Like many other readers, I am also an avid Swiftie. I love seeing bookish posts that encapsulate how people relate certain Taylor songs/albums/eras to certain books, so I thought I would share some of my Taylor Swift/book correlations, one album at a time. These were all comparisons from my own mind, but as I have seen many of these posts throughout the years, it is possible I subconsciously thought of someone else’s comparison (fully accidentally, of course). Rather than try to capture the vibe of the album as a whole, I picked three songs from each and made bookish comparisons to those. Safe to say there will be some spoilers in this post to make my points, so proceed with caution! Let’s get into book recommendations based on Taylor's first non-country album, 1989. :)
Welcome to the 1989 era (sing this in the tune of Welcome To New York)! This album is so special to me. When I was in eighth grade, I got a record player and two vinyl records for Christmas. 1989 was one of those albums. Though a normal pop album, this album now makes me think of the winter and Christmas time due to how often it was spinning in my room in December and January. This album felt like a new start for Taylor, one that accompanied me as I started high school. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has the best vault tracks, in my opinion, and buying that album on vinyl was truly a full circle moment. :)
Welcome To New York reminds me of Not In My Book by Katie Holt. I had an ARC of this book before its release and I absolutely adored it. I’ll be honest, the hook of “welcome to New York, it’s been waiting for you” was my main motivation for this book and song pairing. Leaving her small Tennessee hometown to chase her dreams of being a romance author, Rosie finds herself in a writing program at NYU. The city was truly waiting for her to follow her dreams and find who she truly is. Her previous crush, Aiden ends up in this writing program alongside her. Bickering and facing off in verbal battles each class, the enemies-to-lovers vibes are real between these two. Due to the drama they cause, their professor will only let them stay in the program if they agree to author a book together. The bickering and squabbling continues, but there is attraction and emotions yet to be uncovered under these arguments. The bridge of Welcome To New York describes this well:
“Like any great love, it keeps you guessing
Like any real love, it's ever-changing
Like any true love, it drives you crazy
But you know you wouldn't change anything, anything, anything”
Taking place over a winter semester, even lyrics like “kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats” reminds me of Aiden’s cozy jackets that Rosie always seems to be noticing. Speaking of Aiden, his tumultuous upbringing reminds me of the lyric “when we first dropped our bags on apartment floors; took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer.” I can imagine Aiden, riddled with hurt from his reandlationship with his father, moving into his apartment with a heavy heart, reading to move on and start over. The romance and tension in this book is so enjoyable, and I just know Aiden and Rosie will dance to the beat of their love forevermore.
For How You Get the Girl, I chose The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. I feel like I have seen others make this comparison before, but the reasonings and thoughts are fully my own. How You Get the Girl is about a guy getting a girl back after a period of struggle in their relationship. Nobody encapsulates that more than Gavin in The Bromance Book Club. Gavin Scott, is a professional baseball player who ends up living apart from his wife, Thea, after problems in their marriage. He is dedicated to getting his wife baack, very much so in a “I would wait forever and ever” way. In a “broke your heart, I’ll put it back together” way, Gavin ends up in a book club with a twist: the book club is made up of men who read romance novels typically read by women so they can learn what women want out of their relationships. The fictional book, Courting The Countess, provides Gavin with a guideline for how to act and express his feelings in a way that gets Thea back. The advice given through Courting The Countess feels like the advice Taylor is giving in How You Get the Girl: “remind me how it used to be” or “tell her how you must have lost your mind.” Luckily for Gavin’s sake, the effort he puts into getting Thea back pays off. Like the end of Taylor’s song: “and that’s how it works, that’s how you got the girl.”
Last but not least, This Love makes me feel the same way Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren does. A second chance romance about two childhood best friends, this is my favorite book by the writing pair that makes up Christina Lauren. The bridge of This Love reminisces on a failed relationship from one’s youth saying “when you’re young, you just run,” a sentiment that describes the romance in this book very well. Spending summers together as children, Macy and Elliot become extremely close, eventually dating when they are in their teenage years. Due to misunderstanding and the hurt that comes with young love, Macy and Elliot break up. They both end up with broken hearts: “currents swept you out again and you were just gone and gone.” Flash forward ten years in the future, and Macy is a professional adult with a fiancé. Knowing how the story ends, I wonder if Macy is ever going through this relationship in the vibe of the lyrics “struggled through the night with someone new.” She runs into Elliot one day, causing all of the memories and the connection between them to come rushing back. Obviously, a rekindling of an old love is bound to cause issues in Macy’s current relationship. This situation is likely unimaginable for her, leaving her to feel like the lyric “in silent screams and wildest dreams I never dreamed of this.” A lot of plot happens in the meat of this book, but the expected happily ever after between Macy and Elliot does come. The whole chorus encapsulates a lost love that returns:
“This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead, oh-oh, oh
These hands had to let it go free, and
This love came back to me, oh-oh, oh
This love left a permanent mark
This love is glowing in the dark, oh-oh, oh
These hands had to let it go free, and
This love came back to me, oh-oh, oh”
Oh how I love the 1989 era. It makes me want to wear sparkles, go to New York City, and take polaroid photos with my friends. Reminding myself how amazing all of the songs on this album are was such a fun experience, and I’m extremely excited to be in the post country eras of Taylor’s music and tackle my favorite album and era, reputation, next.
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