Book Recommendations Based on
Songs
Lucia Harley, Contributor
Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney – Uncle ACE, Blood Orange
Popularized by Challengers (2023), Blood Orange’s Uncle ACE perfectly matches this seductive, adulterous novel. Its measured rhythm mirrors the subconscious and enjoyable descent into one of Rooney’s complex emotional entanglements, capturing tension, secrecy, and blurred boundaries between friendship and desire.
The Hours, Michael Cunningham – That Light That’s Blinding, Mutual Benefi
On a different note, this is one of the most beautiful songs I know, paired with one of the most beautiful books I’ve read—a tribute to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. The song subtly mirrors a character’s storyline in Cunningham’s work, though I connect these two because it reminds me of the novel’s illuminated prose.
The Idiot, Elif Batuman – Fool, Adrienne Lenker
A kind of hero’s journey (if the hero was an overthinking 18-year-old) set at Harvard during the dawn of email, The Idiot explores the uncertainty of early adulthood. The novel displays a reckoning with both joy and fear, and though their vibes are entirely different, Fool embodies that uncertainty in growth.
Cursed Bread, Sophie Mackintosh – I Only Have Eyes for You, The Flamingos
Set during a mysterious mass poisoning in a 1950s French town, this novel is an unsettling fever-dream. The Flamingos’ cover of I Only Have Eyes for You is equally eerie (in the best way) with its ‘retro’ quality. Amplified by its lyrics, the song captures the atmosphere of Mackintosh’s captivating, hysteria-induced read.
Photo Credit: Faber & Faber Publishing
