Folklore (Taylor Swift) Inspired Reading List

f o l k l o r e

an album inspired reading list

hello!

i hope you are all doing well and enjoying the post-album release of taylor swift's folklore! if you were not aware, TS released a surprise album last friday and while it is pop, this is a much more mellow version of her music. i personally love the album and i think the tones and styles compliment her voice so well. it is a little softer for her music, but i still really love it! i wanted to do something to celebrate this magical sudden release, but i didn't really want to go into like an album review... although maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea because TS is so literary heavy in her lyrics. (below each song title are some of my favorite lyrics from that song.) but this is a reading list because (a) i would enjoy listening to the album all the way through again, and (b) i love putting together book lists.

some of these books i have read. others i have not (yet). but i'm going to do my best to match up songs with books and give you all a reading list that is fantastical, mythical, enchanting, and enrapturing. this is also has been the hardest list for me to put together. i think it may be in part that i just need to read more (*sigh of defeat*), but for the most part i think it's actually just that TS tells such vivid stories in her songs. to try to match those narratives with books creates a very narrow scope of possibilities. if anything, i could see a whole story unfold from listening to a song, and then realize that it was no story i had ever read before. it was really interesting and beautiful and frustrating all at once. so i just did my best. :) 

1. the 1
but we were something, don't you think so?
roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool
and if my wishes came true
it would've been you

the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald

the 1 is a hopelessly romantic pining love. and of course because there's a 

line about the roaring twenties, i wanted a book set around that period. gatsby 

and daisy... we'll always look to you for lessons about impossible love.

2. cardigan 
and when i felt like i was an old cardigan
under someone's bed
you put me on and said i was your favorite

 white hot kiss by jennifer l. armentrout

one of the current fan theories that i've seen online is that this one is one third 

of the "teenage love triangle" trilogy on the album. (cardigan = betty's perspective; 

august = inez's perspective; betty = james's perspective) so, taking that all in, i was 

looking for a love triangle series for these three songs. you'd think that'd be easy, but 

i realized i have read no books where the love triangle is two girls and a guy... 

that's weird right? anyway, so i gender flipped it to two guys and a girl and came 

up with the dark elements series. this makes cardigan roth's song, which is hysterical 

if you have read the book before because this song is not roth in personality at all. 

it just describes his role in the triangle.

3. the last great american dynasty
there goes the last great american dynasty
who knows, if she never showed up, what could've been
there goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen
she had a marvelous time ruining everything

little fires everywhere by celeste ng

straight up- i haven't read this book yet. i can literally see my copy of it right 

now, but i have yet to read it or even watch the tv show. *shrugs shoulders* 

however, based on the synopsis and the show trailer, i think this book fits the song's 

idea about family trouble and chaos in home and the community. 

4. exile
we always walked a very thin line
you didn't even hear me out (didn't even hear me out)
you never gave a warning sign (i gave so many signs)

evertrue by brodi ashton

it was so hard for me to think of a book for this one because it is such a strong 

work of art that i couldn't think of anything to accurately match the song's narrative 

and tone. evertrue is my choice because it is the last book in the series and there 

is a 'break-up' that one of the characters is rocked by while the other is pretty 

confident about it. the whole series is great, but this last book has the events 

that i think match the song.

5. my tears ricochet
and if i'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?
cursing my name, wishing i stayed
look at how my tears ricochet

betrayal by gillian shields

this was one of the songs where i could literally see a story unfold behind my 

eyes, but then i couldn't think of any sort of book to match it. betrayal is, i 

think, the best bet here because the entire song is about betrayal and the hurt, 

pain, and anger that comes with that.

6. mirrorball
hush, i know they said the end is near
but i'm still on my tallest tiptoes
spinning in my highest heels, love
shining just for you

enchanted by heather dixon

to me, mirrorball was the most fairytale-esque song on the album and 

because there's so many references to dancing, what better match than a 

retelling of the twelve dancing princesses? enchanted has been one of my 

beloved books from early high school and i still think it is just as 

endearing as i did back then.

7. seven
your braids like a pattern
love you to the moon and to saturn
passed down like folk songs
the love lasts so long

little women by louisa may alcott 

such a heartwarming song, seven sweetly spins a story about childhood friendships. 

and for me, when i think childhood memories, friendships, loves, etc., i think of the 

moments i loved with my siblings. to honor that, little women is the book for seven 

because siblings and sisters are some of your best friends and help create the best memories. 

