Tunes & Tales 2.0 | January 2018

It's been a hot minute since I last did a Tunes and Tales! I thoroughly enjoyed featuring some of my favorite albums alongside books each song reminded me of, but it ultimately ended up having an expiration date as I don't fall head over heels in love with a lot of albums in their entirety (though I will have posts coming up for my three favorite albums of 2017, which I'm excited about!). Anyway, I've decided to tackle this feature in a slightly different way going forward. I'll be sharing my five songs on repeat for each month, each paired with a relevant read, and including a link to my monthly playlist on Spotify (as I'm constantly adding to it up until the very last day). Happy reading and listening, friends!

I had the chance to go to Walt Disney World last Christmas, and it was utterly magical. One of my favorite experiences was seeing the Happily Ever After fireworks display at Magic Kingdom twice because 1) it's phenomenal, 2) it features so many of my favorite Disney characters and 3) the musical accompaniment is wonderful. Happily Ever After is one of the featured songs during the spectacle, as performed by Jordan Fisher and Angie Keilhauer. It's magical, it's uplifting and I adore it! Geekerella, a modern day Cinderella retelling that has fandom and convention aspects, by Ashley Poston ended up being the title I thought matched it best.

The second of my five songs this month is Sorry Not Sorry, which is a total "eff you" anthem from Demi Lovato. I've always been a fan of hers, and she is always releasing new singles that I end up absolutely loving (and putting on a number of playlists) and this one is clearly no exception. I've been listening to it on repeat, and it was only after the hundredth or so time (you might think I'm exaggerating, but I'm really not) that I realized it reminded me a little bit of The Mistake, the second book in the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy. While it ends very differently than what the song implies, there are chapters where I feel like main character Grace really embraces the spirit of it.

I forgot to mention in my post last Friday that I also went to the The Greatest Showman. While I think the execution fell a little flat, I did think the actors were talented, the theatricality was fun and the true star of the show was the soundtrack. I really like the entirety of the OST, but my favorite track is by far This is Me. It's a tune that just makes me feel empowered, despite and in spite of my imperfections and flaws, and I belt it out a lot around the apartment and in the shower, though I will never be able to crush it the way Keala Settle does. It pairs perfectly well with Eliza and Her Monsters, which was a contemporary YA about a girl who is the creator of a famous webcomic and a boy who just so happens to be a fan fic writer for said webcomic. Francesca Zappia did well in combining romance, familial ties and one girl's personal journey into one heck of a read.

I was surprised to discover how much I couldn't get the Alan Walker remix of Again, as performed by Noah Cyrus, out of my head during the month. There's just something about it... perhaps the contrast between the pulsing beat and Noah's haunting voice? It took me a little while to think of a story that seems to fit the lyrics, but I think I hit the jackpot when I remembered How to Love. It's a YA novel with a complicated relationship (boy and girl are together, girl gets pregnant, boy leaves, flash forward years later and boy comes back and wants to be part of girl and baby's life) by Katie Cotugno, who is queen of complicated contemporary YA.

The last tune I want to mention is one I love on two levels - as an objective listener who adores the execution of this cover, and as a very proud wife. Macky is now an artist you can find on Spotify (and iTunes), and I'm so, so proud of him! He did an original song called Tell Me Something that I am absolutely obsessed with. It immediately made me think of my favorite Sarah Dessen novel ever, Along for the Ride, which is a lovely little YA contemporary that I read years ago (and am now suddenly itching to reread...)

So, those are my five favorite tunes for the month of January (so far)! If you're interested in checking out the rest of my monthly playlist, I've included it below. What songs do you have on repeat this month? Anything you think I should listen to?