If you’re anything like me, you’ve been listening to Taylor Swift’s “folklore” on repeat ever since it came out. Then, as of late last week, dropped everything to give her ninth album “evermore” its due diligence. There’s something so special about this album from its pretty melodies, storytelling lyrics, and the catchiness of literally every single track. And since each song tells such specific stories, I couldn’t help but think that many of the “evermore” songs remind me of some of my favorite books, and then I saw similar trends going around on TikTok. So, here we go! Keep reading for all sorts of my personal book recommendations based on each track off of “evermore.”
Writer’s Note: In case you were wondering how I put this together, I was meticulous in my choices. I listened to each track while simultaneously studying the lyrics. From there, I went to my digital and physical bookshelves, plus my Goodreads already-read list, to search for at least one book I’ve read that somewhat fits the song’s lyrics or stories. Now, not all are perfect matches, of course, since they are both original works with their own stories. But, I tried to pull books with a similar plotline, character, or love story; something that is quite similar to one another.
If You Like: “willow”
Try: Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter
This is probably one of my favorite songs off the album with its totally ethereal vibe. After hearing the lyrics, I really kept picturing a story of two people in the middle of nowhere, in the snow, falling in love again. That brought me to Ally Carter’s Not If I Save You First. Here, Maddie and Logan used to be best friends. You see, Logan’s dad was the POTUS while Maddie’s was a Secret Service agent, so they were always around one another. Then, suddenly, Maddie’s life turns upside down when her dad moves her to a remote Alaska town without any word from Logan. Then, one day, Logan shows up in her remote town and a mystery assailant is after them. Sure, she’s not happy their friendship dissolved without a word uttered, but she has to save him before they can hash any feelings out.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “champagne problems”
Try: Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
For fans of the glitzy yet dramatic song, I’d recommend Kevin Kwan’s latest, Sex And Vanity, about a glittery world and all sorts of drama. Here, Lucie Churchill is torn between two men: Her influential WASPy fiancé Cecil and George Zao, the man her family’s tried to keep away from her since she was a teenager. It’s so indulging, decadent, juicy, and dramatic — much like the Swift song. When the ruggedly handsome yet cultured George reappears in her Upper East Side world, she does everything in her power to dissuade him from permanently occupying his own place in her carefully curated world.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “gold rush”
Try: Shine by Jessica Jung
When listening to this track, I heard a story all about someone who appears to have it all on the surface. That premise reminded me of Shine by Jessica Jung. Here, seventeen-year-old Korean-American Rachel Kim is a K-pop trainee who works her butt off to make it into the rose-colored world of K-pop girl groups and fame. Throughout the book, she wonders and dreams — much like the song — what it’ll be like to have this fame and the world to know your name and love you.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “’tis the damn season”
Try: In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
For this holiday song, you definitely need a cute holiday romance book to read next. In the latest Christina Lauren novel, we head to a cozy Utah mountain cabin and a Groundhog’s Day-type tale. Here, Mae visits the family cabin with her family and their longtime friends. A love triangle brews when, that first night, she kisses Theo but has always had a crush on his brother Andrew. After that embarrassing encounter she and Theo try to forget, she gets into a car wreck trying to escape the secluded cabin. From there, she enters a Groundhog’s Day-type of situation where she gets to relive the whole trip to the cabin and get it right and fall in love with the right guy for her. With every injury and wrong turn, Mae gets a fresh chance to relive it and get things right. Eventually, she learns that change isn’t necessarily a bad thing and to stay true to herself as her many reboots buck tradition and allow her to be her true self.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
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f You Like: “tolerate it”
Try: Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella
For this song all about a polar-opposite couple coping with one another, I realized that it fits this new Sophie Kinsella read so well. Here, Ava meets “Dutch” at a writing retreat in Italy. Without knowing each other’s real lives or names, these two form such a connection in their vacation flirtmance. With such an undeniable pull and connection, it’s clear they want to continue whatever this is back in London as they head back to their vastly different real-world lives. There are dogs, jobs, exes, family drama, friends, and apartments in the way and, outside of their retreat bubble, it’s almost as if they are just tolerating their lives rather than trying to join them. This song perfectly captures their London relationship journey to a tee.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “no body, no crime”
Try: The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
For a mystery story song, you’ve gotta read a thrilling murder mystery. After about two or three listens (and the countless times in my head because it won’t leave my mind), I couldn’t help but think of the ARC of The Girls Are All So Nice Here that I just finished. Here, former best friends Ambrosia and Sloane (aka Amb and Sully) are summoned back to their college with some mysterious letter. The letter forces them to reunite to find someone who wants to get revenge for some dark deed these ladies did ten years ago, sans proof. Sure, there’s no body or proof, but these girls have to revisit everything to find out what happened and who is behind this revenge. Plus, the end of the book and its eventual epilogue are very, very similar to this track. Just you wait and see.
