Recommending a book for each Taylor Swift era

From videos of the Eras tour to the upcoming release of a new album, Taylor Swift is everywhere. She has populated every corner of the internet and continues to break countless records. However, it should not detract from the brilliance of her music. Each album has a powerful emotional range that marks the different eras of Swift’s music.

We recommend a book for each of Swift’s albums so you can choose your next read based on your favourite era.

Taylor Swift – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Swift’s debut album is a collection of heartfelt, charming country songs that map her heartbreaks and ambitions. Despite only being fifteen when she wrote it, Swift reveals her talent for storytelling through her poetic lyrics. Little Women reflects the same hopeful aspirational dreaming as Taylor Swift, telling the story of four young sisters trying to find their place in the world. They dream of marriage and careers, all the while clinging to each other for support.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) – The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Fearless was the album that propelled Swift to international fame, with songs like ‘Love Story’ and ‘You Belong with Me’ topping the Billboard charts. The Song of Achilles is a Greek story retelling of the love story between Achilles and Patroclus. Don’t be put off by its status as a popular TikTok book because it is every bit worth the hype. Much like Swift’s album, Miller will break your heart with her elegant prose, showcasing her powerful storytelling.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) – Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

Speak Now features some of Swift’s sweetest love songs against her most gut-wrenching break-up songs. She takes you on an emotional journey through the album that leaves you speechless by the end of it. To reflect the emotional range of Speak Now, we can turn to Rupi Kaur’s self-published poetry collection Milk and Honey. Divided into four parts, her collection reflects on everything from love and loss to survival.

Red (Taylor’s Version) – Normal People by Sally Rooney

It is impossible to think of Swift’s Red album without thinking of ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version)’ as it is arguably her most impressive song. Such a momentous song and album needs a book with the same legacy, which points to Normal People by Sally Rooney. One of the most popular Irish novels of recent years, it follows Connell and Marianne from school to Trinity College, as they navigate the perilous troughs of growing up and falling in love.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) – Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott

1989 marked Swift’s complete transition into the world of pop music. The album celebrates friendship whilst also making light of the allegations against Swift at the time of dating too many people. Reflecting perceptions of notorious celebrities, Swan Song is a stunning debut about the beautiful socialites that Truman Capote called his Swans. In an enchanting story of betrayal and gossip, Greenberg-Jephcott conveys the lives of the elite members of 1970s New York.

reputation – Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

reputation is usually perceived as a revenge album due to the overwhelming amount of snake imagery, but it is also a beautiful account of the process of falling in love. In a similar way, Anna Karenina couples youthful, hopeful love with the tragic downfall of a powerful woman due to an illicit affair. The Russian classic reflects the intensity of infatuation which perfectly mirrors ‘Gorgeous’ and ‘Getaway Car’.

Lover – The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

The overwhelming theme in Lover is evidently love, but it is also one of Swift’s most playful albums with songs like ‘London Boy’ and ‘You Need to Calm Down’. It calls for a classic romance novel like The Flatshare which covers all the usual tropes but will guarantee to make you smile. The Flatshare follows recently single Tiffany who shares a single-bed flat with Leon, but she has never met him. It is fun, heart-warming, and romantic – a perfect representation of Lover.

folklore – Possession by A.S Byatt

folklore is arguably the best thing that came out of the 2020 pandemic. Taking everyone by surprise, Swift announced the album within twenty-four hours of its release. At its core, folklore is an album about storytelling which is exactly what Possession is about. Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize, Possession follows two literary scholars as they reconstruct a secret affair between two Victorian writers. The novel is complete with love letters and poetry which result in a richly ambitious novel.

evermore – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Released shortly after folklore, evermore contains some of the most heartbreaking songs across Swift’s discography. Songs like ‘Tolerate It’ and ‘Champagne Problems’ exemplify Swift’s ability to capture misunderstood love and the challenge of relationships, both of which appear in Hamnet. Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Hamnet is a fictional account of the life of William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway. Told through multiple perspectives, the novel is a stunning portrayal of grief and forgiveness.

Midnights – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Swift announced that Midnights was a product of thirteen sleepless nights scattered throughout her life. The fragmented conception of the album makes it one of her most powerful albums. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is also told in a fragmented, non-linear style and is written in the form of a letter from the narrator, Little Dog, to his mother. Through its poetic language, it is an intimate insight into the lives of Little Dog’s family, from the marriage of his Vietnamese grandmother to an American soldier to his own relationships.

Why not give these books a read so you can distract yourself from the anticipation of The Tortured Poets Department.