Audiobook Wishlist (Part I)

My first brush with audiobooks was in the early 90s. As a gift, I had received C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew (in audio cassette form), narrated by Claire Bloom. It made such an impression on me that I can recall her voice with perfect clarity: imperious; by turns sharp enough to cut glass or soothing as a soft ermine cape. I wish I could reproduce that voice for you here, but the tape doesn’t seem to be digitally available (although there is a version narrated by Kenneth Branagh, which I suppose is a reasonable enough surrogate).

Regrettably, I only rediscovered the magic of audio entertainment about three years ago (by way of the cornucopia of freely-available podcasts), but now I’m making up for lost time. It’s not always easy to select which book to read next (shout out to Goodreads for streamlining the process), or indeed to find uninterrupted stretches of time for reading. But audiobooks change all that. You can consume them while travelling or waiting, or as you drift off to sleep (Jude Law and James McAvoy, if you ever read this, please consider audiobook narration as a supplementary career avenue). Audio entertainment is a particularly good way to speed up hours spent pipetting and centrifuging. I don’t know what laboratory researchers did before the advent of podcasts and audiobooks.

Here is my curated audiobook wishlist for 2017, part I. Four-minute audio clips of each title are available at Audible.com (where you can also get any two audiobooks free with a free trial membership), if you’d like to give them a spin.

(1) Contact by Carl Sagan, narrated by Jodie Foster

As mentioned in the music in gaming post, this is one of my favourite books of all time. Despite knowing that a lifetime is not long enough to read all the books I would like to, I have re-read this no less than six times. It insightfully and sensitively considers topics as diverse as science, religion, feminism, enduring friendship, and what it would mean for humanity (and individuals) if we weren’t alone. Goodreads rating: 4.1. Excerpt:

“You’re an interesting species. An interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”

(2) Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham, narrated by Lauren Graham

Gilmore Girls alumna, the singular Lauren Graham, reflects on her professional life (including the portrayal of Lorelai Gilmore) in a series of essays. Goodreads rating: 4.1. Excerpt:

“For a very long time I worked and worked and worked, and then I looked up one day and all my friends were married with children.”

(3) Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton, narrated by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Kathleen Chalfant

An autobiographical account of Hillary’s time as Secretary of State, a position she accepted at Obama’s request after her 2008 presidential campaign. Goodreads rating: 3.6. Excerpt:

“When you are in a common boat, cross the river peacefully together.”

Bonus: Obama’s The Audacity of Hope is also available as an audiobook (CD only), narrated by Obama himself.

(4) What if? by Randall Munroe, narrated by Wil Wheaton

I have yet to be disappointed by any of Munroe’s geeky/creative projects. Stand by Me’s Wil Wheaton is the perfect choice of narrator for this book: Munroe answers hypothetical science-related reader questions to the best of his ability, seeing them through to their inevitably extreme conclusions. Goodreads rating: 4.2. Excerpt:

“We don’t know what astatine looks like, because, as Lowe put it, “that stuff just doesn’t want to exist.” It’s so radioactive (with a half-life measured in hours) that any large piece of it would be quickly vaporized by its own heat. Chemists suspect that it has a black surface, but no one really knows. There’s no material safety data sheet for astatine. If there were, it would just be the word “NO” scrawled over and over in charred blood.”

(5) Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello, narrated by Elvis Costello

Costello is a prolific British singer-songwriter whose career has spanned the pub rock, punk, and new wave movements, and is still going strong today. This is an honest and lyrically-observed memoir from a pedigreed musician; as the New York Times review by Dwight Garner points out: “Mr. Costello has been cagey and word-drunk from the start. Had he not picked up a guitar, and put on the black glasses and porkpie hats, he might easily have been a poet.” Goodreads rating: 3.8. Excerpt:

“There was a Fender Palomino acoustic lying in the corner in an open case, which, as you know, often symbolizes low morals or easy virtue in paintings of antiquity.”

