Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Non-Bookish Hobbies (Let’s get to know each other! What do you do that does not involve books or reading?) I decided to do a bit of a twist. 🙂

Hello Readers! It’s November! We made it! I feel like we all deserve a pat on the back. <3 It’s election day here in the states, and we’re all a bit nervous. Maybe more than a bit. Because it feels like anything can happen. And that’s a scary thing. Even without the pandemic. But let’s not dwell on it right now. We have the rest of the day to worry, right?

It’s also time for Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). Who else is participating? Add me as a buddy. I’m abookwanderer!

I don’t really have any hobbies that aren’t associated with books, but I do love listening to music and putting playlists together. Being a music supervisor for film and television is the idea of a dream job for me. I would love to have the power to pick songs that enhanced the visual experience. 🙂

I’ve shared other playlists I’ve created on my book reviews on the blog, but today I’ll be sharing some of my favorite playlists I’ve made for books or series over the years that I haven’t shared here. These are the original playlists I created while I read, so some songs are dated, but now they’re just nostalgic for me. Maybe you’ll find some new music or hear an old song you’ve forgotten. <3

1

The Flat-Out Love Series by Jessica Park

Synopsis:

Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

It’s not what you know—or when you see—that matters. It’s about a journey.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it. When Julie’s off-campus housing falls through, her mother’s old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side… and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there’s that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That’s because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie’s suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that … well… doesn’t quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

It’s time for a reread of Flat-Out Love. I’ve forgotten most of the details, but I remember that I loved it when I read it for the first time.

2

The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

Synopsis:

“My name is MacKayla, Mac for short. I’m a sidhe-seer, one who sees the Fae, a fact I accepted only recently and very reluctantly.

My philosophy is pretty simple – any day nobody’s trying to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven’t had many good days lately. Not since the walls between Man and Fae came down. But then, there’s not a sidhe-seer alive who’s had a good day since then.”

When MacKayla’s sister was murdered, she left a single clue to her death, a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone. Journeying to Ireland in search of answers, Mac is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to master a power she had no idea she possessed – a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae.

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho…while at the same time, the ruthless V’lane – an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women – closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: to find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book – because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control both worlds in their hands.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

So, if you’ve never heard of the Fever series, you might read this synopsis and think, “What in the world??” I know I did. But I discovered this series on a list of “addictive series,” and they weren’t wrong. It’s addictive and ultra steamy.

3

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Synopsis:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, didn’t expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she’s never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

Stephenie Meyer does a great job sharing her book’s playlists, so The Host playlist I’m sharing includes her suggested songs, as well as my additions.

4

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. 

She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 4]

The Lunar Chronicles is one of those series that gets better with each book. In fact, it’s the third book, Cress, that’s my favorite. I’ve read this series multiple times. It’s one that I recommend over and over. And I love to listen to this playlist even when I’m not reading the series.

5

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Synopsis:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

I’m sorry, y’all. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing this but The Raven Cycle is one of my favorites! If you’ve never read it, what are you doing with your life??? Here’s a playlist to listen to while you get lost in this book world.

6

Contours of the Heart Series by Tammara Webber

Synopsis:

Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret.
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex’s frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night – but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he’s hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 3.75]

I was surprised to discover that I didn’t rate this book higher, but it’s a series that has stuck with me for years. I need to reread it and see if I feel differently about it now. I definitely don’t like the title Easy. It doesn’t fit the book at all. There’s nothing easy about this story.

7

The Just One Series by Gayle Forman

Synopsis:

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay.

When sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark.

After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left.

Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

I recently did a reread of this series to celebrate the end of summer, and I still loved it as much as the first time I read it. This is a playlist that I originally shared on 8 Tracks, and it got some nice attention. It’s still one of my favorite playlists to listen to. Sadly, there are a few songs that I couldn’t locate on Spotify.

8

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Synopsis:

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

I was late to the Outlander fandom, and I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long to finally give it a try.

9

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know… 

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

While I enjoyed The Mortal Instruments, my favorite in the Shadowhunters universe is The Infernal Devices. I shared my playlist for that series here, as well.

10

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis:

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? 

Goodreads

My Rating [usr 5]

Fangirl is another book I’ve been wanting to reread. It’s been years since I read it for the first time. It was a book that was easy to make a playlist for because the author had made her own. I just added a few of my own songs to it, as well. 😉

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Do you make playlists for your favorite books? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!