Track by Track: 8 Dreamy Books Paired with Taylor Swift’s Folklore Album

August 19 2020
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I’ve long been a fan of Taylor Swift. I can still remember the first time I heard her music. I was in my dorm room back in college and my roommate was playing one of her songs while we were getting ready that morning. Before I knew it, I was listening to every one of Taylor’s songs and looking up when she would be next heading on tour.

Thankfully, my best friend and concert buddy, Archana, was also a big fan! I’ve now seen Taylor in concert on each of her tours—from Fearless back in 2009 to Reputation in 2018. Hopefully, I’ll get to see her when she heads out on tour again (once things are back to normal).

Of course, being a bookworm, the more I listened to folklore, the more I recognized similarities between Taylor’s songs and some characters and themes in books I’ve read. The next time you queue up the album for a listen, settle in with one of these eight novels.

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Track 3: “the last great american dynasty”

I’ve listened to this album more than a few times now, but the first time I heard this song, my mind immediately drifted to the lavish parties that Jay Gatsby hosted at his Long Island home in The Great Gatsby, especially with the line: "Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud." Like Rebekah, the protagonist of the song, Jay Gatsby was an outsider. The Buchanans were drawn to the exuberance and opulence of Gatsby, but no matter how hard he tried to fit in with their old-money crowd, the Buchanans still looked down on him. Jay Gatsby rekindles the flame of his youth, Daisy, and, as the song goes: “Who knows, if she never showed up, what could’ve been.” What would have happened to Daisy Buchanan if she never ran into Jay again?

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The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

A gorgeously illustrated, first-ever graphic novel adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s beloved American classic.

First published in 1925, The Great Gatsby has been acclaimed by generations of readers and is now reimagined in stunning graphic novel form. Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and the rest of the cast are captured in vivid and evocative illustrations by artist Aya Morton. The iconic text has been artfully distilled by Fred Fordham, who also adapted the graphic novel edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Blake Hazard, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great-granddaughter, contributes a personal introduction.

This quintessential Jazz Age tale stands as the supreme achievement of Fitzgerald’s career and is a true classic of 20th-century literature. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy is exquisitely captured in this enchanting and unique edition.

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In Five Years
by Rebecca Serle

Track 4: “exile”

This song has some lyrics that perfectly sum up the book In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. Taylor’s “I think I've seen this film before, and I didn't like the ending” hints at the major question of In Five Years: Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s a question that is often asked during job interviews, and Dannie Kohan always knew her answer. She had a vision of not just where she wanted to be in her career but also in her personal life. But on the day of her job interview for her dream position at a prestigious law firm in the city, followed by a celebratory evening with her fiancé, she suddenly has a vision in her dream. She sees herself five years in the future, living in a new apartment, with a different engagement ring on her finger and a guy who is definitely not her current fiancé. When she wakes, she is back in the present with her life as it was when she first fell asleep. She shakes it off, thinking it was all just a dream.

Flash-forward four and a half years—Dannie is still engaged to her fiancé and working at the law firm. But when Dannie is out with her best friend, Bella, she suddenly runs into the mystery man from her dream years ago. Dannie had seen this vision before…but she never thought she would meet the man from her dream, especially not her best friend’s boyfriend. I could not believe the twist that Rebecca Serle introduced next—and this book had me rapidly flipping the pages to find out just how this story would end.

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In Five Years
Rebecca Serle

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Good Morning America, FabFitFun, and Marie Claire Book Club Pick

In Five Years is as clever as it is moving, the rare read-in-one-sitting novel you won’t forget.” —Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

Perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day—a striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

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Me Before You (Movie Tie-In)
by Jojo Moyes

Track 5: “my tears ricochet”

One of the things I realized while listening to this album was that I should have had a box of tissues handy. I had similar feelings when I read Me Before You. There are five stages of grief, and Taylor was clearly in the anger stage while writing this song. With these lyrics I was repeatedly reminded of the feelings that Jojo Moyes’s book evoked.

For anybody who hasn’t read Me Before You, I need to warn you to be prepared to cry. Will Traynor was at the top of the world, until he had an accident that paralyzed him. Before his injury, he was a fan of extreme sports and traveling the world. But as a quadriplegic, the life he now lives feels unbearable to him. When Louisa becomes Will’s caregiver, she tries everything she can to help lift his spirits. At first, he is moody and bitter, but eventually she’s able to get him to open up. As Taylor sings, I couldn’t help but think that Will would say those same words to Louisa. SPOILERS AHEAD… Louisa finds out that Will is planning to end his suffering through physician-assisted suicide. She desperately tries to find ways to make his final days the best they can be and to convince him to keep holding on. But she’s also incredibly upset at him when she can’t convince him to stay alive for her—as she has fallen head over heels for him.

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Me Before You (Movie Tie-In)
Jojo Moyes

Track 5: “my tears ricochet” One of the things I realized while listening to this album was that I should have had a box of tissues handy. I had similar feelings when I read Me Before You. There are five stages of grief, and Taylor was clearly in the anger stage while writing this song. With these lyrics I was repeatedly reminded of the feelings that Jojo Moyes’s book evoked. For anybody who hasn’t read Me Before You, I need to warn you to be prepared to cry. Will Traynor was at the top of the world, until he had an accident that paralyzed him. Before his injury, he was a fan of extreme sports and traveling the world. But as a quadriplegic, the life he now lives feels unbearable to him. When Louisa becomes Will’s caregiver, she tries everything she can to help lift his spirits. At first, he is moody and bitter, but eventually she’s able to get him to open up. As Taylor sings, I couldn’t help but think that Will would say those same words to Louisa. SPOILERS AHEAD… Louisa finds out that Will is planning to end his suffering through physician-assisted suicide. She desperately tries to find ways to make his final days the best they can be and to convince him to keep holding on. But she’s also incredibly upset at him when she can’t convince him to stay alive for her—as she has fallen head over heels for him.

