12 Great Books for the Music Lovers in Your Life

For many music fans, the next best thing to the actual songs is the story “behind the music.” For book lovers who are also music lovers, the well-written and often unexpected music book is a treat to feed both passions. Music books come in a variety of formats including band memoirs, music criticism, and pop culture philosophizing. From Lester Bangs’ collection of reviews in Psychotic Reactions & Carburetor Dung to Henry Rollins’ incredible journal-turned-memoir Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, the music book is a valuable part of the art and the industry.

I can still recall the first music book that grabbed and held my attention from cover to cover – No One Here Gets Out Alive (1981), the seminal biography of legendary Doors frontman Jim Morrison, by Danny Sugarman. That book was more than just a memoir – it was a key player in my rock-n-roll coming of age. The last few years have seen numerous bestselling books from the music genre. Now, as the holiday season approaches, here’s a list of great reads for the music lover in your life.


Black Punk Now (2024) – Edited by James Spooner and Chris L. Terry – James Spooner, the filmmaker and graphic novelist known for the 2003 documentary Afro-Punk, begins this fascinating mixed media anthology by recalling how after purchasing his first computer in 2001, “one of the first things I did was Google ‘Black Punk.’ There were exactly zero links.” Spooner’s feeling of being all alone, and his certainty that “I wasn’t the only one,” grounds the book and its importance in chronicling the significance of race in the punk movement. From the seminal all-Black proto-punk band Death developing during the Motown era of Detroit to the rise of hardcore pioneers Bad Brains, the connection between punk culture and the African-American experience is profound. Bobby Hackney of Vermont punk band Rough Francis tells the story of discovering that his father and uncle were in the band Death, and he writes “Being Black and punk challenges the notions of what people think ‘Black’ is supposed to be … and that is so punk.” The multi-genre format of the collection with zines, fiction, nonfiction, comics, and more emphasizes the intersectionality and DIY spirit of punk culture. With discussions of “Sista Grrrl Riot,” extensive personal narratives about being Black and punk, and a short film script called Let Me Be Misunderstood by Kash Abdulmalik, this book is a treasure trove of insight on music, race, and culture. Abdulmalik explains, “Nobody is more punk than the Black youth of America.” Black Punk Now affirms that belief.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being (2023) – Rick Rubin – Rick Rubin is a musician’s producer, despite being a man who claims to be not remotely musical. The founder of Def Jam records has played a pivotal role in countless noteworthy and even-career altering albums over a diverse collection of bands ranging from LL Cool J and The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Johnny Cash and Adele. This book is not specifically focused on music and the art of making it – though Rubin has vast knowledge and experience about some of the most significant music recordings of the past thirty years. Instead, Rubin’s somewhat stream-of-consciousness pondering about the process of creativity is rooted in one basic idea – an artist must make art first and foremost and solely for themselves if they want to achieve their maximum creativity. Anything created with a market in mind is automatically less authentic, and though the music industry pushes incessantly for musicians to compromise their artistic voice in search of greater marketability, Rubin believes the best music comes from artists uninterested in such economic compromise. While not technically a music book, Rubin’s tome is an investigation to explore the creative process in perhaps the same way that some artists have done under his tutelage.

Girl in a Band: a Memoir (2015) – Kim Gordon – Beginning with a raw, honest, and heartfelt chapter titled “The End,” recounting the last live show from Sonic Youth, Gordon poignantly describes how “When we came onstage for our last show, the night was all about the boys.” She describes keeping her distance from Thurston Moore, the couple just a month removed from a record company announcement of their separation and divorce. And then Gordon goes back to the beginning with an exhaustive account of her career in music and notably Sonic Youth, where she was the girl in a band. The history is rich and honest, delving deep into her relationship with her brother, an inspiration and a burden as he struggled with mental illness. She shares honest but casual references to times like when Sonic Youth played Lawrence, KS, opening for REM when she and Thurston joined Michael Stipe to visit beat writer and legend William Burroughs. “That day, all I could think of was how much Burroughs reminded me of my dad,” she writes. Chronicling a true rock and roll life, Gordon’s story, unlike many memoirs, doesn’t stick to chronology, instead focusing more on themes and feelings. And it’s filled with song-specific chapters that read like essays of music and pop culture criticism. It’s somewhat emotionally distant while also coming across as honest and vulnerable, and it’s exactly the type of book fans might expect from the badass female bass player from one of post-punk’s most significant and enduring bands. Granted this book is a few years old; but it must be mentioned in any list containing the book from Gordon’s ex-husband/bandmate Thurston Moore.

