Books about Music or Musicians

A list of possible reads for Books & Bites Bingo!

Updated March 17, 2023
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Don't tell anybody the secrets I told you : a memoir
Williams, Lucinda
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The iconic singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy winner opens up about her traumatic childhood in the Deep South, her years of being overlooked in the music industry, and the stories that inspired her enduring songs in this "bracingly candid chronicle" (The...
The storyteller : tales of life and music
Grohl, David
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...
Nick & Norah's infinite playlist
Cohn, Rachel.
The New York Times bestselling he-said/she-said rock n' roll romance that inspired the hit movie! "I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"  Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene...
The final revival of Opal & Nev : a novel
Walton, Dawnie
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...
A visit from the Goon Squad
Egan, Jennifer.
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...
Just kids
Smith, Patti.
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,...
God save the queens : the essential history of women in hip-hop
Iandoli, Kathy
An NPR Best Book of the Year "Without God Save the Queens, it is possible that the contributions of dozens of important female hip-hop artists who have sold tens of millions of albums, starred in monumental films, and influenced the direction of the culture would continue to go...
This is your brain on music : the science of a human obsession
Levitin, Daniel J.
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....
We sold our souls
Hendrix, Grady
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...
The ensemble
Gabel, Aja
Jana. Brit. Daniel. Henry. They would never have been friends if they hadn't needed each other. They would never have found each other except for the art which drew them together. They would never have become family without their love for the music, for each other. Brit is the second...
Sweet, soft, plenty rhythm : a novel
Warrell, Laura
GMA BUZZ PICK * How do we find belonging when love is unrequited? A "gorgeously written debut" (Celeste Ng, best-selling author of Little Fires Everywhere) filled with jazz and soul, about the perennial temptations of dangerous love, told by the women who love Circus Palmer-...
Black mad wheel
Malerman, Josh
 From the author of the hit literary horror debut Bird Box ("Hitchcockian." --USA Today) comes a chilling novel about a group of musicians conscripted by the US government to track down the source of a strange and debilitating sound The Danes--the band known as the "Darlings of...
Musical chairs : a novel
Poeppel, Amy
"A fiercely funny tale of family, friendship, and later-in-life love." --People "Poeppel has created a story that is well thought out, well plotted, well written, and fully developed. A delightful novel that celebrates the messiness and joy to be found in real life."<...
Maybe We'll Make It: A Memoir
Price, Margo
An October 2022 IndieNext pick "[An] engaging and beautifully narrated quest for personal fulfillment and musical recognition...This is a fast-paced tale in which music and love always take center stage...A truly gifted musician, Price writes about her journey with refreshing...
Jay-Z : made in America
Dyson, Michael Eric
NOW A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY BESTSELLER "Dyson writes with the affection of a fan but the rigor of an academic. ... Using extensive passages from Jay-Z's lyrics, 'Made in America' examines the rapper's...
Heart-shaped box
Hill, Joe.
"Wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty....A Valentine from hell."  --Janet Maslin, New York Times The publication of Joe Hill's beautifully textured, deliciously scary debut novel Heart-Shaped Box was greeted with the sort of overwhelming critical acclaim that is rare for a...
They can't kill us until they kill us : essays
Willis-Abdurraqib, Hanif
* 2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" --TODAY (Elizabeth Acevedo) * A "Best Book of 2017" --Rolling...
The Final Reconciliation
Todd Keisling

Currently available through Hoopla Digital!

Me
John, Elton
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, from his rollercoaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman, to becoming a living legend.
A lush and seething hell : two tales of cosmic horror
Jacobs, John Hornor
A World Fantasy Award Nominee! The award-winning and critically-acclaimed master of horror returns with a pair of chilling tales that examine the violence and depravity of the human condition. Bringing together his acclaimed novella The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky and an...

The 2nd story, My Heart Struck Sorrow, is about a librarian tracing the origins of a sinister musical recording from the Deep South.

Changes : an oral history of Tupac Shakur
Pearce, Sheldon
A New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur's single "Changes" became an anthem for the worldwide protests...
Petty : the biography
Zanes, Warren.
The New York Times Bestseller *One of Rolling Stone's 10 Best Music Books of 2015* An exhilarating and intimate account of the life of music legend Tom Petty, by an accomplished writer and musician who toured with Petty. No one...
The ballad of perilous graves
Jennings, Alex
"Funny, wild, witty, and profound."―Victor LaValle "A wild and wonderful debut, teeming with music, family and art."--New York Times "Magical, lyrical, gritty, otherworldly...hype like Bayou Classic in the 90s."<...
Daisy Jones & the Six : a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins
#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...
Queen of bebop : the musical lives of Sarah Vaughan
Hayes, Elaine M.
Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017 Washington Post Best Book of 2017 Amazon Editors' Top 100 Pick of the Year Amazon Best Humor and Entertainment Pick of the Year Booklist Top Ten Arts Book Queen of Bebop brilliantly chronicles the life of jazz singer Sarah...
The unsinkable Greta James : a novel
Smith, Jennifer E.
An indie musician reeling from tragedy and a public breakdown reconnects with her father on a weeklong cruise in "a pitch-perfect story about the ways we recover love in the strangest places" (Rebecca Serle, bestselling author of In Five Years) "The characters are...
Louis Armstrong, master of modernism
Brothers, Thomas David.
A biography of Louis Armstrong's prolific years in the 1920s and early 1930s, this book examines the cultural forces that shaped his life and, ultimately, jazz itself. Thomas Brothers picks up where he left off with the "compelling" (Literary Review), "scholarly without being scholastic"...
How music works
Byrne, David
Best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the iconic band Talking Heads, David Byrne has received Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe awards and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the insightful How Music Works, Byrne offers his unique perspective on music -...
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