David Gutowski

"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!!

"These are the songs I would listen to during the crucial sanity walk between drafting sessions to try to invoke the right mood."

@somers.bsky.social shared a playlist for her novel The Ten Year Affair at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/26/e...

"I wrote this book about a period of upheaval – a major breakup, two big moves, a time-honoured mid-twenties existential scramble – and through it all, I buoyed and understood myself through music."

Maddie Ballard shared a playlist for her memoir Patchwork largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/23/m...

"...music arranges the landscape into which you put your writing."

Delaney Nolan shared a playlist for her debut novel Happy Bad at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/21/d...

"Off the page, when I was living this story, music got me through the hardest moments and helped me celebrate the happiest."

@jamesissmiling.bsky.social shared a playlist for her memoir sorry i keep crying during sex at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/20/j...

"White Flight deconstructs masculinity from within, and my aim is for it to be a lesson to the world about why we—and, although I do now hold a PhD, I include myself in this group—are the way we are."

Bill Hillmann shared a playlist for his novel White Flight largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/19/b...

“These are a few songs we think evoke the timelessness of made-up places and the joy of being part of an outdoor adventure.”x

@bethrooney.bsky.social & @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social shared a playlist for their children’s book Leaf Town Forever at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/16/b...

"Something about having a second child really messed with my relationship to music."

@annanorth.bsky.social shared a playlist for her novel Bog Queen at @largeheartedboy.bsky.social largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/15/a...

"I generally don’t write to a soundtrack. I rely on rhythm in my prose, and playing music interferes with that internal metronome."

@kenliu.bsky.social shared a playlist for his novel All That We See or Seem at @largeheartedboy.bsky.social largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/14/k...

"Much like considering the food and clothes of the time, I find that thinking about the musical world that shaped my characters is a really useful texture to help ground me in the worldbuilding of the story."

Anbara Salam shared a playlist for The Salvage largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/13/a...

"Sister Creatures is a novel in thirteen haunted chapters, and it only makes sense that the playlist features thirteen songs."

Laura Venita Green shared a playlist for her debut novel Sister Creatures at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/12/l... @unnamedpress.bsky.social

"The minute I focus on music, I can no longer focus on anything else—including writing."

Tamar Shapiro shared a playlist for her debut novel Restitution at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/09/t...