I first saw this book tag from Jaime @ Keeper of the Wood Between Worlds. She did this book tag a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to do it too, before the end of 2023, but I guess I’m a little late! Still, better late than never! This tag was originally created by Rosina @ Lance and Dagger Books, and you can find her latest one here.

In Rosina’s words:

The idea of this challenge is to put your 2023 playlist on shuffle, and for the first three to five songs, you need to pick a book you read in 2023 that fits that song. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit. You just have to explain why you chose that book for that song. Obviously, you won’t have a book match for every song, so you can skip some if necessary. But the idea is that you at least need to try, even if it is embarrassing. 

So here are mine:

Hold Me Now by Renee Olstead = Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Hold Me Now is primarily a love song, and while Flowers for Algernon has some romance in it, it’s not the main point of the story. But they are both so sad and emotional, and they break my heart into tiny pieces and I am very much in my feels. They both have that devastatingly hopeful/hopeless yearning, wanting to hold on, and yet very much aware of the inevitability of the end. Every time I think of either of these song/book, I have to pause and feel my feels and it takes a while.

Silent All These Years by Tori Amos = Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Silent All These Years and Sharp Objects both have a kind of sinister feel, with things not being said, and hidden danger. They both dance around the topic of abuse, glossing over it, minimizing it, never outright saying it but allowing the listener/reader to infer it on their own. There’s also a nostalgic feeling to both of them, a revisiting of the past. I feel like the whole being silent thing, on both these song/book, allow hurt, abuse, danger to thrive. It’s when you finally give voice to things and bring them to light, that things get resolved. But with these song/book, do they?

Where I Belong by Adrian von Ziegler = 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

This pairing is a little bit more subjective. I mean, they were all subjective, but this one is even more subjective because Where I Belong is an instrumental piece, and there are no lyrics for me to go by, only the title and the feel of the song.

So for me, Where I Belong feels happy and joyful, and gives me found family vibes of home and belonging. I’m a huge fan of found family stories, so I actually read a few books in 2023 that fit the theme, but many of them also have elements of pain and sadness, some more than others. The one I thought that fit best, was 10 Blind Dates, because even though there are a few conflicts moving the story along, the book as a whole was just so fun and joyful, and that sense of belonging was so palpable.

There you have it; my Spotify Wrapped Book Tag done! I’m only doing three because it’s harder than I thought to find the perfect pairings! But I had fun doing this and I loved thinking about why the books matched the songs.

I don’t have anyone to tag except my predecessors, but if you’d like to do this, please do! And let me know so I can check out your post!