book recommendations based on the eurovision 2021 top five

Oh hey! I've been a little MIA lately and that's entirely due to my life once again being consumed by the Eurovision Song Contest! I've been watching Eurovision since 2006 but I started following it properly in 2016 after falling in love with Il Volo in 2015 and realised just how good Eurovision is and how much good music comes out of it every year. I did a post a few months ago all about some of the songs from the contest, that I think you should check out. This year's Eurovision was such an incredible event and there was such a good showcase of music represented. The 2021 contest was won by Italian rock band Måneskin with their song Zitti e Buoni and ever since I laid eyes on them for the first time at Sanremo they reminded me of Daisy Jones and The Six and so that inspired me to make this list! I've also included the YouTube clips of all the songs if you're interested in checking them out as well (I highly recommend it).

1) Italy - Måneskin - Zitti E Buoni

Daisy Jones and The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

As I mentioned above, this is the song that really inspired this post in the first place. Daisy Jones and The Six follows rock band Daisy Jones and The Six and their rise and fall from fame in the '70s through a transcript in a tell-all interview. Måneskin are a glam rock group, Daisy Jones and the Six are a glam rock group, it just fits okay! I'm so thrilled that Måneskin won Eurovision because I think it's such a great thing for the contest going forward.

More of my thoughts on Daisy Jones and The Six can be found here

2) France - Barbara Pravi - Voilà

Lovely War - Julie Berry

Voilà is a beautiful song in the style of French Chanson throwing back to the days of Edith Piaf and so I thought a book set in France with a strong musical theme would be the perfect choice here and hence the selection of Lovely War! Lovely War follows two relationships that intertwine during the First World War and is narrated by a selection of Greek Gods. There's a lot of music throughout this book as well, and I personally feel like Voilà would fit right in!

More of my thoughts on Lovely War can be found here

3) Switzerland - Gjon's Tears - Tout l'Univers

The Invisible life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab

This was my favourite song in the competition and seeing it win the jury vote was such a happy (but stressful) experience so I figured what better book for this song than The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Tout l'Univers means The Whole Universe and is about a feeling of massiveness and it's also in French. Addie LaRue is about a French woman who lives for 300 years after making a deal with an evil spirit but nobody can ever remember her, a pretty fitting pick I think! This is also my favourite book of the year so far so it seems right that I'd pick it for my favourite Eurovision song of the year.

More of my thoughts on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue can be found here

4) Iceland - Daði og Gagnamagnið - 10 Years

The House in The Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune

Daði og Gagnamagnið just radiate pure joy on stage and so what better book to pick than one that also radiates joy. The House in the Cerulean Sea follows Linus Baker who gets sent on a top-secret mission to uncover the truth about an orphanage containing magical children and it's just so wonderfully wholesome. A bit like this song! Daði wrote this song for his wife and it's honestly just a joy to behold and I'm not just saying that because my vocals feature in it.

More of my thoughts on The House In The Cerulean Sea can be found here

5) Ukraine - Go_A - Shum

Where The Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

This was such a difficult one to pick for because this song is just so different. It's an EDM/folk song in Ukrainian so like what vibes does that give of? I ended up picking Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens though because 'Shum' is inspired by an ancient Ukrainian folk song for bringing in Spring and since the nature references are rich within Where The Crawdads sing I thought it would fit very well. Where the Crawdads Sing follows Kaia who grows up alone in the marshlands and you get to discover the world through her eyes so I thought that this was a great match for a song about spring and bringing in new life because that's very much what Kaia is learning throughout the book.

More of my thoughts on Where The Crawdads Sing can be found here

This was such a random post idea so I hope you enjoyed it! I always find that I love my posts more whenever they are authentic to me and what's more authentic to me than talking about books and Eurovision in one post. If you watched Eurovision this year let me know who your favourites were down below. Have you read any of these books? I'd love to know your thoughts on that too!