Friday Mood Recs: Book Lists for Every Taylor Swift Era (Part 1)

The debut through "All Too Well"

Hey, readers!

Let me start by saying that sharing a list of books based on Taylor Swift albums feels like a ridiculous thing to be doing right now as the world, once again, erupts into a devastating war. I know many of you are getting this email and thinking, “read the room,” and that is completely fair. I also know that writing about books is my job and that putting together this list brought me joy. Work and joy and joyful work were things I needed this week, so I’m delivering this post today, as has long been my plan.

This weekend Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hits movie theaters. No I sadly do not have a ticket (did they sell out immediately too? I can’t even keep up!), but I have been having my own personal eras experience by listening to Taylor’s catalog in order. As I’ve written about previously, my audiobook listening has been on the fritz and inviting some nostalgia into my earbuds has been a lovely way to spend my listening time.

I’m certainly not the world’s most devoted Taylor fan—see my lack of Eras tickets above—but I do have strong associations between certain Swift albums and my own life experiences. In college, when it seemed like boys were rarely doing right by my friends, I loved the righteous anger in Swift’s early albums. I spent many hours running through the streets of D.C. to Red to keep me sane during grad school. My first year teaching high school a student burned me a copy of 1989 as a bribe to accept a late assignment and it became the pick-me-up I most relied on for my early morning drives to work. Most recently, we discovered that infant Louise, like many babies apparently, was soothed to sleep by Taylor’s more melodic tunes, and this playlist was on repeat for months.

Listening to the albums in order was a fascinating exercise in studying a writer’s development. Honestly, a Reading in Public newsletter or Novel Pairings episode could be devoted to close reading Swift’s songs and analyzing her trajectory as a songwriter. This post isn’t that, but in curating lists for each album, it was fun to think about craft and maturity along with tone and themes. 

Methodology: Over the last several weeks, I’ve listened to Taylor Swift's albums in order, on repeat.As I listened, I took notes on the tone, mood, themes, and writing style that stood out to me from each album, as well as writing down any books that that came to mind while listening. After a few runs through this casual approach, I honed in on a few descriptive phrases for each album, and scoured my reader records and shelves for books that fit those descriptions. Some of the books I came up with are explicitly based on specific songs or narratives that appear in an album. Others are reminiscent of the larger themes of an album or an homage to the style it seems Swift is going for, while still others are based purely on vibes. 

Product: Ultimately, I came up with, well, a LOT of books, split between all 10 albums, plus a list specifically for “All Too Well.” For each album and “All Too Well,” you’ll find anywhere between 5-10 books that fit with my listening experience. Because this ballooned beyond my wildest dreams (😉), I’m dividing my recommendations into two newsletters. Today, I’m sharing lists for the debut through Red. On Friday, October 27th, I’ll share lists for 1989 and beyond, to mark the release of of 1989 (Taylor’s Version).

I had a blast creating these lists. The joy and nostalgia and pure fun it brought was well worth the 20+ hours of listening, note-taking, and writing that went into it. I hope you enjoy exploring these lists, and I’d love to know what books you’d recommend for your favorite Taylor Swift Era.