A Book Recommendation Based on Your Favorite Lana Del Rey Song

image from eeleanorgracee on Pinterest

I’ve noticed that the songs I listen to while reading always start to feel like they’re about the characters in my book, or maybe the characters from the book I’m reading start to influence the songs I listen to. Either way, naturally, Lana Del Rey always comes into the mix. I’ve begun pairing her songs with the books I’ve read. Based on my very scientific (mostly vibe-based) research, here’s a book recommendation inspired by your favorite Lana song:

"The Greatest," "Happiness is a Butterfly," "Born To Die," and "Yosemite" – Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

Starting off with my favorite Lana song, "The Greatest." I hear the intro and immediately feel everything. It’s aching, nostalgic, and full of that tender sense of watching the world slip away while you're still trying to care. A book that evokes a similar energy for me is Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney. It’s largely told through emails between two best friends as they attempt to make sense of life, art, politics, society, and romantic confusion- all while teetering on the edge of burnout during the lockdown, Trump, and Brexit era.

The line from The Greatest:

"The culture is lit And if this is it I had a ball I guess that I'm burned out after all”

Feels like the same blend of irony and sincerity, of caring too much and not at all. It’s exactly the kind of modern existentialism Rooney captures so well.

"NFR," "Video Games," "Cinnamon Girl," "Mariners Apartment Complex," and "Shades of Cool" – Normal People by Sally Rooney

I guess I’ll keep going with another Rooney and, of course, my favorite– Normal People. I first read Normal People right around the time Norman F*ck*ng Rockwell! came out, and ever since, the two have lived in the same emotional universe for me. The album became a kind of personal soundtrack for the book, and now I can’t think about one without the other.

"Cinnamon Girl," "How to Disappear," and "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have," all radiate Marianne energy– a little damaged, introspective, and always teetering between self-destruction and survival.

Meanwhile, "Happiness is a Butterfly," "California," and "Love Song" completely capture the quiet, aching push-and-pull between her and Connell– two people who are so deeply connected but constantly missing each other by inches.

And even outside the NFR world, "Video Games" and "Shades of Cool" are pure Normal People energy- slow, hypnotic, a little tragic. This pairing creates a vibe that’s soft and intimate but heavy with emotion.

"Ride," "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood," "Get Free," "Dark Paradise," and "How To Disappear" – The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I like to think Sylvia Plath would have appreciated the "Ride" monologue. It captures the restlessness, the uncertainty, and the ache of not quite fitting anywhere– everything Esther Greenwood wrestles with.

“I was always an unusual girl My mother told me that I had a chameleon soul No moral compass pointing due north No fixed personality Just an inner indecisiveness that was as wide and as wavering as the ocean...”

This could be Esther talking.

"Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood" speaks directly to her frustration with societal expectations. It’s the cry of someone constantly misread, boxed in, and dismissed for wanting more.

Then there’s "Get Free," which resonates deeply with both the bell jar and fig tree metaphors in the novel.

“Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind I wanna get off, but I keep riding the ride I never really noticed that I had to decide To play someone's game, or live my own life”

This is Esther’s dilemma exactly. She can’t decide what version of herself to become. She wants to live every life—to be a poet, a mother, a professor, a traveler—but feels trapped by the roles society permits women to occupy. The pressure to choose, to shrink herself into one identity, becomes paralyzing.

And then that final lyric:

“I wanna move / Out of the black / Into the blue”

It echoes the fragile hope of the bell jar lifting. That feeling of maybe—just maybe—stepping back into the world.

"Dark But Just a Game," "Old Money," "Money Power Glory," and "Cruel World" – The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If Ultraviolence is your favorite Lana album, The Secret History is your book. The decadence, the decay, the obsession with beauty and ruin.

"Money Power Glory" and "Cruel World" capture the darker, more chaotic side of the novel- the violence beneath the elegance and greed tangled with guilt. "Old Money" and "Chemtrails Over the Country Club" speak to the aesthetic of the East Coast university: antique, detached, glamorous in a fading kind of way.

And then there’s "Dark But Just a Game," which could honestly be the book’s soundtrack.

