Books About Musicians & Music

Updated June 13, 2023
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A visit from the Goon Squad
Egan, Jennifer.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER * With music pulsing on every page, this startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption "features characters about whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn't, acting gloriously,...
Daisy Jones & The Six a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins.
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD! A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup--from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu...
The storyteller : tales of life and music
Grohl, David
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller * Named one of Variety's Best Music Books of 2021 * Included in Audible's Best of The Year list * A Business Insider Best Memoirs of 2021 * One of NME's Best Music Books of 2021 So, I've written a book. Having entertained the...
The weight : a novel
Boyd, Jeff
Paper Book
A powerful coming-of-age novel about a twenty-something Black musician living in predominantly white Portland, Oregon, playing in a rock band on the verge of success while struggling with racism, romance, and the legacy of his strict religious upbringing. Julian Strickland is...
Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys
Fick, D. M. S.
Paper Book
A missing brooch. A face set in cement. This is not your average music festival. Lewis Sinclair, a stalwart and tender country musician, is about to take the stage with his band, the Gentlemen Cowboys, at the premier U.S. country music festival when his girl dumps him for the...
Born to run
Springsteen, Bruce
Paper Book
The revelatory and wildly bestselling memoir by legendary rock star Bruce Springsteen: "Glorious...a philosophically rich ramble through a rock 'n roll life...It's the lyric he was born to write" (USA TODAY, 4 out of 4 stars). Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen...
Mary Jane : a novel
Blau, Jessica Anya
Paper Book
"The best book of the summer." -- InStyle "I LOVED this novel....If you have ever sung along to a hit on the radio, in any decade, then you will devour Mary Jane at 45 rpm." --Nick Hornby Almost Famous meets Daisy Jones & The Six in this "delightful" (New York...
Why you like it : the science and culture of musical taste
Gasser, Nolan
Paper Book
From the chief architect of the Pandora Radio's Music Genome Project comes a definitive and groundbreaking examination of why we respond to music the way we do. Everyone loves music. But what is it that makes music so universally beloved and have such a powerful effect...
The high notes : a novel
Steel, Danielle
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In this heartfelt novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a young woman with an unforgettable voice fights for the freedom to pursue her dreams. Iris Cooper has been singing ever since she can remember, hitting the...
This is your brain on music : the science of a human obsession
Levitin, Daniel J.
Paper Book
Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life--even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last be- coming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology....
The final revival of Opal & Nev : a novel
Walton, Dawnie
Paper Book
An electrifying novel about the meteoric rise of an iconic interracial rock duo in the 1970s, their sensational breakup, and the dark secrets unearthed when they try to reunite decades later for one last tour. A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK NAMED A BEST...
Hunger makes me a modern girl : a memoir
Brownstein, Carrie
Paper Book
From the guitarist of the pioneering band Sleater-Kinney, the book Kim Gordon says "everyone has been waiting for" and a New York Times Notable Book of 2015-- a candid, funny, and deeply personal look at making a life--and finding yourself--in music. Before Carrie...
How music works
Byrne, David
Paper Book
How Music Works is David Byrne's remarkable and buoyant celebration of a subject he has spent a lifetime thinking about. In it he explores how profoundly music is shaped by its time and place, and he explains how the advent of recording technology in the twentieth century forever changed...
Musicophilia : tales of music and the brain
Sacks, Oliver
Paper Book
What goes on in human beings when they make or listen to music? What is it about music, what gives it such peculiar power over us, power delectable and beneficent for the most part, but also capable of uncontrollable and sometimes destructive force? Music has no concepts, it lacks images; it has no...
Just kids
Smith, Patti.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation. Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer,...
The farewell tour : a novel
Clifford, Stephanie
Paper Book
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Everybody Rise, a "shimmering" (New York Times Book Review) novel with the exquisite historical detail and evocative settings of The Cold Millions and Great Circle that tells the story of one unforgettable woman's rise in country and western music....
Can't stop won't stop : a hip-hop history
Chang, Jeff
Paper Book
The American Book Award winner, now completely adapted for a young adult audience! From award-winning author Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop is the story of hip-hop, a generation-defining movement and the music that transformed American politics and culture forever....
Musical revolutions : how the sounds of the western world changed
Isacoff, Stuart
Paper Book
From the critically acclaimed author of Temperament, a narrative account of the most defining moments in musical history-classical and jazz-all of which forever altered Western culture "A fascinating journey that begins with the origins of musical notation and travels...
Music is history
Questlove
Paper Book
In Music Is History, bestselling author and Sundance award-winning director Questlove harnesses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and his deep curiosity about history to examine America over the past fifty years. Choosing one essential track from each year, Questlove unpacks each...
Midnight duet : a novel
Comfort, Jen
Paper Book
From The Astronaut and the Star author Jen Comfort comes a wildly electric romance about two musicians who collide on the stage of a Nevada opera house. Self-professed diva Erika Greene has it all: a starring role on Broadway, legions of fans, spectacular natural talent. But...
Ghost music : a novel
Yu, An
Paper Book
From the author of the "original and electric" Braised Pork (Time), An Yu's enchanting and contemplative novel of music and mushrooms follows a former concert pianist searching for the truth about a vanished musician For three years, Song Yan has filled the emptiness...
We sold our souls
Hendrix, Grady
Paper Book
Grady Hendrix, horror writer and author of Paperbacks from Hell and My Best Friend's Exorcism, is back with his most electrifying novel yet. In the 1990s, heavy metal band D rt W rk was poised for breakout success-but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed...
Dreamland : a novel
Sparks, Nicholas
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A twist you won't see coming. A love story you'll never forget. From the acclaimed author of The Notebook comes a powerful novel about risking everything for a dream--and whether it's possible to leave the past behind. Look for...
The mixtape
Cherry, Brittainy C.
Paper Book
Since the death of his twin brother, Oliver's caught between pleasing his fans and finding himself. Emery finds him first. Emery has never felt more alone. Raising her daughter is both her pleasure and her pain as she struggles to hold on to her job as a bartender and keep a roof...
High fidelity
Hornby, Nick.
Paper Book
"I've always loved Nick Hornby, and the way he writes characters and the way he thinks. It's funny and heartbreaking all at the same time."--Zoë Kravitz From the bestselling author of Funny Girl, About a Boy, A Long Way Down and Dickens and Prince, a wise and...

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