I am notorious for making really random playlists. I’ve got some pretty normal playlists — “songs to make me dance” or “songs for a rainy day” but I also, because I feel I have SO MUCH MUSIC that I miss things, create playlists based upon random things so that I can maybe listen to some things I’ve neglected. Some playlists are based on things like: Songs With A Color In Them, Songs With Cities In The Name, or Singers With Beards, etc. etc.
I was browsing my bookshelf the other day and saw the ARC of Breathe by Sarah Crossan on my bookshelf and I started to sing Anna Nalick’s Breathe! Something triggered in my mind and I thought “OH MY STARS. I SHOULD MAKE A PLAYLIST OF SONGS ON MY ITUNES BASED OFF OF BOOKS I OWN/BOOKS ON MY TBR LIST. I came up with about 30-40 songs actually but I decided on these as my “official playlist.”
I then thought it could be kind of a fun to make a post to also highlight some books that I’ve already read or that are on my TBR list. So it’s a win…I get a new playlist and I highlight some books! WEEEE! You should do it too!!
The Books & The Songs
I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan (my review) | I’ll Be There By Matt White
Glass by Ellen Hopkins (2nd book) | Glass by Ingrid Michaelson
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen | Someone Like You by Adele
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (my review) | Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson | Speak by Nickel Creek
How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr | How To Save A Life by The Fray
Forever by Judy Blume | Forever by Ben Harper
On The Road by Jack Kerouac | On The Road by Keane
Lost & Found by Jacqueline Sheehan | Lost & Found by Katie Herzig
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (Book 2) | Linger by The Cranberries
I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella | I’ve Got Your Number by Passion Pit
Ten by Gretchen McNeil | Ten by Yellowcard (dudes. Yellowcard was my FAVE in HS. Had to get the new album!)
Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley | Where I Belong by Motion City Soundtrack
Forget You by Jennifer Echols | Forget You by Cee Lo (bahaha I love that I have this song on here)
Stay by Deb Caletti | Stay by Gavin DeGraw
The Sweetest Thing by Christine Mandelski | The Sweetest Thing by Camera Obscura
Speechless by Hannah Harrington | Speechless by Morning Parade
Fury by Elizabeth Miles (my review) | Fury by Muse
Stolen by Lucy Christopher | Stolen by Civil Twilight
Beloved by Toni Morrison | Beloved by April Smith & The Great Picture Show (one of my faves! OMG I LOVE HER)
Over You by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus (my review to come!) | Over You by Graffiti6
The Road by Cormac McCarthy| The Road by Matt Costa (BONUS TRACK!)
Read any of these books? Love any of these songs or artists? Do you think any of these songs actually GO with the book well? If you like more book and music posts, check out my top ten books I’d give a theme song to. Also check out my Monthly Rewinds for what I’m listening to each month.
Rachelia (Bookish Comforts) says
I love this idea Jamie – I definitely have some new music to check out now 🙂
Stacked had a similar post last month that you may also be interested in:
http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/09/titles-of-familiar-tunes.html
Jamie says
Hope you find some new music you like!
And I will def check out that post. Love finding new music! But DAMN I thought I was being original in my playlist making connection with books. lol
Nikki @ Foil the Plot says
This is such a great idea, Jamie! I think books/movies/music sort of all go hand-in-hand and often I find myself humming a tune or thinking of a band that reminds me of a particular book. Interestingly enough, the novel I’m working on was inspired by a song I heard while driving home in the car. Actually, it inspired one of the scenes which led to a bunch of other scenes and resulted in me making a “movie playlist” if it were ever to be picked up and translated for the big screen. I know, I’m getting WAY ahead of myself here, but still it’s pretty cool to see how linked song and books and films all really are.
Jamie says
Thanks Nikki! Love what you said! I had so much fun doing the TTT where we picked songs that went with books. For this little exercise, while it was on a shallow level of just crossing referencing my books to my music and finding identical titles, I am wanting to read all of these books that I haven’t and see if I think the book relates to it in any way!
