The Best Books for the Beyoncé Fan and Beyond

The end of summer might be approaching, but the silver lining? The MTV Video Music Awards are here!

The list of this year’s nominations and performances is pretty stacked. While you wait to see who will have the craziest outfit and the most over-the-top performance, check out this list of books based on your fave musical artist.

If You Love Beyoncé . . .

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Angie Thomas debuted to incredible fanfare and critical acclaim with her novel The Hate U Give. It’s all about speaking out, standing up for yourself, and bravely tackling racism and police brutality. Oh yeah, and the heroine is an amazing teen named Starr who absolutely adores Beyoncé. She references Queen Bey many times, and it’s no wonder she sees her as a role model—Bey is an advocate for a number of social justice movements, including Black Lives Matter, and supports LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, and equality. Angie even quoted some of her favorite Beyoncé lyrics at her book launch. Yeah, this is a must-read for Bey fans.

If you love Chance the Rapper . . .

You should read:

The Serpent King

By Jeff Zentner

Critically acclaimed and award-winning, The Serpent King has a lot in common with the super successful Chance the Rapper. Not only is Chance an amazing lyricist, he’s a philosopher who has used music to help him reconcile his faith and deal with life’s struggles.

In the novel, Dill becomes a target at his rural high school after his father is involved in a public scandal. He uses music to escape, much like Chance does, and keeps his feelings for a girl named Lydia under wraps. The pressure is on, and as he approaches graduation, another life-changing moment rocks him to the core. Dill struggles to find himself and navigate the harsh realities of the Bible Belt. We have a feeling Chance, who’s had his own struggles, could definitely relate (oh, and he has two nominations this year!)

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What to Say Next

By Julie Buxbaum

She’s known as America’s superstar girl next door, but Taylor Swift certainly has a dark side, and she’s not afraid to share it in her music. We saw it come out when she released the scathing hit “Bad Blood,” and when she got into a short-lived Twitter spat with Nicki Minaj. And while Taylor may seem perfect to some, she has problems, too. Everyone has problems.

Fans of Taylor and her painfully relatable love songs and girl power anthems will devour What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum, a novel about an unlikely friendship (and maybe more!) between a social outcast named David and a popular girl named Kat. When Kat asks David for help in uncovering the mystery behind her dad’s tragic car accident, both of them discover something that neither one could have predicted. We know—it sounds like the perfect formula for a bittersweet Taylor Swift song.

And even though she didn’t have a new album this year, Tay still has a VMA nomination for her collab with Zayn on “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”

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Like Ed Sheeran and his bittersweet love songs, this book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster that’s both heartbreaking and life-affirming. Ed often writes about wistful what-if scenarios, like what he’d do if he got the girl or even got her to admit that she loves him back! His music is always so soulful and pulses with raw emotion, so we have a feeling he’d be a fan of this book that gives us hope that second chances are possible, and that love is enough.

Like Ed’s new song “Supermarket Flowers,” which he cowrote with his grandmother to honor her final moments, Words in Deep Blue tells the story of Rachel, a girl who is mourning the loss of her brother. Rachel never told her former best friend Henry that her brother died, and now she is back in town, working at Henry’s family’s book shop. She leaves Henry letters in the pages of old books, but doesn’t say the one thing she needs to; the truth, about her brother and about how much she loves Henry.

As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold —they find hope in each other. It’s a tearjerker for sure, but like Ed’s music, Words in Deep Blue is heartwarming and hopeful.

And if you’ll be watching the VMAs, you’ll get to see Ed perform, which we’re sure will be an emotional experience as always (and he has three nominations!)

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Rihanna is known for her badass attitude and killer sense of style. She’s also multi-talented— she releases #1 singles and struts her stuff as a fashion icon, and she acts! (Did you know that she and Lupita N’yongo are starring in an action-packed buddy movie together?)

Defiant and dark, Jillian Blake’s Antisocial is the perfect read for the Rihanna fans in your life. It’s about Anna Soler, who just got dumped by her basketball superstar boyfriend, but that isn’t even the worst of it. Someone at school is trying hard to knock all the kings and queens off their thrones, and they’re doing it by leaking personal photos and messages. Dark secrets are exposed, and chaos ensues as Anna fights to protect her own secrets while dealing with the fallout of those already exposed.

We have a feeling Rihanna would be able to handle that kind of high-pressure situation. (She does it on the daily, after all, and is no stranger to having her secrets leaked.) Not only would she handle it, she would probably fight back against the leaker! Yep, this book is perfect for fans of brave badasses like Rih.

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One of Us Is Lying

By Karen M. McManus

After the massive success of the Netflix series Thirteen Reasons Why which Selena Gomez produced, we can totally see her producing another YA thriller for television or even for the big screen. Known for being classy, vivacious, and a total lady boss, Selena Gomez would be perfect for the lead role in an adaptation of Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying. In this new YA thriller, five students walk into detention, but only four walk out alive. (Think The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars.) This book has enough juicy scandal and intrigue to keep you up all night, dying to figure out the mystery, and plenty of charm and interesting characters to keep you hooked and begging for more once you’ve finished the last chapter.

The Best Books for the Beyoncé Fan and Beyond

The end of summer might be approaching, but the silver lining? The MTV Video Music Awards are here!

If You Love Beyoncé . . .

You should read:

By

If you love Chance the Rapper . . .