Hip Hop is History (2024) – Questlove – Framed against the Hip-Hop 50 Tribute for the 2023 Grammys, the book is a definitive history of hip-hop, establishing that hip-hop is, in fact, a significant and indispensable component of the history of America at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. In fact, one could argue, it’s impossible to understand late contemporary American history without understanding the role hip-hop culture has played. Inspired by common reflection of the pandemic years, Questlove says “I began to think more about preservation. Too much culture, especially Black culture, has passed into the past without a second thought.” From the man who directed Summer of Soul, the Oscar-winning documentary about the Harlem Culture Festival of 1969, the book is an incredible academic achievement that is incredibly familiar and readable as a bit of pop culture criticism. He begins pondering: “So here we are at the fiftieth anniversary of this wonderful bottomless creative meaning-crying shape shifting genre. So what is the state of the art?” Questlove answers that question tenfold. Talking about “The Roots” – which is a perfect name for his group, the Tonight Show band – he watches new hip-hop come and go, and shares sweet moments like when he talks fondly of artists like Doja Cat who not only knows his generation but also knows the music that influenced his generation. Picking up on and playing off his previous memoir Music is History, songs he picked out which have formed his own history, this latest work is a beautiful blend of memoir and criticism.

Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan (2024) – Alex Pappademas and Joan LeMay – This collaborative mixed media work between a pop culture writer and a contemporary fine art painter delves into one of the most loved/hated bands in music history. The catalog of Steely Dan is nothing short of Dickensian or Dylanesque in the characters and stories it contains, and music fans all know about protagonists like Rikki who shouldn't “lose that number.” From “Dr. Wu” to “Cousin Dupree” or even a nostalgic dreamer just known by the address “Hey, Nineteen,” the people of Steely Dan songs are a cast as varied and interesting as many of the most well known characters from American literature. And the music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen draws from a seemingly endless well of influences, with everything from existential philosophy to the inner workings of jazz legends. Pappademas, the senior culture editor for GQ and author of Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant— The Movies and Meaning of an Irrepressible Icon (2022), has done some thorough scholarly investigative work into the history of “the Dan” and has amassed a thorough collection of the stories behind the songs. This innovative book is a work of art unto itself with the detailed commentary of Pappademas alongside the captivating art of LeMay.

Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk (2024) – Kathleen Hanna – When Bikini Kill hit the road for a huge summer tour, it was clear the hard core feminism that grounded Riot Grrrl remains more important than ever. Thus, it just makes sense for punk rock badass Kathleen Hanna to tell her story. The memoir, obviously building off the Kill’s seminal “Riot Grrrl” song, is both a timely and important reminder of the reason the genre exists, and the important role music plays in social movements. If #MeToo had a soundtrack, then Bikini Kill would be an indispensable track. Hanna’s story is raw and honest and vulnerable while also coming across as hardened, tough and ultimately triumphant. Hanna pulls no punches and bluntly recounts and indicts the harsh misogyny endemic to the music industry – a condition necessitating the rise of Riot Grrrl “girls to the front” battle cry. The stories come across as almost conversational, like we’re sitting around with Hanna recollecting the highs, lows, and in-betweens of a legendary career. And she delivers her soft recollections of Kurt Cobain while also recounting the strange story of how she contributed to the title of Nirvana’s breakthrough hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Hanna has seen it all in the music world, and her stories are invaluable to the history of the industry.

She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs (2021) Sara Smarsh – Sarah Smarsh is an award-winning journalist from Kansas who has chronicled the lives of working class people from the country’s Heartland, and she writes with honesty and integrity about the challenge of being poor in the richest country on Earth. Her book on the music of Dolly Parton and the lives of the people her songs honor began as a long-form series for the roots-music magazine No Depression about music that tells the stories of America’s unsung people. Smarsh is well-versed in both the lives of the people and the music of country’s queen, and she brings an honest, often painfully so, portrait of people like her grandma Betty who are the truest portrait of feminism while also being averse, or simply too busy to acknowledge and understand, the term and its political implications. Smarsh weaves her narrative and music commentary with an authentic voice that understands how “Parton jokes that she had to get rich to sing like she was poor again.” Growing up rural and poor while working to rise above her challenges, Smarsh explains through true stories and characters from Parton’s songs how “People can be found packing up and leaving in the lyrics of most musical genres, but there is something particularly poor, female, and American in the the leaving that happens in country music.”

60 Songs that Explain the 90s (2023) – Rob Havilla – Music critic and pop culture writer Havilla writes he is “loathe to lay on you some ulta pretentious Grand Unified Theory of the 90s, which is far away enough to feel like the past, but close enough to be hounding the present …” And he doesn’t actually do that, but he clearly has a thesis about the 90s, and this fascinating collection of music commentary is the mix-tape soundtrack for his theory. Havilla astutely notes how “The music you loved as a teenager will be the sweetest music you’ll ever hear, the music will be in all likelihood the greatest wildest purest love affair of your whole life.” Havilla covers all the genres and doesn't shy away from explaining why Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” is every bit as significant as Eminem’s “My Name Is” and Beck’s “Loser.” And he ponders unique historical moments such as the philosophical significance of Dion “the bombastic pop diva” and Elliot Smith “the sad quiet guy with the acoustic guitar” both performing at the Academy Awards for best movie theme song in 1999. Havilla’s knowledge and research are vast, and readers will enjoy loving and challenging his opinions.