(6) The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, narrated by Colin Firth

A classic about a surprisingly self-aware protagonist trying to come to grips with his infidelity (after the death of his mistress). He discovers much deeper truths in the process. Goodreads rating: 4. Excerpt:

“The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism.”

(7) The Passage by Justin Cronin, narrated by Edward Herrmann

A beautifully-written, gripping story of a dangerous future, woven through with mystery and heart. Narrated by another Gilmore Girls alum, the late, great Edward Herrmann. There are two subsequent books in this trilogy, which I only *wish* I could say they were as good as the first. Goodreads rating: 4. Excerpt:

“It was what you did, Wolgast understood; you started to tell a story about who you were, and soon enough the lies were all you had and you became that person.”

(8) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, narrated by Derek Perkins

In the tradition of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Dr. Harari presents the critical events that have shaped human history. Goodreads rating: 4.4. Excerpt:

“Ever since the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens have thus been living in a dual reality. On the one hand, the objective reality of rivers, trees and lions; and on the other hand, the imagined reality of gods, nations and corporations.”

(9) The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, narrated by Simon Vance (CDs only)

A mysterious disappearance, a complicated family, and two unlikely heroes who forge an even unlikelier bond. Again, these are some of my favourite books of all time. Sink into the story – told in Vance’s gentle Scottish brogue – as though into a comfortable sofa, and make yourself some coffee and a plate of ham sandwiches, because they are mentioned a lot, and it’s going to make you hungry.

It takes a little while to get to the meat of the first book, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Sadly, Stieg Larsson, a journalist, died under mysterious circumstances shortly after completing this trilogy, leaving behind a number of unpublished manuscripts. Goodreads rating: 4.5. Excerpt:

“She wondered why she, who had such difficulty talking about herself with people of flesh and blood, could blithely reveal her most intimate secrets to a bunch of completely unknown freaks on the Internet.”

Against Larsson’s estate’s wishes, a fourth book (The Girl in the Spider’s Web) was ghost-written, and surprised fans with its fidelity to the original writing style, as well as the characters and their underlying motivations.

(10) An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

Delve into the life, training, and missions of soft-spoken astronaut, Commander Chris Hadfield, who tells a series of entertaining and awe-inspiring stories containing a strong dose of practical wisdom. Goodreads rating: 4.1. Excerpt:

“Early success is a terrible teacher. You’re essentially being rewarded for a lack of preparation, so when you find yourself in a situation where you must prepare, you can’t do it. You don’t know how.”

Four Honourable Mentions (CDs only):

(1) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal

Goodreads rating: 3.9. Excerpt:

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

(2) Think Like a Freak by Stephens J. Dubner and D. Levitt, narrated by Dubner

Goodreads rating: 3.8. Excerpt:

“Solving a problem is hard enough; it gets that much harder if you’ve decided beforehand it can’t be done.”

(3) Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, narrated by Noah

Goodreads rating: 4.6. Excerpt:

“We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.”

(4) The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, narrated by James Marsters (Spike from Buffy)

Goodreads rating: 4.8. Excerpt:

“Most of the bad guys in the real world don’t know that they are bad guys. You don’t get a flashing warning sign that you’re about to damn yourself. It sneaks up on you when you aren’t looking.”

What are some of your favourite audiobooks, or audiobooks you’ve been meaning to listen to? Which ones should I include in part II of the wishlist? Tweet at me (@acnotesblog), find me on Facebook, or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

Happy listening!

P.S. Song of the day: Planetary by Blair (ft. Argonaut & Wasp)

If you like Planetary, please consider helping to support Acoustic Notes by getting it here.

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Bonus post: top 10 favourite books featuring music

There’s a case to be made both for and against the inclusion of pop-culture references in writing.

It can add richness and depth to the tapestry: it is not the story, but forms a kind of living background that evokes the cultural atmosphere of a certain place or time (e.g. the short-lived but wonderfully nostalgic ’90s-style tv series, Hindsight).