Candice @ The Grown-Up YA says
Cute cute! I have a playlist that’s just called “Twilight” and it’s filled with songs from all the Twilight movies. Or at least the first two; wasn’t too impressed with the other soundtracks. I love relating music and movies, music and books. It’s great when you can find little similarities between songs and stories!
Jamie says
Those first two twilight cds really did have some great music on them! Some of my faves were on there!
Magan @ Rather Be Reading says
Holy crap, what an awesome post, Jamie! I feel like this post probably took forever to put together so thanks for taking the time to share! I cannot wait to add all of these to a playlist for myself. I am a Spotify addict so I’ll be doing that shortly. I’m not working from home today AND I forgot my headphones… this post is making me double kick myself in the butt for that. Haha!
Jamie says
Thank you, Magan! It took me DAYS to sit in front of my bookshelves and then my Goodreads list and then cross reference with my Itunes. lol. And then to make the post itself. BUT it was super fun and there was so much music I forgot I had and so many books I totally forgot I put on my TBR list or that I owned. So it really was a fun little exercise! Listening to my new playlist as we speak! 🙂
And I HATE when I forget my headphones. I want to just crawl under the desk. And I REALLY need to get into Spotify. Do you have to pay for it?
Brittany @ The Book Addict's Guide says
How cute is that!! I love it 🙂
Heidi says
Um…I’m basically in love with this idea. I spent last week popping in mixed CDs I’d made 10 years ago and complimenting my teenage self for being awesome. Clearly I must do this so that 10 years from now I can compliment my 20’s self for being equally awesome.
Lisa says
BEN HARPER.
Also this is mad creative so PROPS.
Racquel (A Book Barbie) says
You forgot one! Unbreak my Heart by Melissa C. Walker paired with Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton. Every time I hear that title, I start singing “Unbreak my heaaaaaaaaaart, say you love me agaaaaaaaaaaaain.” haha. When I first head about How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr I (of course) had the song by The Fray on for repeat for daaays. Which is not weird because it’s always on repreat<3 great post.
Jenn @ Give a Hoot Read a Book says
I seriously love this! I don’t think I would have the patience to do it, but it would be fun. I have made playlists that remind me of books befor: I did a Literary Mixtape for Scott Westerfeld’s “Peeps” books: http://giveahootreadabook.blogspot.com/2012/08/literary-mixtape-peeps-last-days.html and it was lots of fun, but hard, with just 19 songs! Oh and I love how you did your mix pic, the layout and font and everything. 🙂
Kristin says
So fun! Thanks for sharing!
alicejane011 says
This is such a great idea! I read Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (I became a fan of his after reading it) and I think Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine is a great fit!
Crazy Red Pen
elena says
Absolutely love this post, Jamie! I’m always on board for books + music, of course. I love Camera Obscura!
Melissa @ Writer Grrl Reads says
This is so awesome! What a fun and creative idea! I have so many random playlists on my iTunes, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried to make any as random as yours. Perhaps I need to get on this ASAP? =)
Lesley says
That’s so clever! There are a lot of great songs on that list! x
Sharon @ Fictionally Inclined says
What a great idea! I love that some of the songs have the same title but can be so completely different from the book. On the other hand, it seems like a few match up fairly well.
I definitely discovered a few songs on here I will be checking out on Spotify very soon. 🙂
Also, your playlists made me giggle. Especially the “Singers with beards” one. I have a bajillion playlists, but most of them are dedicated to mood/fandoms & couples/specific events. They’re nowhere near as fun as yours! That could be fun to start doing, though. I bet you could come up with some great combinations you never would have thought of otherwise.
Shannon says
I love LOVE Passion Pit! Good choice of music, ma’am!
Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books says
I love, love, love this post. It’s a very refreshing and original (to me) idea for a post, and I adore it nearly as much as I adore you. I totally guessed some of the books you were referring to based on your playlist!
Laura Ashlee says
Love this post so much! Some great songs and great books. The whole time I was reading How To Save a Life the song was in my head.
Allison L says
I LOVE this idea, Jamie! Books + Music = the perfect combination! <3