Like all art with staying power, Midnights incorporates ideas all of us experience at one time or another. Digging deeper into the theme of sleepless nights, Swift says that five things in particular inspired these songs: self-loathing, fantasizing about revenge, wondering what might have been, falling in love, and falling apart. Whomst among us hasn’t spent a significant amount of time in one of those five headspaces, if not all of them, and sometimes all at the same time? I’ve picked my top eight songs from the album and paired them with a book that — for one reason or another —”goes.” Some of the pairings were evoked by a single lyric, some by the vibe of the song, and some simply by the title. I’ve listened to Midnights approx a zillion times writing this list, and it hasn’t yet gotten old. As TSwift steps into her mid-thirties (omg what have I done with my life), I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes. “Labyrinth” is a song about navigating the twists and turns of recovering from a broken heart, and when I think of broken hearts, R+J are my forever pair. But what about when your sister takes aim at the man you’re not willing to bury? But The Board didn’t factor in what it is to be a woman of a certain age. If you’ve read Steifvater’s Raven Cycle series but haven’t yet picked up The Dreamer Trilogy, you have a treat in store. And if you haven’t read the Raven Cycle, starting with The Raven Boys, there’s a whole feast ahead.
