Playlist: Music While Reading 📚 And Some Book Recommendations
Within the last few years and especially this year, we have been in what I call book-binge peak. In the history of book publishing there has never been this high of an influx of very good books to read. Thanks to YouTube and TikTok, we are more blessed with book hauls, the girls next door become our favorite literary critics and for many creators #booktok has become their real job.
Now that reading is cool again, the right ambience sets up the perfect, tranquil mood. You’re looking forward to staying home and cozying up to a new book, fresh pages from a debut author, your hot matcha latte rests at your side, lighting is correct and the final touch is music. Sometimes if not all the time, good background music sets the tone and even the imagination and focus needed to get lost within the story. It’s all about the right music, not too distracting, no overly produced pop songs or hip-hop to allow your brain to wander from the pages. Similar to elevator music where it’s silent enough that you can think to yourself without forgetting what floor you’re getting off at, or even the commercial playlist they use for supermarkets and department stores. There’s a psychology involved that music can shift and retain your focus to what is in front of you. Hopefully this playlist, Music While Reading can do just that, allow you, the reader to imagine what you’re reading for a good hour or two.
Scroll down to listen to a preview of the playlist, and do follow for new updates!
YELLOWFACE by R.F. Kuang
Popularly known for writing fantasy novels, Yellowface is the first contemporary novel from this author. From the buzz I’ve heard it is an unhinged societal train wreck of a read. It’s about frenemies within the literary world, with strong protagonist/antagonist roles, which allows this to be a fast read to divulge into. This booktok review breaks down well on what she loved and disliked about this book.
THE PARIS APARTMENT by Lucy Foley
The most common first line description of this novel is that it is an easy-read thriller. In need of a mental and stress-free escape Jess Hadley goes to Paris, stays at her brother’s apartment who is not there. In fact he is nowhere to be seen. This opens the crime door to the book’s theme of unraveling the dark holes within The City of Lights. If you’re a fan of Hitchcock film noirs and Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, this book will keep you interested until the end.
MY MEN by VICTORIA KIELLAND
This novel is about the first female serial killer in the U.S., just to get that out of the way. A harrowing fictional story of a broken woman who slowly, but irreversibly turned to murder for release from her pain. A compelling story lying under a theme of the pursuit of the American Dream, this offers a brutal yet empathetic glimpse into the world of a woman consumed with desire.
YOUR LOVE IS NOT GOOD by Joanna Hedva
A Queer Korean-American artist falls in lust/love with her muse, a tale as old as time. But the over-growing problem with having a muse, is the constant fixation as an obsession begins to form. This novel revolves around the vicious circles of the art world as well as the Queer Artist community where the hunger to succeed falls within the cracks of identity, aspiration, desire and art itself.