But purposefully leaving such references out can equally bring the narrative to the forefront, or place the story in what has been called “an eternal present day”.

I’ve read books that do both, and either can triumph in capable hands. Here – ranging from the fun to the deeply literary, in no particular order – are my top 10, all-time favourite books featuring music, if you’d like to see.

If you haven’t heard of some of these, you are probably a wise old recluse meditating (and playing guitar) in a mountaintop cave, but they are so good I’m happy to keep recommending them. If your literary tastes are anything like mine, you won’t be disappointed.

(1) The Humans by Matt Haig

Fiction, 4.06 stars on Goodreads, 2014 Edgar Award nominee. Although comedic, The Humans is woven through with the truth of human experience and behaviour; wisdom which presumably stems from the author’s own struggles with anxiety and depression. Without giving too much away, the protagonist – a literal outsider – makes quirky, often judgmental, observations about humanity, all the while failing to notice his own transformation into one of us (including developing a taste for rock music). Excerpt:

“Humans, as a rule, don’t like mad people unless they are good at painting, and only then once they are dead.”

(2) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Fiction, 4.31 stars on Goodreads, multiple awards. In a plausible dystopian future, an unlikely protagonist embarks on an epic quest for the digital era. I am tempted to call this the Ender’s Game of our generation. Never has a novel contained so many pop-culture references to the ’80s, and, I suspect, never will a kid of the ’80s enjoy a novel more. An official mix-tape (created by the author) is even available on Spotify to accompany your reading. Ready Player One is filled with the same truth and struggle/beauty we all experience in our own teenage years, and I highly recommend it for anyone who self-identifies as a teenager/geek/gamer/loner (although – while it pains me to say it – not so much Cline’s derivative second novel, Armada). Excerpt:

“I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world. I didn’t know how to connect with the people there. I was afraid, for all of my life, right up until I knew it was ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.”

Audiobook version narrated by Wil Wheaton.

(3) The Martian by Andy Weir

Fiction, 4.39 stars on Goodreads, multiple awards. My favourite kind of science fiction: hard. The most likable protagonist you’ll ever meet (Mark) is stranded and must survive on Mars, using only his skills and a meagre selection of items originally intended for a much shorter mission. The worst part? Having only ’70s disco classics (which now form the basis of the soundtrack to the excellent movie adaptation) to listen to. Knowing that The Martian has been referred to as ‘competency porn’ goes a long way to describing the feel of this novel. You’ll root for Mark, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and ultimately you will be humbled by – and more human for – having read it. Excerpt:

“Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.”

(4) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Fiction, 4.01 stars on Goodreads, multiple awards. The protagonist travels a post-apocalyptic country with a nomadic group of performers called the Travelling Symphony. Like falling into sleep and dreams, this book is slow to captivate. But, once you’ve submerged, it is charming, deeply affecting, and darkly chilling without straying into creepy. You’ll wish the graphic novel that occasionally features in the story were real, and indeed there are whispers that this may be in the works. Excerpts:

“Survival is insufficient.” (originally from Star Trek)

“Dr. Eleven: What was it like for you, at the end?
Captain Lonagan: It was exactly like waking up from a dream.”

(5) The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Nifenegger

Fiction, 3.94 stars on Goodreads, multiple awards. I picked up this book while I was an undergraduate student, and it was the most original premise I had seen in a while. I remember the period of time while I was reading it fondly and a bit blurrily, like it was real but not real. I would take it to class, dipping in both before and after, and lived for the quiet nights when I could curl up with it and a warm cup of cocoa. I have re-read it many times since. The story will wrap you in a cozy blanket, and you will be mesmerised by the glittering, struggling, triumphant characters. There is an unfortunately long stretch in the third act dealing with miscarriage, which I think doesn’t *quite* gel with the rest of the book’s transcendent atmosphere, but that doesn’t make it any less worth reading.

