Popular Culture

Discover what's new and trending in pop culture.
Updated May 13, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
The Woman in Me
Britney Spears
Named a Best Book of the Year by Elle, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, NPR, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, and more! "In Britney Spears's memoir, she's stronger than ever." --The New York Times Over 2 million...
George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle
Philip Norman
From the premiere Beatles biographer--author of the New York Times bestseller John Lennon: The Life and Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation--a rare and "absorbing biography" (Wall Street Journal) of George Harrison, the most misunderstood and mysterious Beatle,...
A Good Bad Boy: Luke Perry and How a Generation Grew Up
Margaret Wappler
An artful and contemplative tribute to the late actor famed for his role as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210. Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. There have...
Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood
Ed Zwick
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER This heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last...
A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime
Casey Sherman
USA TODAY BESTSELLER "A wild ride beneath the glitz and glamour of 1950s Hollywood, proving once again that Casey Sherman is a master of the genre." --Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of Dumb Money, Bringing Down the House, and The Accidental Billionaires The...
The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters
Susan Page
The definitive biography of the most successful female broadcaster of all time--Barbara Walters--a woman whose personal demons fueled an ambition that broke all the rules and finally gave women a permanent place on the air, written by bestselling author Susan Page. Barbara...
On Locations: Lessons Learned from My Life On Set with The Sopranos and in the Film Industry
Mark Kamine
This page-turning account of starting at the lowest rung on the production ladder among enormously famous & outrageously demanding people will be devoured for its insights, gossip, humour, & storytelling. Married and with a child, the author takes unpaid gigs to get a foot in the door, and...
Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from Soul Train to Black-ish and Beyond
Bethonie Butler
With iconic imagery and engrossing text, Black TV is the first book of its kind to celebrate the groundbreaking, influential, and often under-appreciated shows centered on Black people and their experiences from the last fifty years.   Over the past...
Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever
Matt Singer
Once upon a time, if you wanted to know if a movie was worth seeing, you didn't check out Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB. You asked whether Siskel & Ebert had given it "two thumbs up." On a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight...
Lou Reed: The King of New York
Will Hermes
The most complete and penetrating biography of the rock master, whose stature grows every year.Since his death ten years ago, Lou Reed's living presence has only grown. The great rock-poet presided over the marriage of Brill Building pop and the European avant-garde, and left American culture...
Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong
Katie Gee Salisbury
Before Constance Wu, Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, or Lucy Liu, there was Anna May Wong. In her time, she was a glamorous starlet, flapper, and fashion icon who graced Oscar-winning films and who was mobbed by clamoring fans and the adoring press both here and abroad. Anna May Wong was plucked from her...
The Masters: Conversations with Dylan, Lennon, Jagger, Townshend, Garcia, Bono, and Springsteen
Jann S. Wenner
From New York Times bestselling author and Rolling Stone founder comes "a visit to the Mount Olympus of rock" in this remarkable collection of new and collected interviews with some of the greatest rock stars and cultural icons of our time (Kirkus Reviews). During...
Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher--Television
Foster Hirsch
A fascinating look at Hollywood's most turbulent decade and the demise of the studio system-set against the boom of the post-World War II years, the Cold War, and the atomic age-and the movies that reflected the seismic shifts "The definitive book on 1950s Hollywood." -...
Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided
Scott Eyman
The "shocking" (The Wall Street Journal), must-read story of Charlie Chaplin's years of exile from the United States during the postwar Red Scare, and how it ruined his film career, from bestselling biographer Scott Eyman. Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film...
The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana
Michael Azerrad
A downright revolutionary 30th-anniversary deluxe edition of the iconic bestselling biography of Nirvana, updated with exclusive new content exploring the personal and cultural forces that inspired the music, the author's friendship with Kurt Cobain and why multiple generations...
Pandora's Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV
Peter Biskind
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOKS OF 2023 SELECTION "Biskind's saga about the rise and fall of prestige television explains, in punchy, propulsive prose, how we went from Tony Soprano to Ted Lasso." --New Yorker Bestselling author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures,...
50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars & Filmmakers on Their Career-Defining Wins (Turner Classic Movies)
Dave Karger
An exclusive look behind the scenes of the Academy Awards as top stars and filmmakers discuss their Oscar wins and tell never-before-told tales of Hollywood's biggest night, in a collection of original interviews with Turner Classic Movies host and entertainment media journalist Dave Karger....
Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton, and Me
Bernie Taupin
**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** An evocative, clear-eyed, and revealing memoir by Bernie Taupin, the lyrical master and long-time collaborator of Elton John "I loved writing, I loved chronicling life and every moment I was cogent, sober, or blitzed, I was...
Madonna: A Rebel Life
Mary Gabriel
New York Times Editors' Choice, One of NPR's Best Books of the Year In this "infinitely readable" biography, award-winning author Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna (...
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent
Judi Dench
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig... Cavorting naked through the Warwickshire countryside painted green... Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head... These...
A.K.A. Lucy: The Dynamic and Determined Life of Lucille Ball
Sarah Royal
This stunning package offers a rich, intimate, and highly entertaining look at the remarkable life and work of the television pioneer, the First Lady of Comedy, the legend, Lucille Ball--AKA Lucy.   Full of fresh perspective, gorgeously designed, and richly...
Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath--And Beyond
"Geezer" Butler
A rollicking, effusive, and candid memoir by the heavy metal musician and founding member of Black Sabbath, covering his years as the band's bassist and main lyricist through his later-career projects, and detailing how one of rock's most influential bands formed and prevailed.  With...
Can't We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
Eliza Knight
Award-winning author Denny S. Bryce and USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight collaborate on a brilliant novel that uncovers the boundary-breaking, genuine friendship between Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, and iconic movie star Marilyn Monroe.  One woman was...
Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon
Snoop Dogg
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The follow-up to From Crook to Cook, this next-level cookbook is all about bringing together memorable meals for any occasion, with 65+ recipes from rappers Snoop Dogg and E-40. Following the breakout...
World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music
Jeff Tweedy
What makes us fall in love with a song? What makes us want to write our own songs? Do songs help? Do songs help us live better lives? And do the lives we live help us write better songs? After two New York Times bestsellers that cemented and expanded his legacy as one of America's best-loved...
Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!
David Zucker
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COMEDY BOOKS OF 2023 AT VULTURE Surely You Can't Be Serious is an in-depth and hysterical look at the making of 1980's comedy classic Airplane! by the legendary writers and directors of the hit film. Airplane!...
Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood
Maureen Ryan
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  * LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER In this spectacular, newsmaking exposé that has the entertainment industry abuzz and on its heels, Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan blows the lid on patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood, the grassroots reforms...
Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television
Thea Glassman
The untold stories of seven revolutionary teen shows (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My So-Called Life, Dawson's Creek, Freaks and Geeks, The O.C., Friday Night Lights, and Glee) that shaped the course of modern television and our pop cultural...
Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History
Josh Schwartz
"A fascinating peek behind the making of a megahit, and a delightful bit of nostalgia for those of us who remember life before streaming TV." --Town & Country Welcome to the O.C., b*tch: it's the definitive oral history of beloved TV show The O.C., from the show's creators,...
Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the '70s
Alan Paul
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER New York Times bestselling author Alan Paul's in-depth narrative look at the Allman Brothers' most successful album, and a portrait of an era in rock and roll and American history. The Allman Brothers Band...
Toxic: The Story of Nine Famous Women in the Tabloid 2000s
Sarah Ditum
A scathing reexamination of the lives of nine female celebrities in the 2000s--Britney, Paris, Lindsay, Aaliyah, Janet, Amy, Kim, Chyna, and Jen--and the sexist, exploitative culture that let them down Welcome to celebrity culture in the early aughts: the reign of Perez Hilton,...
So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We're Still So Obsessed with It)
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
From the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia comes the totally fetch story of one of the most iconic teen comedies of all time, Mean Girls, revealing how it happened, how it defined a generation, "like, invented" meme culture, and why it just won't go away, filled with exclusive...
Parachute Women: Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and the Women Behind the Rolling Stones
Elizabeth Winder
Discover the true story of the four women who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help shape and curate the image of The Rolling Stones--perfect for fans of Girls Like Us. The Rolling Stones have long been considered one of the greatest rock-and-roll bands of all time. At the...
Abbey Road: The Inside Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studio
David Hepworth
The incredible history of how Abbey Road became the most famous recording studio in the world.    "There are certain things that are mythical. Abbey Road is mythical."--Nile Rodgers Many people will recognize the famous crosswalk....
Bogie & Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood's Greatest Love Affair
William J. Mann
From the noted Hollywood biographer and author of The Contender comes this celebration of the great American love story--the romance between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart--capturing its complexity, contradictions, and challenges as never before. In Bogie & Bacall, William...
Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent Flying Ace Who Infiltrated Hollywood and Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor
Ronald Drabkin
"A beguiling tale of espionage and double-dealing in the years leading up to World War II. ... Strap in for a narrative that demands a suspension of disbelief--and richly rewards it." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review); Best Books of February Selection The untold story of the World War...
Bee Gees: Children of the World
Bob Stanley
A dazzling biography of one of the bestselling bands of all time, told with brilliant insight by renowned pop music scholar Bob Stanley. The world is full of Bee Gees fans. Yet for a band of such renown, little is known about Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb. People...
Karma: My Autobiography
Boy George
The Official Story of a Musical Icon─Told in Full for the First Time in his Own Words! "The most entertaining music memoir since Elton John's Me... This is George O'Dowd in all his exhausting glory." Observer #1 New Release in Gay Studies and LGBTQ+...
Kick Out the Jams: Jibes, Barbs, Tributes, and Rallying Cries from 35 Years of Music Writing
Dave Marsh
Selected writings on three decades of popular music from one of the most influential critics of his generation. Spanning three decades worth of astute, acerbic, and overall astounding music writing, Kick Out the Jams is the first large-scale anthology of the work of...
Kubrick: An Odyssey
Robert P. Kolker
The definitive biography of the creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange, presenting the most in-depth portrait yet of the groundbreaking film-maker. The enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a...
Bob Dylan: Mixing up the Medicine
Mark Davidson
BOB DYLAN: MIXING UP THE MEDICINE is an unprecedented glimpse into the creative life of one of America's most groundbreaking, influential and enduring artists. 'If there is anything new to be discovered about Bob Dylan, you can probably find it in The Bob Dylan Centre......
Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground
Dylan Jones
Drawing on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, filmmakers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, this "monumental origin story" celebrates the legacy of the Velvet Underground, which burns brighter than ever in the 21st century (New York...
Elvis and the Colonel: An Insider's Look at the Most Legendary Partnership in Show Business
Greg McDonald
A fresh biography of legendary entertainment manager Colonel Tom Parker, with a contrarian and corrective point of view. Colonel Tom Parker, often reviled in his time, led the strategy from the earliest days of Elvis's career. Together, they built the most legendary...
Unti Francis Ford Coppola and Zoetrope
Sam Wasson
"Sam Wasson's supremely entertaining book tracks the ups and downs, ins and outs, of a remarkable career. . . . A marvel of unshowy reportage."--New York Times The New York Times bestselling author of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. and The Big Goodbye returns with the definitive account of Academy...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.