Tune In Tuesday is a weekly feature in which bloggers get to showcase another one of their loves, music! This feature was originally created by Ginger over at GReads! but you can now find it here at Kate’s Tales of Books and Bands. If you would like to participate in this weekly feature, make a blog post showcasing a song (or a few!) and link up at the bottom of this post by clicking the cute blue guy! While you’re here make sure to check out all the other awesome blogs that have decided to participate!
Hello everybody and welcome to the first week of Tune In Tuesday: Summertime Edition! For those of you just tuning in, Tune In Tuesday switches it up every other month by having a special edition. For the month of June, anyone wanting to participate can share their favorite summertime tunes! This is by no means required but I think it would be extra cool if you joined in :)
I have tried to limit myself with the tunes for this month’s edition but as you may or may not know, limiting myself is pretty much a lost cause. I decided I would share 5 songs each week that remind me of summer and at the end of the month, I will have the whole playlist available for you guys! Without further ado, here are my 5 summertime songs!
Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles
This song is 1) Freaking amazing 2) Super happy & upbeat and 3) Mentions the sun so I figured it was the perfect start to this special edition!
We Are Young by 3OH!3
Maybe it’s because my best friend, Kati, and I listened to this CD non-stop one summer or maybe it’s because summertime makes me feel a bit younger and tad reckless but this song just seems so summery to me in an odd sort of way.
Best Day Of My Life by American Authors
I cannot thank kaleidoscopic reveries enough for introducing me to this band and this song. American Authors have quickly become a favorite of mine. This song in particular is that super fun, catchy, sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-with-the-windows-rolled-down type of song I love filling my summer days with.
All I Need by Awolnation
I have absolutely no idea why this song seems summer-ish to me but it does for some reason.
Wanted Man by NEEDTOBREATHE
NEEDTOBREATHE is one of those bands that I like to classify as summery. I like ALL of their songs but for reason beyond my understanding, they have an especially summery-vibe.
When family problems push Riley Middleton into giving up a percussion scholarship in another state and attending college from home, her friends push her to try out for a local rock band. Of course, Riley makes the band. She rules at the drums.
Riley soon finds out rock bands have a different dynamic than marching bands, especially when each of her male band mates has a major ego and is a major player. Two of them relentlessly flirt with her. The other—a dark, sexy rock god she can’t help being attracted to— is a total jerk and pushes her to quit. She becomes determined to ignore his rudeness and his hotness. Even if she was interested in jerks, a hook up would probably get her booted out of the ego-ridden band, and playing keeps her sane. Behind the drums, the world and its troubles evaporate.
If she wants to stay in the band, Riley needs to ignore the growing sparks between her and her band enemy. But as she gets to know the man behind the stage persona, ignoring him proves to be more difficult than flowing through a time sig shift.
I recently read and reviewed In The Band by Jean Haus, and let me tell you, I LOVED that book! It was raw & real, it had sad parts as well as the swoony parts, AND it included music (plus a hot guy or two); basically, you just couldn’t go wrong! When Jean mentioned an interview/book playlist, I jumped at the chance. I just couldn’t wait to find out more about her, her book, her characters, and the music! Check out what Jean has to say below and of course feel free to check out my review for In The Band right here!
The main character, Riley, goes through so much throughout the entire story. What was the inspiration for her story?
I never realized this until I read your question, but I suppose her issues were inspired by real life. Over the last several years, I’ve witnessed several divorces. Unfortunately, real people helped create Riley’s parents. And more unfortunately, I’ve seen too many kids have to deal with parents too wrapped up in themselves. I’m not saying every parent deals with divorce poorly, but I’ve seen too many that do.
Romeo is certainly one character that stood out to me. Despite the fact that he is oh so dreamy, he is also a very complex person. He has his struggles, the skeletons of his past, ect. I am dying to know, how did he come to be?
While I was beginning to outline the story, the school I work at had a presentation about suicide, which of course was heartbreaking. Without a doubt, that presentation inspired Romeo. I wrote the first two chapters soon after, but I didn’t come back to the story until months later. During that time, his character grew in my head. I like male romance leads that are strong yet vulnerable. So while puzzling him together, I thought of ways to even out his self-esteem issues—which are deep due to his past—and immaturity with some maturity(like his view of sex) and his dedication to music.