Read the Book starting March 9 | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “happiness”
Try: Majesty by Katharine McGee
Okay, the first time I heard this song, it immediately reminded me of Bea and Connor’s love story from American Royals and its follow-up, Majesty. So, to clarify, this song is best for just their love story. Here, we pick up with Bea becoming queen after her father’s somber funeral and the royal family’s grief slash her trying to figure out her next steps as the reigning queen. Without anyone alive knowing about her relationship and engagement to Connor, they all try to push back to Teddy. She tries to do what’s right and push Connor away and tries to get to know Teddy, but little details here and there, especially his nickname for her, also force her to remember their relationship as she figures out who she is as a woman and a monarch. The song’s first stanza sum these two up the best: “…But now I’m right down in it, all the years I’ve given is just shit we’re dividin’ up. Showed you all of my hiding spots, I was dancing when the music stopped and in disbelief, I can’t face reinvention I haven’t met the new me yet.”
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “dorothea”
Try: Four Days of You And Me by Miranda Kenneally
This song focuses on looking back on a relationship (or friendship) from when they were younger. That reminds me of Four Days of You And Me as Lulu looks back on how her relationship with her first love Alex on the same days, four years apart. We follow where their relationship (both the good and bad parts) has taken them on the end-of-the-year class trip between freshman and senior year, and throughout the school years in between.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “coney island”
Try: Most Likely by Sarah Watson
This song talks of looking back on a memory and if a “lifetime of achievement” is even worth it without that one special relationship. That gave me similar vibes to this debut novel from Sarah Watson. Here, we follow four best friends throughout their senior ear of high school, and one of them will eventually be President of the United States — except you have no clue who it is. Ava, CJ, Jordan, and Martha have been a foursome for their entire lives, but by senior year start to take divergent paths as they grew up. They are all interesting, smart, and engaging characters on their own. And together? They are a powerful force to be reckoned with in this tale of four best friends who have each other’s back through all the highs and lows of high school and beyond.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “ivy”
Try: The Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak
The setting of this song reminded me of this holiday read. Here, it’s Christmastime and for the first time in years, the whole Birch family will be together at their aging country estate. Within seven days, the family’s locked down in quarantine and are “forced into each other’s orbits” once again. They each have their own secrets and lives, but one may disrupt everything they know and change everything.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “cowboy like me”
Try: The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
This is a song about a “dangerous game” of a romance and having plenty of tricks up one’s sleeves to win. That reminds me of The Love Interest as these two teen spies use all their tricks to get the girl to fall for them and ignore their own feelings for one another. Caden and Dylan are “Love Interests” spies tasked with getting close to people destined for great power to obtain and protect their secrets. When these boys both are sent to the outside world for the first time, they may be highly trained to win, but new feelings start to bubble and could threaten everything and their safety.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “long story short”
Try: By The Book by Julia Sonneborn
In this song, the main character looks back on this grand literary-like relationship, but can’t stop thinking about it even when they’ve moved on. Actually, that reminds me of this bookish romance. Here, Anne is a literature professor up for tenure at a small college making do, until her ex-fiance shows up as the new university president. She’s forced to wrestle her current and former feelings for him and her new boyfriend while still keeping her head above water at work and with her family.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “marjorie”
Try: You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
This song starts off with a hateful tone and being so clever to best one another, much like the beginning of this contemporary novel. Here, it starts like an anti-love story where engaged couple Naomi and Nicholas cannot even stand one another or even remember how they met and fell in love. But, with time and pages, you get to see firsthand how Nick and Naomi slowly warm to each other again as accomplices, teammates, best friends, and lovers to become even stronger. It’s not a romance where you expect the lead couple to be together without any problems, but Nicholas and Naomi have to work for love and to open up, discovering who they are as individuals in the process. By the time they reclaim their love, it feels earned and justified.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “closure”
Try: Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane
This song gave me such “the one that got away” and first love vibes, so I was looking for a similar type of book, which led me to this Mhairi McFarlane one I read as an ARC a few years back. Here, Georgina is reeling after being fired from her job and learning her boyfriend cheated on her. Trying to move on, she snags a job at the first job she finds as a barmaid for a new pub that’s run by the first boy she fell in love with at school, Lucas McCarthy. Where she’s done nearly nothing with her life, he’s been way more successful and grown-up. Seeing, and working for, him again throws her present into disarray and brings a secret from her past back up again.
Read the Book | Listen To the Song
If You Like: “evermore”
Try: Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
It may be all the writing and time passing mentioned the song, but I get such *Polin* vibes from this Bridgerton book. Here, the charming Colin Briderton returns to London after years abroad and sees his sister’s best friend, the aging spinster Penelope Featherington is different from what he remembered when they were kids. Meanwhile, Penelope has had a crush on Colin for ages and thinks she knows everything about him. Soon, they each discover one another’s deepest secrets and fears as they find solace in one another.
quite simply miranda 