While currently on tour in the UK, Stella Bridie shares the books that have kept her company on the road, the stories that have influenced her songwriting, and the female authors who have left a lasting mark on her creative life.

The Naarm-based musician is known for her richly atmospheric sound and lyricism that often feels like short fiction - intimate, layered, and quietly powerful. It’s no surprise, then, that books play a central role in her life and creative process. From gothic fiction to contemporary feminist thought, Bridie’s reading list spans a wide range of genres and voices. “There’s definitely a link between the themes I’m reading about and the ones I’m bringing into my songwriting,” she says. “I was reading a lot of gothic fiction (Shirley Jackson, Carmen Maria Machado, Daphne du Maurier) whilst writing my Speaking Terms EP and I think there’s a distinctly gothic feeling to some of the lyrics and production choices.”

Currently travelling with a digital library in tow, Bridie talks about what’s currently in her TBR stack and the book she thinks about almost every week and her favourite second-hand bookstore.

★

You recently went on tour to the US and are now about to start your EU/UK tour - what book/s did you take on the road in the US and what is coming with you on this tour?

I don’t usually use e-books but I’ve been using them on tour because lugging around gear and merch and books is too ridiculous. Also, most of the books I read now are library books and I’m chronically terrified of losing library property!

On the US tour I took - All Fours - Miranda July, Acts of Desperation - Megan Nolan, Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll and Penance - Eliza Clark

On the EU/UK tour I’ve taken - Parable of the Sower - Octavia E. Butler, Conflict is not Abuse - Sarah Schulman, What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate, Futures - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Frenchman’s Creek - Daphne du Maurier

What book are you currently reading?

I’m currently halfway through How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective (edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor) which is another e-book I’ve downloaded for tour.

What is the last book you read?

I finished The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez on the morning of my flight to London!

Is there a connection between what you read and the music you create? If so, have any books in particular influenced your songwriting/creative process?

I often can’t identify it until later, but there’s definitely a link between the themes I’m reading about and the ones I’m bringing into my songwriting. I was reading a lot of gothic fiction (Shirley Jackson, Carmen Maria Machado, Daphne du Maurier) whilst writing my Speaking Terms EP and I think there’s a distinctly gothic feeling to some of the lyrics and production choices.

Do you listen to music when you read, if so what would be on your reading playlist?

I don’t tend to listen to music while I read because I find it too distracting. But if I ever do, it’s usually instrumentals - I’ve been really loving the Minari soundtrack for that purpose, or the soundtrack to If Beale Street Could Talk is wonderful.

What’s one book you would recommend everyone reads?

Sula by Toni Morrison is a book I think about almost every week. Why Does He Do That by Lundy Bancroft is another one that I think almost everyone could benefit from reading.

Do you tend to read more fiction or nonfiction?

It’s a mostly even split, but I trend slightly more towards fiction than non-fiction. I think my songwriting is probably reflective of that - there’s a lot of narrative in my music but it often uses specific details or real world events as a backdrop/jumping off point.

Who would you say are your favourite female authors?

Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Carmen Maria Machado

What books live on your bedside table right now in your TBR stack?

At the moment my TBR stack is mostly made up of books I’ve purchased or been gifted and haven’t gotten to yet because my library borrowing is keeping me very occupied. This is what’s on my desk at the moment: Behind You is the Sea - Susan Muaddi Darraj, Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver and Space Crone - Ursula K. Le Guin.

Favourite independent bookstore?

There’s a second-hand bookstore on High St which is right near where I live in Naarm/Melbourne. I love places where every possible gap has been plugged full of books.

Have you read a new release or discovered a new author lately that you’ve loved?

I recently read Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel Homegoing and I was absolutely floored by it, I’ve been recommending it to everyone.

And finally… the hardest question. What would you say is your favourite book of all time?

Sincerely an impossible question and so this is a deeply flawed answer, but a book that lives very close to my heart is We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Any book about weird girls and sisters is going to leave an imprint on my brain.

Listen to Stella Bridie’s latest EP ‘Speaking Terms’ below.

Stella Bridie talks books on tour and favourite reads of all time

25 books by female authors to add to your TBR