How Do You Feel About Music and Reading?

I like it when books and music are brought together. I know plenty of people that don’t like to listen to music when reading, they say it’s too distracting. Others, I know, like to listen to instrumental music, so they have background noise, but nothing to distract them. Then there are some who like to have the TV on or the radio, something that they can tune out but they like the sound of something around them to help them concentrate. Then there are people like me that love to have their iPod blasting when they’re reading because tunes are what I need to read. Sure, it means sometimes I’m completely distracting singing at the top of my voice to one of my favourite songs, but I treat such moments as a reading break, it’s even better when I can get my groove on to a particularly good song, but it does occasionally lead to embarrassing moments of people walking in on me dancing around the room, but it’s totally worth it.

I find music and reading to be closely linked, there are still songs that I completely relate with a certain book, be it from playlists I was listening to or because they were playing at a pivotal scene when I was reading, or simply because the song was mentioned that one time. Music and books are related for me. I know there are blogs which feature playlists for songs and I love that, because I love music that can make me think of a book, if I was better at it I might try and do the same thing. Maybe I will one day when I’m a bit more confident in my music picking ability.

Anyway, it was Since You’ve Been Gone that got me thinking about books and music because playlists were a feature in this books, the music sort of ran alongside the book. I found myself creating playlists featuring the songs in the book and became just as obsessed with the music in the book as the story itself. Then, when I was reading Amy and Rogers's Epic Detour I did the same thing, the music was a big thing in this book too. I found myself creating playlists, searching out songs from old CDs to be able to play tunes, it was a thing I had to do. I like when books and music are linked, when I read Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover and found out it had a soundtrack to go with I was thrilled, I love that about books. I love searching out fan playlists for books to listen to when I’m reading. When I visit author blogs and discover their own playlist for a book I’m instantly there listening to it and trying to picture how it fits in with the book. Are the songs meant to set the tone for a scene or are they simply a song the author pictured one of the characters listening to. I like both a thematic playlist and character playlists because both help me get into a book, either into the mood of it or into the mindset of the characters themselves. I don’t know if I’m unusual in my music searching was but it’s who I am. I’m the person that needs that song that was playing in a pivotal scene of a TV show or movie. I will search out music whenever I hear it and am continually paying too much money to buy an album when I’ve only heard one song by a band.

I am continually amazed at how music can transport you. I can listen to a song and have it invoke memories of a book for me, be it from a playlist that I found online for a book, or just because that song was playing when I was reading a significant scene in a book. I’ll hear that song and instantly be transported to the pages of that book. I love how music can do that, not just for books, but for everything. It can so easily transport you to a different moment and invoke memories for you. I love that I can have that link between books and reading.

Do you feel the same way, are books and music intrinsically linked for you? Do you feel the need to have a certain playlist for reading, or are you one of those people that needs absolute silence, or the hum of the everyday to truly get swept away in a book? And do you feel the need to listen to music mentioned in a book, or do you just brush past it as you read? I would love to hear your thoughts.