Riley has a huge passion for drumming. Was this a shared passion between you and her? If so, how long have you been playing for & what is your favorite part of drumming? If not, how did you research drumming? Because the details, the feelings she felt, EVERYTHING made it seem as though you really knew what you were talking about!
I did play piano years ago, but have only messed around on the drums a few times. So I did do a lot of research about drumming and I had some help, especially with the tryout scene. I posted for beta readers on a writing forum for help with that particular scene. Three musicians answered and each told me what I expected, the scene read like someone who researched drumming. They all helped me whip that scene into shape, and I will be forever thankful. As far as the ‘concert’ scenes, I just listened to each song over and over while I wrote it, describing what I heard from the perspective of the drums. I’ve also been to a number of concerts, so that helped too.
Obviously music plays such a large role in this book. Has it been a big part of your writing? If so, can you please elaborate?
Strangely, until In the Band I never listened to music while writing. I found it distracting. Now I listen to music all the time while writing. But from the start, I decided that if the story was about a band, I wasn’t going to shy away from writing about music or performing.
This book brought out so many emotions in me. There were the swoony moments, the moments where I wanted to punch certain people in the face, and moments that really sort of broke my heart. How were you able to switch back and forth between writing the gushy stuff to the tougher stuff?
Huh? That’s very perceptive. I’ve never thought about switching like that. When I write, each scene has a goal or several goals. I suppose I use the goal to dictate my writing and the atmosphere. So I don’t think of it as switching, rather more as sticking to what’s going on at the particular moment in the story.
A lot of real songs, bands, and musicians were mentioned in this book with everything from We The Kings to The All-American Rejects, and even Mumford & Sons (you get an A+ for including lots of songs/groups I ADORE!) so I must ask, how did you pick which ones to mention? Where these all songs/bands you listen to?
I like every song listed or referred to in the book, but they don’t all regularly show up in my listening list. I kind of went with the idea that Romeo would be eclectic in his choices rather than finicky. As a businessman, he’d choose things he’d thought that would work well live. So I went with things I thought would pump up a crowd. That was usually how I decided on a song. But certain songs, like Remember Everything went with the plot. I imagined Romeo picking that song for sentimental reasons along with the big song at the end. When I ran into I Will Wait, I did a happy dance. Not only did it fit the scene perfectly, I fell in love with that song, which I don’t think was officially out yet.
Now I am dying to know about Luminescent Juliet, the band in which Romeo & Riley play in. First, if you could compare them to any REAL band (sound wise), who would it be? Second, how did you come up with their band name?
The real band thing is a hard one because Luminescent Juliet played (still are in my next book:) a lot of covers. But since they like punk like Green Day and Chemical Romance along with Romeo’s folk influence, I Goggled Folk Punk and the first band labeled with that mix was the Violent Femmes (you can listen to them on Spotify here!), and you know what? I can totally see that. Well if we’re not considering age or anything. But I love, love the Femmes first album.
As far as the band name…
Naming people or things can make me crazy, and take forever. So after deciding the band would have Juliet in it because of Romeo, I found a band name generator on-line. When I put in Juliet, the best choice it came up with was Luminescent Juliet. To save time and brain cells I just went with it.
Now I don’t normally ask authors to put a real face to their fictional characters, but Romeo and Riley seemed so real to me. Who would you have play them if say, In The Band were to be made into a movie?
This one was so hard. Well at least Riley was. I write so much, I rarely watch TV or movies, but after searching forever, I think I’ve found the perfect Riley.
Drum Roll…
Hannah Marks it is. She’s cute enough and short enough and just the right age.
Cute Riley
Stage Riley
As far as Romeo, from the start I used a couple of pictures (the second one especially) of Eugen Bauder for my inspiration, so I’m sticking to him. According to Wikipedia (I know so reliable), this hot model is trying to break into acting. Not sure he can do an American accent, but I don’t care!
Swoon
Double Swoon
Book Playlist:
Jean has compiled a playlist for In The Band that includes a short description on why she chose it. You can check out the Spotify playlist below but I’ve also added the YouTube videos for you to watch. Enjoy!