Sonic Life: a Memoir (2023) – Thurston Moore – When a band breaks up, fans often feel like the children of divorce, betrayed and confused by the division. That situation was all the more significant during the breakup of post-punk pioneers Sonic Youth, which featured a punk rock power couple of cool in Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. And now fans have two books exploring the history and dissolution of the band. Actually, with Moore’s memoir, the relationship, and more importantly his infidelity that ultimately derailed it, is loudly noticeably absent. What’s not is a nearly encyclopedic recollection of the rise of punk rock, its control of a young fan, and its impact on a seminal second wave band. In fact the memoir is so detailed, you’d think Moore kept a daily journal of his forty year career, beginning with the noise rock movement connected to the late 70s/early 80s punk scene in New York City. The book is so filled with vivid narrative recounting of his endless stream of influences – The Stooges, Patti Smith, Television Talking Heads, Ramones – it seems like he listened to and deconstructed every band he heard on the way to forming a unique musical experiment known as Sonic Youth. The book seems to be simply and exclusively about his love affair with music. And he talks a great deal more about other bands than he does the significance of his own. In fact, Moore was so embedded in the early scene, he sounds like a true historian at times, and that’s the appeal of this book, chronicling his first hand experience of the rise of the punk movement.

There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." and the End of the Heartland (2024) – Steve Hyden – Perhaps the most academically and culturally ambitious book on the list, Hyden’s tome is incredibly well-researched and insightful and might just be one of the best overall books of the year. As the music critic at large for UPROXX, Hyden is the consummate Gen X music fan, and he has published numerous books and lists of significant music and its historical context. In fact, his 2023 book Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation was an innovative and insightful bit of music criticism, as Hyden explained the history of the band through fifteen songs, a chapter for each song and moment in the band’s incredible history. With this book – how is he so prolific? – Hyden acknowledges that while most fans would cite Born to Run as Springsteen’s masterpiece, he believes “Born in the USA is undoubtedly his most iconic record from a pop culture perspective. It’s the album that defines his persona in the broadest sense. The way Bruce sounds, looks, and acts in the popular imagination derives mostly from the BUSA era.” Steve Hyden is a critic’s critic with an everyman’s voice, and the Springsteen book is an impressive achievement. His intricate music knowledge enables him to connect the album’s influence on 21st century politics and sociology.

The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture (2024) – Tricia Romano – While it’s not technically a music book per se, it spotlights the original alt-weekly newspaper Village Voice, which played a key role in the music scene, not just on the lower East Side, but ultimately all of New York and the rest of the country. For, as the New York Times review notes, “both Blondie and Springsteen got their drummers by placing ads in the back” of the Village Voice. Little tidbits of history like that fill this book, and music fans will appreciate the vast insider history of the scene from actual voices who recorded it. Its music criticism played a key role in the industry, and it was one of the earliest news voices writing about the rise of hip hop. With headlines like “There’s some music coming out of the Bronx called rap,” this collection of recollections is as surprising as it is insightful. At more than 500 pages, this type of oral history is one to be checked in with casually. The Voice’s early writing about Donald Trump is a fascinating time capsule, especially because it documents how he mentioned running for president in 1987. The book is organized as a series of casual recollections from people like Greil Marcus and Lester Bangs,and with quips acknowledging graffiti as art while subsequently documenting the careers of icons like Basquiat and Haring, the book is certainly worth a look from music and arts fans.

Where Are Your Boys Tonight? The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 (2024) – Chris Payne – According to the author’s disclaimer, “This book is not meant to be an encyclopedia of emo, but a narrative of a specific moment in history.” Granted with interviews of more than 150 people over three hundred hours, Payne has certainly amassed an encyclopedic history of that moment in the early 2000s, a time during which the heirs to punk, post-punk, hardcore, indie rock and grunge became immensely popular in the third wave of emo. Payne even concedes that many bands mentioned would not consider themselves emo, likely because of the negativity surrounding the term at various times. That said, the bands from My Chemical Romance to Panic! At the Disco to Fall Out Boy to Paramore truly represent a notable musical movement that was rich and varied and synonymous with the popular culture of the era. Organized as an oral history with a cinematic “cast of characters” introducing each section of the book, the book aptly covers the various disconnected but relative emo scenes geographically and somewhat chronologically. Movements like punk and all its offshoots including the various waves of emo are rooted in local scenes, and Payne’s incredibly well researched and insightful history effortlessly moves from New Jersey to Chicago to south Florida, documenting each scene as every bit as influential on emo as the Lower East side or DC or Berkely were to early punk waves.