April 23rd is World Book Day. It was first established by UNESCO in 1995 as a day of celebrating the joy of reading for enjoyment.
I LOVE to read and I LOVE to write but for some reason I have only done one book tag so far on the blog. It was, predictably, a Taylor Swift book tag. Today being World Book Day is a fine day for book tag number two. So in honour of 420 (my second birthday) and Rick Dees (whom I have listened to since my pre-teens) here is a book tag based on the top 10 songs that aired on Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 on April 20, 2019.
10) Wow. by Post Malone
Well … I did not know this one before 420. I had “seen” it somewhere, I think on a Billboard article, but could not be half-assed to look for it. I have this thing where unless it is Taylor/Ariana/Beyoncé/Rihanna/Adele I do not actively seek out new music. So I am not even going to try and link the song to a book.
I tried to link Posty himself as his aesthetic is that he looks both rich and homeless at the same time, but I do not own a book that has a character with a similar aesthetic.
So I will just cop out and do a book set in New York as that is where Posty was born.
9) break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored by Ariana Grande
This easily applies to both of the Tasmina Perry books I own as they both feature a main character that is pining over a man who is taken.
In fact both books have the same formula – a family saga. They also both have the same elements – sex, money, power, jealousy, backstabbing, glamour, more sex. The term ‘bonkbuster’ has often been used to describe her books. And I am here for it!
8) Dancing with a Stranger by Sam Smith & Normani
For some reason this song has not grown on me 😐
I decided to take dancing as a euphemism for what you might do with a stranger on a night you do not want to be alone, because the top 10 had more than enough songs that fall into the romance genre.
Let’s just say Chelsea danced with a shitload of strangers. Lol.
7) Be Alright by Dean Lewis
This song is about having your heartbroken in a relationship but despite that believing that come what may things will be fine in the end.
This can only be a book from the romance genre. It used to be that almost everything in the romance genre followed the same formula of “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again.” Another very common trope was the damsel in distress one but contemporary romance has since evolved from these narratives and I am glad because women are powerful AF and we need to see the same in what we read.
So for this I am going with Memoirs of a Geisha because although it is a love story, Chiyo’s worth was not centred on her love interests.
6) 7 Rings by Ariana Grande
Well that was easy. Lol.
I looked for this book all of last year but I could not find it anywhere, both in bookstores and the second-hand book vendors in town.
So when I found it in Cape Town I definitely had to buy it. And now I have started this tradition that whenever I travel out of Kenya I will buy a book that will serve as a reminder of my destination.
5) Sweet but Psycho by Ava Max
I love love love this song!!
I will go with The Sookie Stackhouse Novels for this because the townspeople think Sookie is a nice girl but they steer clear of her as they think she is psycho. Spoiler alert, she is not psycho but she can read minds and it is easy to see why that may be interpreted as psycho.
Fun fact, the TV show True Blood is based on these books.
4) Sucker by (the) Jonas Brothers
This. Is. My. Jam!! The #Jsisters and Nick fucking kill it in the music video!
The song is about being completely into another person so what better choice than a book by the queen of the romance genre:
3) Without Me by Halsey
First of all, while I love this song, it stayed at the top of the countdown for 10 weeks. I think it is a great song, but not 10-weeks-at-the-top-of-Rick-Dees level great.
For this I will go with Big Little Lies because of Celeste’s storyline. I cannot explain why without giving away a major part of the story so I will leave it at that.
Fun fact, Nicole Kidman won a Golden Globe, a SAG award and an Emmy for her portrayal of Celeste. So if you are yet to watch the show that might incentivise you a bit.
2) Better by Khalid
Another opportunity to throw in the romance genre because what else can you go with for “nothing feels better than this” w.r.t another person other than romance? Nothing. The answer is nothing else.
1) Close to Me by Ellie Goulding & Diplo ft. Swae Lee
Another. Romance. Song. Le sigh! What happened to angst?
So obviously another romance book. This one features tonnes of sex in line with the animal magnetism Ellie sings about.
Lwile the Leo 