We all have authors that inspired us as children, either to become writers ourselves our just in our personal lives. Sometimes both. My "both" was LJ Smith. Her stories helped me find my voice as a writer, strengthened friendships, and encouraged me during a time I was forging my identity.
So, when one of said friends suggested that I make a playlist based on LJ Smith's Nightworld book series, it took me about ten seconds to jump on that idea.
Well, it actually took me about twenty minutes to climb on top of the wardrobe where my LJ Smith books live and drag my twenty-something-year-old Nightworld books downstairs, then a few days to read them... but you get the point.
And, yeah, I still have my original Nightworld books, complete with adorable home-printed bookplates. They were some of the only things I deemed important enough to lug across the ocean when I moved from America to Wales. Varsity jacket? Prom dress? American Girl dolls? Scrapbooks? Sax and clarinet? Nope, just an entire library of LJ Smith books.
A girl's gotta have priorities.
Re-reading the Nightworld books was an emotional rollercoaster. I was moved by books I didn't really care for the first time I read them and fell in love with certain characters all over again. (Ash, of course.) It made me a little sad this time around because I realized how much better the books could have been. They're chocolate chips and, now that I'm older, I want the whole damn cookie - but, hey, that's life. I'm still glad I revisited the series and I'll probably do it again in a few years.
Maybe next time I'll do Vampire Diaries or Secret Circle?
Anyway, now that the playlist is complete, I'm going to break it down by book because it turned out to be a little... lengthy. (And I didn't even include the three Nightworld short stories LJ Smith published on her own website!) If you've read the series, I want to know what you think!
If not, you really should. It pales in comparison to modern YA series, but it still has great characters.
Let's get on with it...
Book 1: Secret Vampire
"Pixie," Ren
"Falling In Love With My Best Friend," Tyler Ward
"Cancer," Twenty One Pilots
"Resistance," Muse
"Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover," Sophie B. Hawkins
"Soulmates," Placebo
"Cold Hearted," Paula Abdul
"Dead Is The New Alive," Emilie Autumn
"Sweet Lullaby," Deep Forest
Book 2: Daughters of Darkness
"Stargazer," Paloma Faith
"Runaway," Linkin Park
"Daughters of Darkness," Halestorm
"Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves," Aretha Franklin & Eurythmics
"Meteorite," Years & Years
"I Knew You Were Trouble," Taylor Swift
"Go Screw Yourself," Avery
"Moon Baby," Godsmack
"We Are Family," Sister Sledge
"Blood Feud," Omen
"Beware The Dog," The Griswolds
"Shooting Star," Owl City
"Terrible Things," Brick + Mortar
"Make Amends," Curbi, Tchami, Kyan Palmer
Book 3: Spellbinder
"Maneater," Nelly Furtado
"Snakebite," Alice Cooper
"Bad Girls Club," Falling in Reverse
"Firestarter," The Prodigy
"Black Magic," Little Mix
"Like My Sisters Do," L.O.L. Surprise!
"Magic," Kylie Minogue
"Spellbound," Siouxsie and the Banshees
"Drink to Forget," HVNTER
Book 4: Dark Angel
"Under Ice," Kate Bush
"Frozen Heart," Cast of Frozen
"If I Die Young," The Band Perry
"Guardian Angel," The Friday Prophets
"Dragonfly," Tom A. Smith
"Attention," Todrick Hall
"Breaking Glass," Stay Over
"Ghost Story," Carrie Underwood
"Forgive Me Friend," Smith & Thell, Swedish Jam Factory
Book 5: The Chosen
"Carnival," Bikini Kill
"Kittens Got Claws," Whitesnake
"Vampires Will Never Hurt You," My Chemical Romance
"Fighter," Christina Aguilera
"The Night Has A Thousand Eyes," Bobby Vee
"Oh No!" MARINA
"Darkness," Disturbed
"Hunters Of The Night," Chris Norman
"LAUGHING BOY," Duran Duran
"Burn It Down," Skillet
Book 6: Soulmate
"Soulmate Song," Carson James Argenna
"Past Lives," BØRNS
"Wolves," Sam Tinnesz, Silverberg
"Remember the Time," Michael Jackson
"Old Soul," Zola Simone
"Vampire Lover," Genitorturers
"Ready To Let Go," Cage The Elephant
"It's All Been Done," Barenaked Ladies
"Obsession, Animotion
"The Winner Takes It All," ABBA
Book 7: Huntress
"Run Boy Run," Woodkid
"Huntress," Pep Squad
"Human," Rag'n'Bone Man
"Falling," HAIM
"Truce," Jars of Clay
"Freak Like Me," Halestorm
"Idiot," Stephen
"Tear in My Heart," Twenty One Pilots
"My Life Would Suck Without You," Kelly Clarkson
"Prophecy," Remy Zero
"Save The World," Swedish House Mafia
"Millennium," Robbie Williams
Book 8: Black Dawn
"Fake Tears," Ferraro
"The Land That Time Forgot," The Mavis's
"Kingdom Nevercome," Dark Age
"I Know You," Skylar Grey
"King Is Born," Aloe Blacc
"Run For Cover," The Killers
"A Prophecy," Asking Alexandria
"Revolution," The Score
"Sisters of the Moon," Fleetwood Mac
"Worth Dying For," Vega
Book 9: Witchlight
"Eyes Of A Panther," Steel Panther
"Shapeshifter," Celldweller, Styles of Beyond
"Pretty Kitty," Busm
"Your Pure Soul," The Charlatans
"invisible string," Taylor Swift
"Witch Child," Inkubus Sukkubs
"The Trickster," Radiohead
"Slay the Dragon," Impellitteri
"Celebration," Madonna
"Still Waiting," Kaiser Chiefs
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