TWO DAYS TO GO. TWO! DAYS! TO! GO! WILL I BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THIS EXCITEMENT LEVEL FOR ANOTHER 48 HOURS? LETS FIND OUT TOGETHER.
So. My favourite way to procrastinate: make playlists for my books. I love how they evolve as I write/edit/change my taste in music. I love hearing a new song on the radio and going THAT’S IT! THAT’S MY BOOK!
I’ve posted an old version of this playlist before here, along with the playlists for TNT & my enovella Another Together. I cut a lot out of the frankly insane 30 song list in the old post. This is a real breakdown of the song choices too. It should be a great soundtrack while you read the book!
You can listen to the playlist on Spotify here.
THE SONGS, AND WHAT THEY MEAN.
- girls like you/the naked and the famous
This is the very first song I came up with for The Last Beginning. I listened to it on repeat while I was plotting out Clove and her story, because it perfectly summarises her character.
- love you much better/the hush sound
This is how Clove feels about her best friend Meg at the start of the book.
- a better son daughter/rilo kiley
Clove has a lot of feelings about herself and her parents in the book, and this really captures that.
- campus/vampire weekend
Clove spends a lot of time at St Andrews Uni campus, and fancies a girl she sees there, so….
- why am i the one/fun.
Clove’s minor breakdown over how much damn stuff she’s gotta deal with, in one song.
- she’s got you high/mumm-ra
When Clove meets Ella.
- samson/regina spektor
Clove finds out some things about Kate & Matt’s place in history.
- get home/bastille
If you’ve read the prologue, you know that this book has a time machine in. This song is about that. AKA, the “what fresh hell is this” song.
- brave/sara bareilles
Get your act together, Clove.
- become the colour/emily wells
Clove gets her act together.
- elenore/the turtles
I mentioned this song in my acknowledgements, because I owe it that much. Clove’s feelings for Ella. Enough said.
- she’s electric/oasis
Again….Clove is super into Ella. Why aren’t any of the songs about girls sung by girls? It makes compiling these playlists so difficult.
- how you get the girl/taylor swift
I’m obsessed with this song because you can totally read this as Taylor Swift singing about how she’s getting a girlfriend. Like, there’s nothing in the lyrics to disprove that?? Anyway, it’s about Clove and Ella again.
- high hopes/the vamps
Ella’s feelings about Clove.
- riptide/taylor swift
Another T-Swift anthem for wlw.
- philomena/the decemberists
This song is just me being really rude, really.
- i’m a believer/the monkees
Any song that just sound like it’s about someone complaining about all the stuff they’re going through always reminds me of Clove.
- laughter lines/bastille
I try to avoid repeating artists in these things, but Bastille just have so many good songs about time travel, man. What is their plan for this stuff.
- help/the beatles
Clove assembles her team of Avengers.
- pencil full of lead/paolo nutini
A song for GETTING THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE, DONE.
- year 3000/busted
This is an inside joke that you’ll understand when you’ve read the book. I hope.
- shut up and dance/walk the moon
A happily-ever-after kind of song. Everyone, stop talking and just shut up and dance. Enjoy the peace (while it lasts).
The Last Beginning will be published by Walker Books in the UK and Australia on 6th October 2016. It will be released in the US in Fall 2017 by Sky Pony Press.
Amazon UK
You can add the book on Goodreads or subscribe to my mailing list for updates, or read the prologue on Wattpad.
More extras:
- Fancasting the characters
- Why the sequel to The Next Together has an LGBT protagonist
- Novel Aesthetics
- Playlist
- Recap of The Next Together
- The books in emoji format
- Titanic crossover
- Disney crossover
- 10 fictional characters who inspired Clove & Ella
- Editing a scene from start to finish
- Cover reveal
- Tumblr posts about The Last Beginning
A rebloggable version of this post can be found here.
LAUREN JAMES 