Read Recently: Two books for Swifties

Stars Around My Scars & There's Nothing Like This

Calling all Swifties! I recently read two books focused on Miss Swift, and I highly recommend them both! I’ll get into them more below, but they each take a very different look at her career: one from a songwriting and lyrical analysis perspective, and the other from a business strategy perspective. As a Swiftie myself, these were really great reads and I came away from both with a deeper appreciation for her as a songwriter and businesswoman.

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Stars Around My Scars: The Annotated Poetry of Taylor Swift by Elly McCausland
240 pages | Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing

The Set Up: Elly McCausland, professor of "Swifterature,” annotates over 40 of Taylor Swift’s songs, providing insight into the the structures, literary devices, and themes that make up Taylor’s discography.

Calling all Swifties! This is a really fun look at Taylor’s songwriting skills. The book works era by era, dissecting the lyrics to key songs from each album as if you’re in a really fun lit class. It’s a good one to have on hand and read about a song or two when you have a few minutes of free time.

It was really interesting to dive into Taylor’s songs from a poetry lens. I thought it was really informative, and I feel like I learned a lot about different poetic devices and how Taylor uses them in her writing.

“The professor said to write what you know. Looking backwards might be the only way to move forward.”

I started this book with a digital copy, but I switched to a physical book, and I’d recommend that format. It’s set up as if someone has gone in and added handwritten notes in the margins, and then follows with a comprehensive analysis of the song.

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There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift by Kevin Evers
304 pages | Published by Harvard Business Review Press

The Set Up: “Employing the same thoughtful analysis that is usually devoted to iconic startup founders, game-changing innovators, and pioneering brands, [Kevin Evers] chronicles the major business and creative decisions that have defined each era of [Taylor] Swift's career.”

I really enjoyed this as an audiobook. It was a really informative and straightforward look at Taylor Swift’s career, and it actually put a lot of things in context for me.

I appreciated that it addresses, up front, that Taylor’s family had money and connections that got her foot in the door. But it’s pretty obvious that her work has surpassed what those initial meetings would have warranted.

“They'd say I hustled, put in the work. They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve.”

Overall, this was a really comprehensive look at Taylor’s career from a business strategy lens. This isn’t about the drama or the rumors, but rather the choices she’s made as she has strategically navigated the public eye. I especially loved how much this book talks about the role of social media in her career. She was one of the first to leverage that new channel, and it’s interesting to see how it has impacted her career in both negative and positive ways.

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