Build Your Midnights #TBR with These Taylor Swift Song to Book Pairings

Are you obsessively listening to Taylor Swift’s Midnights on repeat? So are we! And since it’s on repeat, we came up with this list of books to build your Midnights #TBR with books for every track. So, get ready to vibe because these books paired with Taylor Swift’s sound and lyricism have our hearts absolutely captivated.  

Intimate with a biting edge, My Year of Rest and Relaxation offers a darkly entertaining commentary on existentialism. Moshfegh’s witty writing on the narrator’s growing sense of ennui and her desire to alienate from the world calls attention to the emptiness of a world focused on monetary value alone. This is the perfect read to keep you in a haze.

Mariah Stovall has crafted an unforgettable and original coming-of-age story with an incisively humorous and delightfully unconventional narrator. Full of empathy and peppered with punk rock, this is a story of friendship, love, and more. Perfect for fans of Melissa Broder and Nick Hornby.

Remarkably clever and deeply compelling, Piglet features the eponymous female lead who is ripe with complications, deviously ambitious and the embodiment of the many struggles women face. This is a sharp and stylish work that will linger longer after you’re done, and keep you rooting for the anti-hero.

From the author of the acclaimed Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance comes a savvy blend of literary and beach read, taking a beach-and-wedding setting and dropping in layers of meaningful character development. With a big heart and a wry sense of humor, this is an honest story that will resonate with a wide audience.

This dark, intimate novel about a complicated relationship between a father and a daughter is perfect for readers of Patricia Lockwood and Lisa Taddeo. An examination of the familial relationships that can build us up or tear us down, this is ultimately the story of a young woman’s becoming, and stepping out from the shadow of her larger-than-life father.

Coco Mellors gives us a glittering, funny and relatable debut about being young (and not so young) and trying to make sense of it all in New York City. Centering on an unlikely marriage and the people caught in its orbit, Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a romp through the underbelly of the Downtown Manhattan elite.

If you know Dolly from her unforgettable memoir, Everything I Know About Love, you’ll be thrilled to read her fiction debut. Witty, clever and biting, Good Material is an exploration of friendship, love and the many forms a relationship can take. Great for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld and Emily Henry.

This book is full of unputdownable heartbreak and hilarity. Beagin skillfully blends complicated characters, a messy love story, and an unmatched voice into a witty and original story.

Miranda July delivers an inspiring story about an aging woman in search of freedom. It’s a uniquely moving narrative full of heart and humor.

From the author of Bunny, Rouge is a fun and creepy novel about the dangers of the pursuit of youth and beauty. California sunshine contrasts with a gothic mansion that houses a spa where horrific “treatments” occur. Rouge seeks to expose the darkness that lies beneath the glossy surfaces we love to fixate on; it’s sure to appeal to fans of Melissa Broder, Ottessa Moshfegh and Carmen Maria Machado.

Unhinged in the best way possible, this is a novel that presents itself initially as the story of an inequal relationship but evolves into blistering commentary on race, patriarchy, consumer culture, and our use of social media. You’ll burn through these 216 pages quickly – and the unnamed narrator’s voice will stick with you long after you’ve put this book down.

The kind of debut that launches a career, Andrés N. Ordorica’s How We Named The Stars is beautiful and devastating, a tender and timeless tale about queer love, family and secrets. Inspired by the author’s own experiences, this story tugs on the heartstrings with immensely human characters and a genuine examination of love and loss.

Perfect for fans of those darkly hilarious thrillers featuring slightly demented protagonists. You won’t be able to stop yourself from rooting for the murderer, and you’ll have a romp of a time doing it.

Normal People is a poignant and deeply moving story about identity, friendship, and young love. Rooney perfectly captures the loneliness of growing up and the desire to feel understood by peers. Every reader will see a bit of themselves in the vulnerable and fragile natures of Connell and Marianne.

Profoundly moving and grappling with the complicated subjects of loss and grief, this is nonetheless a joy to read, both because of Sloane Crosley’s unbeatable narrative voice, and because of how deeply human that narrative is.

Bringing the magic of Paris to life, Ruth Reichl digs into the immersive details — food, art, fashion — for a complete experience of the City of Lights. Add to that Stella, a winning protagonist with a superb narrative arc that is as deeply human as it is universal.

Hilarious and profound is a rare — and delightful — combination in a novel. This charming, big-hearted debut features a wonderful, plain-spoken and death-obsessed heroine who readers will root for as she navigates accidental employment, mistaken identity (she can explain!), and finding your voice. This is a wonderful comfort read that will appeal to fans of Kristen Arnett and Gail Honeyman.

Sheila Heti’s Alphabetical Diaries is a memoir in a form all its own. Told in order, sentence by sentence from A to Z, to tell a story of identity and change in a lyrically constructed way.

The fiction debut of a poetic master, Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is teeming with all the life you’ll find in his poems, fleshed out over an entire novel. Beautifully written, with a buoyant tone that will sustain any reader, this is the story of a young man in search of purpose, and all the places he looks for it.

Julie Myerson’s newest novel Nonfiction is intricate and raw, featuring themes of motherhood, addiction and what it means to write. Jumping back and forth in time, readers will never be sure if they’re hearing the full story and are fully dependent on the character’s honesty, or lack thereof.

Death Valley is Melissa Broder at the height of her powers. This absolute stunner of a novel takes a desert survival story and somehow turns it into a perfect metaphor about anticipatory grief. Weird, tender and wild, this is an unforgettable journey into the unknown.

From one of our favorite authors comes a striking novel of an artist’s unwavering perseverance. A deeply affecting story of the long-lasting impact of heartbreak and what it means to live with it. Perfect for fans of Sally Rooney.