Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of bands that I was into when I was in middle and high school. Lately, I’ve also been finding it difficult to motivate myself to read. 

I’m not sure why reading slumps happen to me. I love reading. It brings me joy. Why is it so hard to do, then? (You’ll be unsurprised to know that I often get in “writing slumps,” too, as proven by the yearslong hiatus I’ve taken from this blog.)

In an attempt to climb out of both types of slump, I’m going to try pairing books I’m excited to read with songs I’ve been rediscovering. I scrolled through my Storygraph TBR and only added books that triggered an “oh, I’m so excited for that” thought. 

Let’s get on with pairing some old musical faves with what I hope will be some new literary faves!

“A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’” by Fall Out Boy: Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

Did I pair these two together because the music video for this song has vampires in it? Yes, yes I did. The description of the book also hints at a reluctant adventure, an adventure the characters (who include a vampire real estate agent, the psychic godson of Death, and a ghost haunting a for-sale home) may begrudgingly take, just like the begrudging way the song’s narrator doesn’t “blame you for being you” but still “hat[es] it.” 

“We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands” by The Academy Is…: The Daydreams by Laura Hankin

A song about the messiness of being famous will obviously pair well with a book about the messiness of being famous—a heady mixture of entitlement, addiction, youth, and inexperience. The Daydreams is more of a second chance after the blowup of a celebrity life, kind of like a “ten years later” from the song. 

“Build God, Then We’ll Talk” by Panic! at the Disco: Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo

So far, the Ninth House Trilogy has involved lots of irreverence and immorality. I expect the third book to be the same, and so I’m pairing it with one of the songs from Panic! at the Disco’s debut album, which is full of irreverence and immorality. 

“Somebody Told Me” by The Killers: How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality selected and translated by Sarah Nooter

How to Be Queer takes a look at old texts and extracts the queerness from them even if that isn’t the word they would have used. We have to do a lot of reading between the lines in history, but once you see the patterns, it’s very obvious that queer people have always existed and in many different forms. Similarly, “Somebody Told Me” is one of those songs that is both vague and obvious about its queerness… you just have to listen with a different mindset. 

“This Is How I Disappear” by My Chemical Romance: You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

“Can you hear me cry out to you?” the narrator of MCR’s song asks an absent ghost. And in You’ve Reached Sam, the main character dials up the cell phone of her deceased boyfriend just to hear him one more time. Both the song and the book deal with grief, absence, and connection—and ghosts, of course. 

“Welcome to Paradise” by Green Day: Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

A shithole can feel like paradise if it’s one you’ve chosen, if it’s one that is full of like-minded people, if it’s one that allows you to escape familiar horrors. Unfortunately, that paradise can still have its own horrors. Whether it’s escaping to the Oakland punk scene or away from a fundamentalist cult, both the song and book tell the story of a teen escaping their toxic home lives for a “paradise” that ends up being less utopian than imagined. 

“In Too Deep” by Sum 41: Out of the Blue by Jason June

Like the vampire connection in number 1, I originally only paired these together because of the water aspect. Looking deeper, though—pun intended—both are about a relationship that feels overwhelming despite its barriers, and at least one party is reluctant about it because of these barriers. Out of the Blue is a bit more literal, however, because it involves mermaids. 

“Misery Business” by Paramore: Femmephilia” Love Letters to Trans Mermaids, Queer Mothers, and Marilyn Monroe by Sophie Lewis

Because of Paramore’s rebrand of this song in recent times to address the problematic bits, I thought it would be perfect to pair it with a book of essays about feminism. Femmephilia explores society’s fear of the feminine and proposes a remedy: loving women. The girls in “Misery Business” should not feel in competition with each other. They should love each other’s femininity even if it is expressed in different ways, and that’s what this essay collection is all about. 

“Fake You Out” by twenty one pilots: Taipei Story by R.F. Kuang

While “Fake You Out” is about the identity crises and masking that come from mental illness, Taipei Story explores the identity crises that come from feeling alienated from your ethnic background. The main character in Taipei Story travels to Taipei to feel closer to her heritage and to learn a language that should feel like home, but when her grandfather dies, this connection feels “twice as far.” Outwardly, a sense of belonging appears close, but “is close the closest star?”

“Dirty Little Secret” by The All-American Rejects: Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Both Gwen and Art have “dirty little secrets” in Lex Croucher’s book, and those secrets are the people they’re actually in love with. They despise each other despite their engagement, but when they both discover the other has a same-sex lover, they become allies instead. It’s almost the best case scenario: all of the affairs are okay with everyone involved. But they must still be kept secret from everyone else. 

Bonus Tracks:

• “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” by Fall Out Boy: Deadlock by Chloe Gong
• “The Strays” by Sleeping With Sirens: All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater
• “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World: Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers
• “Tear in My Heart” by twenty one pilots: Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee
• “Beverly Hills” by Weezer: K-Pop Confidential by Stephan Lee

Well, there we are! Can you tell I was into emo music and pop punk? Who am I kidding… I’m still into emo music and pop punk!

I’m hoping that the books on this list become old faves in time, just like the songs they’ve been paired with. Either way, it has been a delight to listen to some of the songs I’ve enjoyed for a decade or longer and share them with you. 

I won’t promise to get back to a regular posting schedule on this blog, but I’m back in the saddle, dipping my toe back in, ready to rumble—all the metaphors. 

Happy reading, and happy listening!

-Ryn PB

Note: Thanks to my number one fan for playing twenty one pilots in the car with me and putting me back on the emo/pop punk path. Love you!