“It's dark but just a game That's what he would say to me The faces aren't the same But their stories all end tragically…”

That’s Henry. It's the entire group, really– playing at something bigger than themselves, thinking it’s all part of the performance until it’s not.

"Art Deco," "Young and Beautiful," "National Anthem," "Chemtrails Over the Country Club," "Cherry," "Honeymoon," "Bel Air," and "The Other Woman" – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

If you’ve seen Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, you probably already associate it with "Young and Beautiful." Luhrmann was right to put Lana on the soundtrack. Her voice is Daisy Buchanan: delicate, wistful, aching for permanence in a fleeting world.

But the ultimate Lana + Gatsby playlist goes beyond just one song. "Chemtrails Over the Country Club," "Cherry," "Honeymoon," and "Art Deco" are essential listening while reading this book. They wrap you in the same world of luxury and disillusionment—beautiful people, bored and restless, floating in a haze of champagne and doomed longing.

“You’re part of the past, but now you’re the future / Signals crossing can get confusing…” (Art Deco) 

It’s Gatsby and Daisy, perfectly.

"National Anthem" brings in the flashy, performative excess– the fireworks, the money, the spectacle Gatsby builds to win her back.

"Lust for Life," "Let the Light In," "F*ck It I Love You," "For Free," and "Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd" – Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

I just recently read Everything I Know About Love, and I associate Dolly Alderton with Lana Del Rey in the same way I do Sally Rooney. There’s something about the way she writes—open, chaotic, vulnerable—that feels a bit like listening to Lana's discography.

Dolly’s story traces the many stages of young womanhood: wild nights, broken hearts, deep friendships, growing pains, and the slow, quiet shaping of self. 

"F*ck It I Love You" and "Lust for Life" capture that early-twenties energy—reckless and searching, full of longing and too many feelings. 

"Let the Light In" feels like many of Dolly’s romantic relationships: soft, a little confusing, full of hope and hurt at the same time. 

"Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd", feels like the whole memoir wrapped up in the lines:

"When's it gonna be my turn? / Don't forget me"

Her life holds a little piece of every Lana era. This is a book for anyone navigating the strangeness of growing up, figuring it all out, and caring too much about what others think.

"Groupie Love," "West Coast," "Gods and Monsters," "Ultraviolence," and "Dealer" – Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I was lucky enough to bring Daisy Jones & The Six with me on a trip to California—without even realizing what it was about. Reading it so close to Hollywood added a whole new layer to the experience. The palm trees, the smoggy sunsets, the echo of something glamorous and broken- it also felt very Lana Del Rey.

"Groupie Love" and "West Coast" feel like they were written for Daisy Jones.

"Groupie Love" captures her early obsession with the world of rock and roll. Then there’s "West Coast," which mirrors the push-pull of love and fame. Everything speeds up, then slows down. It’s the rhythm of chasing a high, losing it, and chasing it again.

“Down on the West Coast, they got a sayin’ / If you’re not drinkin’, then you’re not playin’…”

It’s a love story, a music story, a self-destruction story. 

"Gods and Monsters" also captures Daisy’s story almost perfectly.

“In the land of Gods and Monsters / I was an angel living in the garden of evil / Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed / Shining like a fiery beacon.”

This line feels like the essence of Daisy’s relationship with fame- torn between the angel and the devil, as she’s pulled deeper into a world where the lines between light and darkness are blurred. The allure of excess, lust, and the craving for validation is woven throughout the story. And then there’s "Ultraviolence," which reflects the complicated, sometimes destructive dynamic between Billy and Daisy. There’s passion, addiction, and a lot of damage beneath the surface. Their relationship is messy and bruised- a lot like Lana’s lyrics here. 

"Brooklyn Baby" – Just Kids by Patti Smith

I haven’t personally read Just Kids yet, but it’s high on my TBR list! I was told to include it in the list as it is the perfect book match for "Brooklyn Baby," and I’m excited to dive into it while I listen. The book chronicles Patti Smith’s early life in New York City, especially her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, as they both navigate their creative paths in the art world.

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Anyway, there's always more that I leave off my lists, but I ramble for so long. I hope your favorite Lana song made the cut.