What you should read next, based on your favorite song from folklore.

Romance, betrayal, tragedy, and melancholy abound.

Aug 03, 2025

It’s no secret here that I love Taylor Swift, and I personally think folklore and evermore are her absolute best albums by a mile. Or, at the very least, they are my personal favorite.

Since we just passed the five year anniversary of folklore (how????) and also in honor of the fact that it’s now salt air & the rust on your door season, I thought I’d put together some book recommendations for each track on folklore.

Without further ado…

the 1

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

It would have been fun, if you could have been the one, indeed. Daisy and Billy may have been perfect for each other (debatable), but the timing and circumstances were all wrong. Both the song and the book have that feeling of looking back on a lost love with nostalgia and rose colored-glasses, but not with regret or bitterness. The characters wrestle with the choices they’ve made, wondering if they were right, or what could have been if they’d chosen differently. It’s all very bittersweet and melancholic.

cardigan

Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley

I chose this one because I think cardigan depicts a bit of a toxic relationship, one where the lovers were drawn together at a young age, and weren’t always the best for each other. Deep Cuts reminds me of this – the main characters, Percy and Joe, meet in college and their story spans several decades as they both fall together and apart over the years (I’m sensing a theme in both the books I read and the songs on this album). Percy also often remarks that she feels like Joe and their friend (and Joe’s ex) Zoe are the only people that can really stand her – much like the line “when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite.”

the last great american dynasty

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Emily Henry’s newest novel is the perfect fit for TLGAD – it follows two writers who are working on a biography of the reclusive Margaret Ives, a media-empire heiress, press darling, and daughter of what was once the wealthiest and most powerful family in America. Margaret all but disappeared from the public eye decades earlier, after her personal life descended into tragedy and scandal. She recounts the golden era of her youth, the gilded palace she grew up in, her whirlwind romance and marriage to rockstar Cosmo Sinclair, and how it all came crumbling down.

exile

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Two toxic lovers who can’t help but be drawn to each other? Say less. If you somehow haven’t read it already, the story follows Marianne and Connell over the course of several years, from high school through university as they fall together and apart constantly.

my tears ricochet

The Regrets by Amy Bonnaffons

This book is basically the definition of “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace.” Thomas, the main character, is dead, but due to some afterlife bureaucracy, he has to complete a 90-day stint as a ghost before he can move on. He’s warned not to get involved with the living, as it could lead to Regrets – which would prevent him from moving on when the time comes. Of course, he doesn’t listen, which has far-reaching consequences for everyone involved.

mirrorball

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

This is your classic coming of age story. The main character, Johanna, moves to the city, changes her name, lies about her age to get her dream job, and basically sets about inventing and reinventing herself, picking and choosing pieces of the media she consumes and the people she meets to piece together a personality and a life. It’s very “I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight.”

seven

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

It’s a classic for a reason. Anne of Green Gables perfectly encapsulates the magic of childhood, the intensity of friendships and heartbreak when you’re young, and the bittersweet feelings of grief and nostalgia that happen once you grow up.

august

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

I think august is the classic summer romance song. You know it’s not forever, you know it’s going to end, possibly in heartbreak, but still – something about the salt air and the sunshine makes you lose your mind and, well, live for the hope of it all.

this is me trying

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar is a modern classic, following young, talented Esther Greenwood as she slowly unravels under the pressure and expectations of continuing to be young and talented. It’s the definitive “former gifted student” novel – and, if you haven’t read it yet, I promise it’s not nearly as bleak as you think it is. The ending is quite hopeful!

illicit affairs

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

Trespasses is entirely about an illicit affair, set during the 70s in Northern Ireland. The protagonist, Cushla, is a young Catholic primary school teacher who falls in love with a much older, married, Protestant lawyer who has made waves in their small town for defending IRA members in court. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and the perfect read for my fellow girlies who love sing-screaming “don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby, look at this godforsaken mess that you made me” in the bathroom mirror.

invisible string

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

I’m really trying to not just recommend Emily Henry books for all of these, but this is just a perfect fit. This story follows Alex and Poppy, two best friends, over the course of a decade as they realize that their relationship is a bit more than platonic.

mad woman

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

A sapphic, supernatural revenge fantasy on a cheating, murderous husband who has stolen his wife’s money, youth, and dignity and ridden her name and social standing to unprecedented success? Perfection.

epiphany

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is a poignant historical fiction that follows two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, during the Nazi occupation of France in WWII. They both face unthinkable choices and moral quandaries that can mean life or death for those involved.

betty

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

Young love? Themes of betrayal and self-sabotage in romantic relationships? Small town dynamics where everyone knows your business? Check, check, and check. Talking at Night follows childhood friends Will and Rosie who forge a deep bond during adolescence, despite being from very different backgrounds. They are constantly drawn together and apart over the course of several years, with Will often hurting Rosie or pushing her away due to his own insecurities about his home life and background. Sounds like another stupid teenage boy we know, hm? (tbh if I were Betty I would’ve kicked his ass to the curb immediately. “I slept next to her but dreamed of you all summer long”??? sir, count your days).

peace

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

This novel explores how the main character, Greer, struggles to balance her ambition, career, and self-worth in her relationship with a more traditional and down-to-earth man. Cory envisions a traditional, stable life with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids, where Greer wants to follow her mentor to New York City to pursue her career in activism. Greer’s ambition and passion, which were once exciting and captivating to Cory, become a strain on their relationship, threatening his rosy ideal of adult life and relationships. Would it be enough if I could never give you peace? Indeed.

hoax

All Fours by Miranda July

You probably already know this book and either love it or hate it, but it’s a great encapsulation of a marriage dissolving as each member reckons with the lies they’ve told about and to themselves over the years. I briefly considered recommending Gone Girl for this one, but that felt a bit too aggressive. Hoax is a beautiful portrait of a crumbling relationship built on cracked foundations, and All Fours follows a similar thread.