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MENTIONED IN:

Track by Track: 8 Dreamy Books Paired with Taylor Swift’s Folklore Album

By Saimah Haque | August 19, 2020

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Thoughtless
by S.C. Stephens

Track 10: “illicit affairs”

If you read Thoughtless by S. C. Stephens, you’ll find that the lyrics of Taylor’s song have some similarities to this story, especially “What started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots.” Kiera and her boyfriend, Denny, move in with his old best friend from high school as they are getting settled in Seattle after moving from Ohio for Denny’s new job. But as Denny spends longer days at the office, Kiera starts hanging out with her new roommate, musician Kellan. As Kiera and Kellan spend more time together, their friendship becomes flirtatious. When Denny leaves for a work trip, he makes a decision without consulting Kiera, leading to a big argument. Kellan and Kiera end up crossing a romantic line that they can’t come back from...and so begins their illicit affair. They try to go back to being just friends, but they never really were just friends and the spark between them burns brighter than ever. Will their spark burn Denny or will they be able to resist the pull they feel toward each other going forward?

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Thoughtless
S.C. Stephens

Track 10: “illicit affairs” If you read Thoughtless by S. C. Stephens, you’ll find that the lyrics of Taylor’s song have some similarities to this story, especially “What started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots.” Kiera and her boyfriend, Denny, move in with his old best friend from high school as they are getting settled in Seattle after moving from Ohio for Denny’s new job. But as Denny spends longer days at the office, Kiera starts hanging out with her new roommate, musician Kellan. As Kiera and Kellan spend more time together, their friendship becomes flirtatious. When Denny leaves for a work trip, he makes a decision without consulting Kiera, leading to a big argument. Kellan and Kiera end up crossing a romantic line that they can’t come back from...and so begins their illicit affair. They try to go back to being just friends, but they never really were just friends and the spark between them burns brighter than ever. Will their spark burn Denny or will they be able to resist the pull they feel toward each other going forward?

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Dear Emmie Blue
by Lia Louis

Track 11: “invisible string”

When Emmie was a teenager, she released a balloon ?with her email address and a big secret into the sky in Kent, England. She never really expected a response. But a few weeks later, Lucas Moreau, a boy living in France, replied. Over the years they send each other many messages and become great friends. Years later, Emmie begins to realize her feelings have evolved into something more. But she’s unsure of how it will affect their relationship if Lucas doesn’t feel the same. He has dated other girls, but she can’t help but feel that her balloon found its way to him by fate. And, as Taylor’s lyrics similarly observe, this invisible string tying them together keeps bringing them back to each other. Will Emmie finally find the courage to admit her feelings to him, and will Lucas feel the same about her? Or will she be left with a broken heart and lose her best friend? ?

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Dear Emmie Blue
Lia Louis

“A delightful story about how the things we imagine to be best for us usually aren’t. The reason you will love Dear Emmie Blue is because you’ve probably *lived* Dear Emmie Blue, in some small part of your own journey to adulthood.” Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

In this charming and poignant novel, teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it; now, fourteen years later, the one thing Emmie has been counting on is gone for good, and everything she planned is up in the air.

At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached addressed, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.

Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship—she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off from her job. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it?

Emmie Blue is about to learn everything she thinks she knows about life (and love) is just that: what she thinks she knows. Is there such thing as meant to be? Or is it true when they say that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans? A story filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

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The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Paperback Collection
by Jenny Han

Track 2: “cardigan”

Track 8: “august”

Track 14: “betty”

Taylor has hidden a love story within the tracks of three songs on this album: “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty.” On their own, each song is hauntingly beautiful, but put together they tell the tale of falling in love, betrayal and heartbreak, and asking for forgiveness. Talk about teenage angst! Which is why the combination of these three songs also reminds me of a beautiful YA series by Jenny Han. You know, the one that people haven’t been able to stop raving about and streaming on Netflix for the past year—To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

 Throughout these songs, we find out about a love triangle. In the first book, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lara Jean (a.k.a. LJ) and Peter strike up a fake relationship to make Peter’s ex, Gen, jealous and to help LJ out of a bind. Love triangle #1. As they spend more time together, their feelings start to feel more real, but Peter betrays LJ by spending time with Gen, who starts rumors that hurt LJ. In the second book of the series, P.S. I Still Love You, we are introduced to John Ambrose McClaren, bringing on love triangle #2. Peter and LJ have turned their fake relationship into a real one by the end of the first book. But when John Ambrose reappears in LJ’s life, she can’t help but feel drawn to him. She begins to remember how much they had in common before John Ambrose moved away. Now that she is spending more time with John, which she isn’t up-front about with Peter...it causes some tension. Will LJ’s heart be able to lead her to the one she is meant to be with—Peter or John? Finally, in the third book, Always and Forever, Lara Jean, LJ is happy in her relationship (won’t spoil it for you here), but now a new threat is looming...college. How will she and her boyfriend be able to keep their relationship thriving when they are miles apart? August is drifting away in the blink of an eye, but LJ wants to hold on to her love and not let him slip away.

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The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Paperback Collection
Jenny Han

New York Times bestselling author Jenny Han’s beloved novels are now available together in this delightful paperback boxed set!What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once? Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control. This enchanting collection includes paperback editions of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; P.S. I Still Love You; and Always and Forever, Lara Jean.

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