Here I Come Again,” is still available, as far as I know. I think this record is compatible firstly because the swing of the melody has that healthy amount of kitsch. Secondly, the lyrics visualizing a devastatingly handsome man walking through the door is in sync with so many scenes in this book. Also, and most obviously, Dolly’s is a perfect voice to soundtrack the life of a flawed and lovable, striving-to-be-independent woman.

A24 is allegedly turning “Big Swiss” into an HBO series, and if I was a betting woman, I would put money on “Vampire Empire” being a needle drop. In the meantime, I’ll keep reading books at a relatively slow pace and making niche playlists like it’s going out of style.

If you have read a book that you associate with a certain song, I’d love to know in the comments! If I like the song enough, it will probably move the book to a highly coveted place on my never-ending TBR list.

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