Teenagers by My Chemical Romance
Energetic, great for an opening.
Gamma Ray by Beck
Funky and different. A bit like the band.
Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones
Awesome classic song that would sound great live.
Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings
Um… it has the name Juliet in it, and its cute.
Remember Everything by Five Finger Death Punch
Romeo would feel a connection to this song and he plays it acoustic. You can’t go wrong with acoustic.
Dirty Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
Well, it fit the scene perfectly, and showed Romeo’s immaturity.
Bullet In My Hand by Redlight King
Energetic, lots of dynamic shifts in music, would sound great live.
Helter Skelter by The Beatles
Classic rock song that’s loud and in your face. Great for a Halloween show.
Sweet Sour by Band of Skulls
Funky and different. A little punk. And I wanted to include some ‘unknown’ stuff.
Holiday by Green Day
Fit New Year’s Eve. It’s loud and energetic and I love Green Day.
Sabotage by Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys were getting into this book no matter what.
I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons
Fit the scene so perfectly, I almost fell out of my computer chair when I heard it.
A HUGE thank you to Jean for taking the time to put this together for me!! I loved her answers to my questions as well as the playlist, to absolute pieces. I hope you guys enjoyed!
It is no secret that I love books. It is also no secret that I love music. So you can imagine how full of adoration I am when the two come together! Whether I’m finding songs to go with certain books or if an author does the job for me, I love listening to playlists that compliment some of my favorite books! Today I am talking about the playlist for a lovely & adorable book entitled…
The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg (add on Goodreads) was one of my very favorite books last year! It was such an adorable, sweet, feel-good book. I loved how it was a book about friendship, boys, and let’s not forget, The Beatles! As you can probably guess from the title and cover, this book had a huge Beatles influence that was even more pronounced throughout the pages. The main character, Penny (named after a Beatles song), has parents that are incredibly obsessed with The Beatles. Instead of automatically hating whatever music her parents like, our main character also has a deep love for this group (thank goodness or else I would have to love this book a bit less!) On top of talking about The Beatles throughout the pages, the book is also separated into smaller sections (not quite every chapter, but every couple of chapters) with a page featuring a particular Beatles song and a quote from that song.
So in honor of this awesome book that pays tribute to one of the most spectacular bands to ever walk the face of the earth, I present to you the playlist for The Lonely Hearts Club. The playlist was created with Spotify. If you don’t have Spotify and/or cannot get the playlist to work, I added a few YouTube videos at the end highlighting some of my favorites. And since I am a huge fan of bands that do cover songs (and do them well!) I also included a few of my favorite bands that have covered a song that was talked about in the book!
Come Together by The Arctic Monkeys (Beatles Cover)
My love and adoration for The Arctic Monkeys started way back when I first “met” Tee from Dreaming Dreams No Mortal Ever Dared. Saying she is obsessed is an understatement but with good reason! This group rocks and they rocked enough to be able to perform this cover for the 2012 Summer Olympics!
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band by The Beatles
This may not be my ultimate favorite Beatles song but it is so much fun AND it is basically the title of this book!
Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles
This is my very favorite Beatles song so when it popped up right at the end of the book I squealed with delight!
Today on the blog I’m very excited to bring you the wonderful J. Bridger! Her first book, Shifted Perspective, was recently released and in honor of that, I thought a guest post/book playlist would be all sorts of fun! But before we get onto all the musical and bookish goodness, let’s get to know more about the book:
Caleb Byrne is a bright high school senior who has enough to deal with between college choices, taking care of his single dad, and dealing with his headstrong girlfriend Joanna and an eccentric set of cousins in California. He was managing to get by until the day he woke up a Cocker Spaniel. Even if it only happens monthly and is more embarrassing than painful, the so-called ability is something that he’s anxious to be rid of.
He didn’t realize his transformations would drag him into a hidden society of canine and lupine shape shifters as well as a family legacy he hates. To make matters worse, after moving to Los Angeles to learn more about his heritage from his Aunt Moira and his cousin Kalista, Caleb now struggles through life-and-death matters. He keeps angering the werewolves in charge of the shifter world, especially Kalista’s boyfriend Peter, the Southern California alpha’s son, who also happens to be grade-A sociopath. Worse, Caleb’s floundering to keep his secret from Joanna.