8. august 
and i can see us twisted in bedsheets
august sipped away like a bottle of wine
'cause you were never mine

stone cold touch by jennifer l. armentrout

part two of the love triangle trilogy, i believe august is about the other woman. 

going off the same series of books that i have from cardigan, zayne is "the other 

man" in this series. stone cold touch would definitely the book for this song 

then because it is the only book where he really gets to have a romantic relationship 

with layla. and this song is about inez's time with james.

9. this is me trying
they told me all of my cages were mental
so i got wasted like all my potential
and my words shoot to kill when i'm mad
i have a lot of regrets about that

heir of fire by sarah j. maas

this was maybe the easiest song to match a book to because everything about 

this song screamed aelin's mental and emotional journey through heir of fire. it's 

rough and emotional, really depressing and hard to read at times, but the 

understanding of aelin's attempt to grow in her personhood and the strength it 

takes to do that makes it so worth the read.

10. illicit affairs
and that's the thing about illicit affairs
and clandestine meetings and stolen stares
they show their truth one single time
but they lie and they lie and they lie
a billion little times

red, white & royal blue by casey mcquiston

the topic for this song was something that i thought would be easy to match a book 

with, but then i realized i haven't really read a whole lot of books where there's a 

secret romance or the like. red, white & royal blue though fits the bill perfectly. the 

book is about a secret romance between the prince of england and the president's son. 

there was a lot of hype about it back when it came out and honestly, it lives up to it.

11. invisible string
all along there was some
invisible string
tying you to me?

from blood and ash by jennifer l. armentrout (personal prediction)
crave by tracy wolff
empire of storms by sarah j. maas
a court of mist and fury by sarah j. maas
relentless by karen lynch
they both die at the end by adam silvera

lolololol so here lies my non-exhaustive list of books with mates/soulmates/etc. 

for those who are unaware, this is one of my all-time favourtie tropes. invisible 

string is strongly invoking that idea in my mind though and i love sharing books 

with this trope so it's a win-win!

12. mad woman
you made her like that
and you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out
and you find something to wrap your noose around
and there's nothing like a mad woman

hamlet by william shakespeare

hamlet has one of the greatest "mad women" of all time literary history (imo). ophelia 

is a stunning character with an absolutely tragic ending. i feel like this is the perfect 

vindictively redemptive song for her where she could finally express her frustration 

and urge to go "mad" because of how the people around her treat her. 

13. epiphany
something med school did not cover
someone's daughter, someone's mother
holds your hand through plastic now
"doc, i think she's crashing out"
and some things you just can't speak about

i'm actually not going to list a book for this one and just take a second to thank 

everyone on the front lines facing this virus. you're work is appreciated on a level 

beyond comprehension and we will never know the true amount of work done and

lives saved. thank you!

14. betty
most times, but this time it was true
the worst thing that i ever did
was what i did to you

every last breath by jennifer l. armentrout  

the last part of the love triangle trilogy, betty is the song from james's perspective, 

so this book needs to be the girl's perspective of the dark elements (as per the 

series that i've picked for comparison). i think every last breath is layla's 

equivalent to james's betty because this is the one where she makes the decision 

of who to be with and come face-to-face with how she's hurt the men in her life. 

15. peace
but i would die for you in secret
the devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me
would it be enough if i could never give you peace?

the retribution of mara dyer by michelle hodkin

peace is one of my favourite songs on the album. there's that heartbreaking 

doubt resonating throughout this piece that is so wonderfully potent. and it's sad, 

but it's also very telling of how deeply in love the singer is with the subject of the 

song. i feel like this would be something mara would sing to noah because she is 

such a tragic character in her own right, but she clings to her love and keeps on 

with it despite her doubts about herself.

16. hoax
my only one
my kingdom come undone
my broken drum

a tale of two cities by charles dickens 

sydney carton may be one of my favourite literary characters of all time. a 

tale of two cities is the book for hoax because i could see sydney connecting 

with this song. i don't think lucie is as directly involved as the lyrics of this suggest 

would suggest, but i could definitely see sydney thinking that she is the only one 

for him and her lack of reciprocity (literally) kills him.

t h a n k s   f o r   r e a d i n g !