Favorite Soundtracks for Reading

I absolutely love listening to music while I'm reading, sometimes I look for something specific like epic battle scores (I'll make a separate post for that at some point) or maybe not even music just some asmr (another post for that coming up as well). But today I wanted to share a few of my favorite soundtracks with you.

I'll be posting a youtube video of the soundtracks here so you'll have them all in one place but you can find them on other streaming services such as apple music as well (with the bonus of downloading it and not needing wifi and no ads).

Gladiator Soundtrack

In one word this soundtrack is: Epic. Several parts sound very much like the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack (not surprising as both were written by the renowned Hans Zimmer).

Best suited to: Adventure books, YA Dystopian, Fantasy, books with lots of action and emotion

The Hobbit Soundtrack

If you're looking for something epic but a bit calmer than the last two suggestions The Hobbit Soundtrack is for you. Lots of orchestral strings and sometimes percussion (drums) sum up all the emotion of a long and trying adventure.

Best Suited For: Adventure, Fantasy, YA, books about journeys, trials, and discoveries

The Crown Soundtrack

Yet another Hans Zimmer masterpiece (I guess you could call me a fan). This soundtrack is full of drama, passion, reflection, hope, perseverance, and endurance. The music is mostly orchestral strings, timpani parts, violin solos, and piano melodies.

Best Suited For: Adventure, Fantasy, Ya, Classics, Suspense, books with lots of emotion

Interstellar Soundtrack

Yep. It's Hans Zimmer again. While still epic this soundtrack switches between calming melodies and foreboding synthesized sounds that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Best Suited For: Fantasy, YA, Thriller, Mystery, books with intrigue and suspense but balanced with reflection and calmness

Schindler's List Soundtrack

We have all heard the theme from this soundtrack (and probably cried while we listened to the heart wrenching violin solo). This is definitely one of cinemas greats, the only drawback? Getting tear stains on your pages.

Best Suited For: Sad true stories (genocides, tragedies etc), classics, books filled with pain and suffering but also hope and redemption

Minecraft Soundtrack

Let me explain. Video game soundtracks are designed to keep you engaged and focused and there are many great soundtracks out there (I'm not a gamer so Minecraft is the only one I've actually played) that are great for reading. This soundtrack has nice symphonies and tons of piano medleys as well as some binaural beats.

Best Suited For: All types of books

Skyrim Soundtrack (With Ambience)

Another video game soundtrack, I like this particular version because it also includes the ambience of rain and thunder and birds twittering as well as epic music (orchestral and choir sounds)

Best Suited For: Adventure, Fantasy, books set in another world of adventures but more calm than battle

So that wraps up this post, I may do a "Part 2" in the future and I have tons of posts coming up with more music, such as "Epic Battle Music", "ASMR and Ambience", "Harry Potter ASMR and Ambience" and much more.

Till then, enjoy!