While his family offers him some support, they may not be enough as Caleb realizes that the rules in shifter society–number one is supposed to be don’t kill humans–are not so ironclad. Some werewolf out there is leaving a blood-soaked trail across the Midwest and it might just be with the alpha’s blessing..
Now how exciting, fun, and interesting does that sound?!? I must say, this is perhaps the most unique take on shape-shifting I have ever heard about and I’m excited to see how it all turns out. Now check out the awesome guest post/book playlist J. put together for us!
GUEST POST/BOOK PLAYLIST:
I’ve been trying to think of how to do the soundtrack for my novel the right way. It’s not that I think there’s an incorrect one, not at all. It’s just that with Shifted Perspective, for a playlist, I wanted to give a taste of the book without spoiling it. If I did a full-out soundtrack, obviously, I think key titles or tones for songs would give away what happens all the way through. I also admit that I’m a very odd duck and write most often to a select precious few soundtracks (mostly obscure musicals of the 1970s) so I can’t exactly write a soundtrack/playlist from days I spent writing and rewriting. So, I think I figured out a bit of a mix. I’m going to just highlight songs for each of the main characters, and explain why the song fits the character. At the end, I’ll list a song, in general, that I feel captures the tone overall of Shifted Perspective.
To start, just so no one’s super confused, my debut novel is about a senior in high school who seems to have everything going for him, including admission to the pre-med program of his dreams, until he wakes up one morning as a Cocker Spaniel and realizes that not only is he a shape shifter but one with cute, fluffy curls. It escalates from there with him trying to learn the ins and outs of shape shifter and werewolf society. He also ends up trying to stop a crazy lyncanthropic serial killer as well!
Caleb Byrne – He’s my lead and the guy who hits a massive road bump with his “furry little problem.” I had to choose two songs for him. Timbuk 3’s The Future’s So Bright until he realizes exactly what’s happening to him, and then Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams for after.
Joanna Queen – She’s Caleb’s best friend and longtime girlfriend, who is also an aspiring cub reporter. She’s struggling to understand why he starts acting so oddly without pushing, which is part of her investigative nature. I’d really give her Katy Perry’s Hot N Cold because of how confusing a lot of his changes must be when she has no idea about his furrier side.
Kalista Katsaros – She’s Caleb’s slightly older cousin and a bit of the Obi Wan Kenobi to his Luke Skywalker, as far as teaching him the shifter ropes goes. She’s very happy being what she is and has a fairly swanky and easy life out in L.A. as the daughter of someone wealthy and well-placed in the pack. She’s totally a silver spoon person. I’d give Hoku’s Perfect Day as a theme song.
Peter Moretti – Caleb’s nemesis, a bully, and the alpha’s son. Unfortunately, he’s also always around in Caleb’s life because he’s dating Kalista. Bad Company is all for him.
Penny Spencer – She’s Kalista’s best friend, a beagle shape shifter who works by night as a bomb sniffer for the L.A.P.D. and, by day, often consults for them as a “psychic.” She drags Caleb into the murder mystery by asking him to investigate the werewolf killings with her. I’m just going to admit it, even though no one’s asked me about it yet. I loved the idea of a shifter who just has unnaturally good senses wanting to help law enforcement but actually having an easier time going about it if he/she just claimed “psychic” instead of admitting heightened senses. For her faking psychic alone, she gets I Know You Know by the Friendly Indians (A.K.A the theme song from USA’s Psych.)
Sampson – He’s Caleb’s old bloodhound and serves as a sarcastic grandfatherly figure for him. I’m giving him Jim Croce’s Don’t Mess Around with Jim not because Sampson’s scary or to be avoided but because I feel that he spends a lot of the novel trying to make sure Caleb doesn’t do something too dangerous.
John Byrne – He’s Caleb’s dad, and the only full human thrust into this crazy world. He’s incredibly supportive of all his son’s needs and is just a great guy even if he’s over his head. I feel John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy is perfect.
