Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Culture

Convincing You To Read My Favorite Books By Converting Them Into Songs

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCLA chapter.

Ever wanted to read a book that sounds like the song, “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey? Yeah, me too. That’s why I bought the book Belladonna by Adalyn Grace after someone on TikTok claimed that the song was a perfect representation of how the book made them feel. I decided to do the same with some of my favorite reads!

All’s Well by Mona Awad—“Pink Funeral” by Beach House 

I was walking down the street listening to this song and I immediately thought of the book All’s Well by Mona Awad. This is the second book I’ve read by Awad, and she is one of my favorite authors, not only because her style of writing is both intriguing and haunting, but because her books encompass a sense of dark femininity. I’ll go ahead and use the psychological thriller Black Swan movie as another description for this book. 

wolfgang hasselmann TwLGzTFFFio unsplash?width=1024&height=1024&fit=cover&auto=webp
/ Unsplash

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid—“SIlver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac

Naturally, I’m going to link Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs” to the book that was inspired by the band’s real life stories. IF YOU LOVE FLEETWOOD MAC, READ THIS BOOK! It’s also super fun to read because it’s written like an interview script!

The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger—“In One Ear” by Cage The Elephant 

This is my favorite book from high school (ignore that red flag). I get why this isn’t a lot of people’s favorite and I wonder if it still will be if I read it again today. Holden Caulfield is not supposed to be a likable character, and I suppose that’s what draws me to the character (red flag number two, I guess). Holden probably would’ve mansplained the Joker to me but he also would’ve headbanged to some good ol’ angsty Cage The Elephant (green flag?). I also feel like Holden Caulfield would’ve loved 2014 Tumblr too. 

Normal People by Sally Rooney—“Two Slow Dancers” by Mitski 

I don’t want to talk about it.

Riley Keough and Sam Claflin in Daisy Jones and the Six
Lacey Terrell / Prime Video

Bunny by Mona Awad—“Run Rabbit Run” by Flanagan & Allen

I think about this book a lot. I wish I could read it for the first time again. I couldn’t find the perfect song that represented this book so I went with the most literal and creepiest one I could find. You don’t really know what’s happening when you’re reading this book, not even until the last page. I actually still don’t know and I read this book last year. 

Scythe (Book 1) by Neal Shusterman—“Daylight” by David Kushner 

This book is so good. Honestly, the concept is really dark but also really comforting in the way the characters go about handling their circumstances. It’s a dystopian fiction where society has become so advanced that the threat of death no longer exists but people still need to die. You can’t help but fall in love with the two main characters and in turn, watch them slowly fall in love. Their chemistry honestly isn’t a focus in the book – it lingers in the back – but when it does come into light, I’m giggling and kicking my feet in the air. 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller—“Experience” by Ludovico Einaudi 

This book is rather popular amongst YA readers; it’s really good! It is one of the books that got me back into reading in the beginning of the pandemic so it’s hard to remember all of the details, but I do remember this book being really hard to read because I loved it so much. There’s a constant push and pull between two loveable characters that you easily get attached to and I think the song “Experience” by the composer Ludovico Einaudi is a perfect song that sums up the reader’s feelings throughout the story. 

I hope you guys enjoyed me describing these books as songs! I wish there was somehow a way that you could tell me about your own song descriptions for your favorite books!  

Odette is a first-generation Mexican-American senior completing her undergraduate degree at the University of California Los Angeles. This is her first year on the HerCampus editorial team and is super excited about being able to improve her portfolio and experience as a writer. Outside of HerCampus Odette enjoys reading books of fiction and writing songs and poetry.