"I have to confess that I am not a music person. Paradoxically, I am very much a mix CD person." Lillian Li shared a playlist for her novel Bad Asians at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/20/l...

I loved writing the playlist for Teen Queen Training (Janis Ian! Everclear! Miranda Lambert!) and I’m happy to have it up at @largeheartedboy.bsky.social's Author Playlists today <3 largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/18/k...

"'Deceptacon' by Le Tigre Cleaner is told in one paragraph with no chapter breaks: this song is how I wanted and how I imagine the reader’s experience to be. Pure uncut momentum and insanity." Jess Shannon shared a playlist for Cleaner at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/19/j...

"When you get to interview two dozen incredible women filmmakers, you get to watch at least 5 times that many incredible movies that offer up music , scoring a few memorable moments." Kevin Smokler shared a playlist for Break the Frame at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/19/k...

"As I compose this piece on a long train journey, it occurs to me that the rhythmic, occasionally juddering, song of the rail below me is in spirit a musical companion to my novel." Rahul Bhattacharya shared a playlist for his novel Railsong at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/18/r...

"Teen Queen Training is a book steeped in the lessons I took from Seventeen magazine during the late ‘90s." Kristine Langley Mahler shared a playlist for her essay collection Teen Queen Training at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/18/k...

"I had a song or a soundtrack in mind for each of the nine essays in the book." Lynette D'Amico shared a playlist for her memoir-in-essays Men I Hate at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/17/l...

"In public and in private, whenever I was writing something for On Sundays, songs would come to me..." Yah Yah Scholfield shared a playlist for their novel On Sundays She Picked Flowers at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/17/y...

"Finding a song that aligns with the emotion or experience I’m trying to communicate helps me go deeper and stay in the moment." Avery Irons shared a playlist for her novel Belonging to the Air at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/17/a...

"Berceuse Parish is a community record...a poetry book you can read as a novel, or maybe a broken novel you can read as a series of poems and other ephemera." Burnside Soleil shared a playlist for his poetry collection Berceuse Parish at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/16/b...

"When I think about Red Girl Jumping – both the writing and living within — the music that comes to mind embodies states of confusion, longing for saviors and hope, and the da-da-dum heartbeat sounds..." Kim Merrill shared a playlist Red Girl Jumping largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/13/k...

"Music helps me imagine the world at the moment of the story." Lisa Slage Robinson shared a playlist for her story collection Esquire Ball at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/12/l...

"Clutch, a book about friendship and endurance and the ups and downs and trainwrecks of growing up and into midlife together, has a lot of music in it." Emily Nemens shared a playlist for her novel Clutch at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/04/e...

"Whatever the case or occasion, music holds my emotional memory. Known songs aren’t just melodies but rather life’s bookmarks, bookmarks that evolve and change with each listen..." Justin C. Key shared a playlist for his novel The Hospital at the End of the World largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/03/j...

"Novels take me FOREVER to finish. I keep a running playlist in my head that fuels the spirit or, as the kids say, the vibes of the book." Lauren Sanders shared a playlist for the 25th anniversary edition of her novel Kamikaze Lust at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/01/l...

"I wrote If You Leave from a place of unknowing...What carried me were settings...with their textures of sounds and sights that I collaged into a character-driven novel." Margaret Hutton shared a playlist for her novel If You Leave at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/30/m...

"Every long project I work on has its own hyper-specific soundtrack, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the writing process is finding out what songs work for each book." Larissa Pham shared a playlist for her novel Discipline at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/29/l...

"In Bloom explores the redemptive power of friendship for a group of disenfranchised young women. It’s also a story about being the biggest Nirvana fans in THE WORLD." Liz Allan shared a playlist of Nirvana songs for her debut novel In Bloom at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/27/l...

"Music can act as a time machine..." Heather Sweeney shared a playlist for her memoir Camouflage at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/23/h...

"The songs refer to three different landscapes, as the novel is set between the South of Italy, London and Morocco, and are often intertwined with specific memories of my own." Emanuela Anechoum shared a playlist for her debut novel Tangerinn at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/22/e...

"Charli xcx’s album Brat was released on June 7th, 2024...its angry-funny swagger seemed to mirror exactly what my protagonist Dell Danvers wanted: to be seen entirely and exactly on her own terms." Lior Torenberg shared a playlist for her novel Just Watch Me largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/21/l...

"Music, then, is not just the cultural capital and fabric of Jean’s world, but a conduit to deeper human interaction: it is through music that Jean feels." Madeleine Dunnigan shared a playlist for her debut novel Jean at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/13/m...

“Because I grew up in the church and sang in choirs for years, gospel music feels like home and a warm hug.” Jodi M. Savage shared a playlist for her essay collection The Death of a Jaybird at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/02/j...

“Years ago, I learned it helps me to have a playlist for each manuscript...“ Molly Gaudry shared a playlist for her memoir/novel Fit Into Me at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/12/15/m...

"I write, unfortunately, by feel. I can often sense there’s some connection or disruption between ideas or events or questions and so I write towards them. It’s incredibly inefficient." Jeremy B. Jones shared a playlist for his memoir Cipher at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/09/16/j...

Honored to see Tell Me Yours, I'll Tell You Mine on @largeheartedboy.bsky.social's roundup of favorite story collections in 2025, alongside great books by @juliaelliott.bsky.social, @ellomelissa.bsky.social, @egreenberg.bsky.social, and more!