Moira Katsaros – is Caleb’s aunt as well as the only one of his erstwhile mother’s relatives still alive. She’s the most mothering he’s had in a long time, since his own mom abandoned him six years ago. She’s tough and firm on pack law but cares very much for him and about making up for lost time. I feel the Guns N’ Roses song, Sweet Child of Mine, works for her.
Anthony Moretti and Nicholas Katsaros – Nicholas is Kalista’s father and Caleb’s uncle. He’s a Greek restaurant magnate who also has extremely close ties to Anthony Moretti, the Alpha of the Southern California pack. They’ve been friends for decades, having met each other in Greenwich Village after immigrating to America from Italy and Greece, respectively. Moretti runs the pack with staunch discipline but has a bit of an amused tolerance for Caleb, even if the teen was raised by a human. Moretti and Katsaros have a complicated relationship, and even Caleb’s not sure if his uncle is just pals with the Alpha or if he’s something more dangerous like a pack Council enforcer, a beta. Still, these two are undeniably close friends whose fortunes are shaped by the other. They’re totally The Beatles With A Little Help from My Friends.
Overall tone for the story – Easily, Guns N’ Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle. It’s all going to be a bumpy and crazy ride!
So what did you guys think? My personal favorite is Penny Spencer! I am a huge fan of Psych and while reading her description I couldn’t help but think of that show. Also, do you notice what her last name is? :) Well I hope you all enjoyed this playlist as much as I did and be sure to check out all the author & book links below!
Tune In Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Ginger @ GReads so you should head on over and link up! It is a great way to bounce from blog to blog and discover what others are listening to! I love music but there is so much out there that I haven’t heard of before. That being said, feel free to leave a link to your Tune-In Tuesday post!
This is the third week of Book Playlist Edition! The point of this edition is to pick your favorite book playlists, an author’s playlist they used while writing a book, or show us all some songs that remind you of certain books all throughout the month of March!
For this week, I decided to go with a book that is quite obviously one of the greatest music-infused books to ever be written. It is named after a super popular album by an even more popular band. The book cover portrays one of the most epically influential and most well-known album cover of all time. Certain chapters are sectioned off and are headlined with a lyric from a song that you MUST know because it is practically illegal to not know at least one song from this band. Have you guessed it yet?
The Beatles influence every aspect of this book from the mood and tone of each chapter, the character names, the book’s title, and of course we mustn’t forget that awesome cover! I loved reading through this book and falling in love with the whole story, but it was also amazing to just be reminded of every great Beatles song. So without further ado, some of my favorites featured in this book:
Tune In Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Ginger @ GReads so you should head on over and link up! It is a great way to bounce from blog to blog and discover what others are listening to! I love music but there is so much out there that I haven’t heard of before. That being said, feel free to leave a link to your Tune-In Tuesday post!
In exactly 6 days I will be turning 19! I am kind of excited about this (I REALLY love cake) but mostly nervous about turning old (After this year, I will no longer be a teenager!) Yeah, I know 19 is not really considered old to most, but to me it is! I do know that turning older will come with many amazing experiences so I am definitely trying to look on the brighter side of things. In an attempt to psych myself up a little, I am posting some of my favorite birthday songs!
Birthday-The Beatles
You just can’t go wrong when it comes to The Beatles. Their music brings me happiness!
Happy Birthday-Altered Images
This is a classic birthday song!
Not Your Birthday-Allstar Weekend
Awkward Confession #1: I sometimes don’t want to admit it, but I kind of like Allstar Weekend….like A LOT.
Happy Birthday-Ryan Adams
I love Ryan’s voice. I love Ryan’s music. I love Ryan singing this song <3
Happy Birthday-The Click Five
This is one of my favorites! I used to listen to it all the time back when I had a little iPod Shuffle.
Your Birthday Song-Go Radio
Go Radio is an awesome band. I never get sick of listening to their music! p.s. There’s a naughty word in this one!
Say Aah-Trey Songz
Ohh, I love me some Trey Songz. This may come as a shock to most of you, but I do love the occasional rap/hip-hop song. Trey has some swag <3
Happy Birthday-Travis from We The Kings
You can’t see Travis’ glorious face and beautiful hair but I can picture it. Also, he isn’t technically singing this song to me but a girl can dream, right? One day when we’re married, he’ll sing Happy Birthday to me even when it’s not really my birthday.
