BookTunes

When you live in an apartment building like mine, where a new saxophone player is so desperate to learn his scales that he practices them for four hours to get them right, you know that silence can be wonderful. Especially when you’re trying to read. However, if you’re like me, you also know that silence isn’t always possible in New York City, so you need to find the perfect music to filter through your headphones and crank straight into your brain. And finding that perfect music for reading is no small feat— you need something that allows you to focus on your book while simultaneously complementing it. Below, in the first installation of our series “BookTunes,” we’ve compiled a lovely little playlist with sample s of artists that are perfect for listening to while reading. Take a listen, and see what fits.

Musette, “Coucou Anne” from Drape Me In Velvet
Musette – Coucou Anne

Chopin’s “Minute Waltz” performed by Henrik Mawe
Abbey Simon – Waltze No. 6 In D-flat Major, Op. 64, “Minute Waltz”

Ravel’s String Quartet in F (1903) Assez vif. tres rythme
Quatuor Ysaÿe – Ravel: String Quartet in F major (1903) – 2. Assez vif. Très rythmé

Yann Tiersen’s soundtrack for Amelie
Yann Tiersen – La valse d’Amélie (Version piano)

Sufjan Stevens’s The BQE
Sufjan Stevens – Interlude I: Dream Sequence in Subi Circumnavigation

Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday – My Man

Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf – La vie en rose

Bon Iver, “Re: Stacks” from For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver – Re: Stacks

Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros – Hoppípolla

Lisa Mitchell, from Wonder
Lisa Mitchell – Pirouette

Radio Dept. from Pulling Our Weight
The Radio Dept. – Pulling Our Weight

Real Estate
Real Estate – It’s Real