So honored to be one of @largeheartedboy.bsky.social’s favorite short story collections this year. What an amazing lineup!

Largehearted Boy's favorite poetry collections of the year include titles by Chet’la Sebree, Gary Jackson, Isabella DeSendi, Miller Oberman, Theodora Ziolkowski, and Yael Valencia Aldana largeheartedboy.com/2025/12/07/l...

Largehearted Boy's favorite short fiction collections of the year include titles by Emily Greenberg, Julia Liz Elliott, Kerry Donoghue, Kristina Sergeevna Ten, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, and Sara Jaffe largeheartedboy.com/2025/12/07/l...

Largehearted Boy's favorite nonfiction books of the year include titles by Jeannie Vanasco, Melissa Fraterrigo, Rasheedah Phillips, Giaae Kwon, A. Kendra Greene, and jesse james rose largeheartedboy.com/2025/12/07/l...

My favorite novels of 2025 include titles by Adelaide Faith, Paula Bomer, Zoe Dubno, Sebastian Castillo, Maggie Su, Isaac Fellman, Erica Peplin, Dennard Dayle, Emily Hunt Kivel, Cynthia Weiner, Colwill Brown, and Ariel Courage largeheartedboy.com/2025/12/07/l...

"I don’t listen to music when I write, because I need total silence to hear my own thoughts, but playlists are still an essential part of my writing process" Nikkitha Bakshani shared a playlist for her debut novel Ghost Chilli at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/23/n...

Once again, I am aggregating essential and interesting year-end "best of 2025" book lists at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/17/e...

"My collection, The Plan of Chicago: A City in Stories, has an unusual structure – nine linked stories set in nine Chicago neighborhoods – and unusual range." Barry Pearce shared a playlist for his story collection The Plan of Chicago at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/16/b...

"This is the soundtrack of my fictional rendition of growing up fatherless in Florida and, later, of raising a son in Southern California." Randy Moffett shared a playlist for his debut novel Only Son at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/15/k...

“Cursed Daughters is a story that begins in the mid-'90s in Nigeria and ends in present-day Nigeria, and music was one of the tools I used to anchor the characters in their different eras.” Oyinkan Braithwaite shared a playlist for her novel Cursed Daughters largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/13/o...

"...it’s a Great Black Swamp-adjacent list. Songs that evoke the vibe of this dangerous, deadly, forgotten wasteland, and the unbelievable story of its deforestation." Patrick Wensink shared a playlist for his book The Great Black Swamp at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/12/p...

"Like many debuts, People With No Charisma is a partly autobiographical coming-of-age story...autobiographical in terms of theme, and the protagonist’s disco outfit." Jente Posthuma & Sarah Timmer Harvey shared a playlist for the novel People with No Charisma largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/10/j...

"I wish I had a magic wand to wave over the compositions listed here, plucking and splicing the relevant phrase or movement from each..." @dianebotnick.bsky.social shared a playlist for her debut novel Becoming Sarah at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/09/d...

"‘The Hills are Alive’ tinkles away under the opening of my second memoir, Hitler and My Mother-in-Law, part of which takes place in Berchtesgaden..." Terese Scvoboda shared a playlist for her memoir Hitler and My Mother-in-Law at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/06/t...

"Another Bone-Swapping Event tells the story of an unlikely year when I found myself stuck, due to Peru’s draconian lockdown, in the jungles of the upper Amazon." Brad Fox shared a playlist for his book Another Bone-Swapping Event at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/05/b...

"Like my stories, the songs are pulled from a lot of different genres and time periods." Emily Mitchell shared a playlist for her story collection The Church of Divine Electricity at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/04/e...

"...music is all over my book—from Judy and Liza to Tori Amos and The Verve Pipe." @kfoslundquist.bsky.social shared a playlist for her memoir Beard at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/03/k...

"Making a playlist that feels like the book I’m writing is the very first thing I do – even before I’ve started writing the book itself." Hannah Beer shared a playlist for her debut novel I Make My Own Fun at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/02/h... @houseofanansi.bsky.social

"My writing playlist for this book was very much dictated by...Beach House’s Once Twice Melody...an 18-track, near-90-minute behemoth from them was of course going to take over my life." Hayden Casey shared a playlist for his debut novel A Harvest of Furies largeheartedboy.com/2025/11/01/h...

"I like to think I’m directing a story, just on paper and I sadly don’t have a multi-million dollar budget." @jasondiamond.bsky.social shared a playlist for his debut novel Kaplan's Plot at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/29/j...

"Wreck is technically a novel but it’s really just a semi-autobiographical collection of feelings:" Catherine Newman shared a playlist for her novel Wreck at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/28/c...

"Because the composition of this book spans over 15 years, my choices are less about remembering what song shaped the writing than thinking about what musical analogue the story evokes." Sara Jaffe shared a playlist for her story collection Hurricane Envy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/27/s...

Thanks to @largeheartedboy.bsky.social, @bethrooney.bsky.social & I got to make a Book Notes playlist for LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social, including Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Edith Piaf, Joni Mitchel, the White Stripes and more. Check it out here! tinyurl.com/yhhycr7x

ICYMI, had a blast making playlist for the book!!