Books With Song Titles for Your Literary Playlist

Based on Baldwin’s early life and complex experience with religion, Go Tell It on the Mountain takes place over just one day, but uses seven decades worth of flashbacks to flesh out the entire story. Performed by an array of different artists, but named after the original biblical spiritual Go Tell It on the Mountain, these lyrics are essential to understanding the novel’s major themes. Focusing on John Grimes who lives under the tyrannical rule of his preacher father — and gets the brunt of his abuse — he and his siblings live in fear of their every move. Narrated by different members of the family, delve into their past — and explore themes of religion, sexuality, and racism — to discover the secrets that make up this dysfunctional family.

Action hero star Patrick Lake spends his days reshooting countless scenes as Captain Kismet, but his nights in the closet. One night, Patrick visits a gay bar only to be recognized. With quick thinking, drag queen Grace Anatomy rescues Patrick by getting him out of the bar before things can get worse. But Grace Anatomy has her own secret identity. By day she’s Will Wright — comic book store employee who helps Patrick track down the original Captain Kismet comic. For Patrick and Will, falling for each other is easy — but coming out isn’t. Listen to Tove Lo’s lyrics to understand what protecting their secret identities means to them — and see what taking their masks off could risk.

Acclaimed writer Kazuo Ishiguro’s work goes beyond the realm of novels as shown through his role as lyricist for American singer Stacey Kent. In this book, Ishiguro presents a collection of 16 sets of lyrics he penned for Kent’s Grammy-nominated album Breakfast on the Morning Tram. Alongside Ishiguro’s introduction and lyrics are illustrations by Bianca Bagnarelli that enhance the lyrical portraits painted by Ishiguro. From this collection, you can listen to Kent’s song — and the title of this work — The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain — to understand the depth of this collaboration and feel the adventure it can take you on.

Experience the well-known tragedy of Cathy and Heathcliff through Kate Bush’s song Wuthering Heights. Taken in by the Earnshaw family, Heathcliff grew up with Cathy and Hindley, but as their innocent affection turns into a burning passion, Cathy and Heathcliff’s desire to be together only pushes them further apart. From the perspective of Cathy’s ghost, Bush’s song portrays her vulnerability and requited desire of Heathcliff that she couldn’t act on when she was alive. Visit the estate of Wuthering Heights with this perspective and find out how far those with power will go to exact revenge — and what they’d give to take it all back.

When lifestyle reporter Laura Le Quesne accidentally switches suitcases with a handsome stranger, her business trip takes a personal turn as she tries to find him. Not only does Laura want her luggage back, but she wants a chance with the man who has it. Using the contents of the suitcase as clues, Laura may have a shot at finding him. But as she learns more about the town where her parents fell in love and gets closer with the cab driver who helps her on her mission, she just might find that she’s been getting to know her true love all along. Read with Michael Bublé’s Haven’t Met You Yet in the background to cheer Laura on in her quest for love.

Though the Sweet Sixteen party she always dreamed of never comes to fruition, Mahalia Harris still desperately wants the big party that all her friends can afford. When she meets a cute and mysterious girl on her best friend Naomi’s birthday, Mahalia decides that she can still have a party — a coming-out party. Determined to save enough money within the next two months to fund the big bash, Mahalia balances this with her all-consuming crush on Siobhan — who just so happens to be dating the boy who makes Mahalia’s skin crawl. Will her party be as sweet as she hopes, or will the stress of money, school, family, and love sour it all? Named after the song by The Cure, feel all of its optimism, and hope that Mahalia gets the party — and love — she deserves.

In direct reference to Radiohead’s There, There, Orange’s novel reveals the missing sense of identity, home, and culture for his characters. When an Oakland Powwow brings together a group of seemingly unconnected Indigenous people, their fate lies in the event. As their stories unravel, their connections become clear to us — though not entirely to them. Orange reveals the present-day consequences of colonialism in his characters longing to belong while being true to their identities. As the Powwow approaches, see the different ways they all prepare — from directing a documentary and practicing Powwow dancing to even going so far as 3D printing guns to rob the event.

Samantha Sawyer has a lot going on. Not only is she managing her autoimmune disease, helping her friend plan her wedding, and taking on a new promotion at photography business Buxom Boudoir, but now Russell Montgomery is back in the picture. Brother of her best friend’s fiancé, Russ has always had a thing for Sam, and now that he’s back in Chicago for the summer, he knows he wants to make the most of it — with her. Despite closely guarding herself and her secrets, Sam’s plan to keep her distance is foiled when she and Russ both work the city’s biggest summer event for their respective jobs. Sam won’t be able to keep her heart closed off and might instead — like Counting Crows — fall accidentally in love.

Although Rihanna’s song Love on the Brain portrays a toxic relationship, the stark contrast it provides with Hazelwood’s novel Love on the Brain will show you two very different outcomes. Dr. Bee Königswasser — neuroscientist and Marie Curie expert — gets confronted with her grad school nemesis when she lands a job on his project at NASA. Tasked with developing helmets that will change the trajectory of space travel, Bee expects that she’ll butt heads with Levi. But as she faces the stigma that comes with being a woman in STEM, it’s not at all from Levi — maybe what happened all those years ago was a misunderstanding. Despite knowing the science behind all those sparks going on in her brain when she sees him, Bee just can’t be convinced it’s love until Levi can prove it.