Nifenegger has a background in punk music, and it shows. TTTW is *packed* with music, art, history, philosophy, and mythical references. For example, just some of the music mentioned includes: Aretha Franklin, Van Halen, The Sex Pistols, The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, The Doors, The Clash, The Ramones, etc. Excerpt:

“Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element.”

If you read it and are hoping for more, Nifenegger is currently writing a sequel which should become available in 2018.

(6) The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Fiction, 3.9 stars on Goodreads, multiple awards. Literally and figuratively stuck in a (another) post-apocalyptic setting, the protagonist (Hig) fights for physical and psychological survival. Set in his ways, he must overcome his own inertia to go on a suicide mission in search of a kind of redemption. The unusual language used by Hig takes some getting used to, but soon goes unnoticed as events unfold. I almost put it down at first, but I’m so glad I persevered. One reviewer compares it to Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, and notes that it contains “the best explanation of blues music I have ever heard”. Excerpt:

“What I can play is blues. She was never that into blues. I can salve with Lightning and Cotton, BB and Clapton and Stevie Ray. I can blast Son Seals singing Dear Son until the coyotes in the creek raise up a sympathetic sky ripping interpretation of the harmonica solo. Piercing howls and yelps. Sounds like it’s killing them and also like they love it. Which when you get right down to it is the blues.”

Audiobook narrated by Mark Deakins (from The Devil’s Advocate and Star Trek: Insurrection).

Heller’s follow-up work, The Painter (not a sequel), features a similar language barrier, but is so subtle and lyrically beautiful that you will want to read it anyway. And that would be an excellent decision.

(7) A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Fiction, 4.26 stars on Goodreads, numerous awards. Not an emotionally easy read, but one whose wonder and beauty (rather than its pain) will continue to haunt you long after the last page. In a literary podcast episode, one of the hosts related an anecdote about hearing a story and thinking “I must tell Jude about this”, and then realising that Jude is in fact not real but a fictional character in this book. That sums up just how perfectly these characters are crafted, and how much in love with all of them – even (maybe especially) the broken ones – you will fall. I read it kind of desperately, looking for resolutions, which are hard to come by. On reflection, however, I think this is more of a the-journey-is-the-resolution sort of story, and couldn’t be any better than it already is.

I’m including A Little Life in the list because of its conspicuous lack of references to ephemeral pop culture or even notable historical occurrences, and as an example of when this works. Interestingly, it was art that inspired and shaped the writing of A Little Life. Read Vulture’s great coverage of Hanya Yanagihara’s process here.  Excerpt:

“You won’t understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are—not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving—and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad—or good—it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.”

(8) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Fiction, 3.86 stars on Goodreads, numerous awards (including the 2014 Pulitzer for fiction). A single event in our young protagonist’s life sets him on an unusual course. An obvious theme in this book is the transcendent nature of art, and the paradoxical dark underworlds which sometimes go hand-in-hand with such industries. Some of the story focuses on things well made – echoed in the finely-crafted prose – and some on things unmade and remade. Fate, but fate not necessarily set in stone. And there are oblique references to the healing qualities of music (e.g. the quiet and beautiful Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt). Excerpt:

“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.”

Audiobook version narrated by David Pittu (from Men in Black 3).

If you’re looking for more, Tartt’s ‘The Secret History‘ is also phenomenal (unfortunately I can’t say the same for ‘The Little Friend’, although many readers love it). The kind folks over at Flavorwire have imagined what kind of mix-tape the protagonist of The Secret History may have listened to (unfortunately the grooveshark link no longer works, but you can track down the songs individually). The next book on the list also enjoys parallels with Tartt’s work.

(9) I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

Fiction, 4.16 stars on Goodreads, 2000 Audi award for fiction. A powerful story about twin brothers: one with schizophrenia (in an age where schizophrenia is badly misunderstood) and one without. The latter tries desperately to make sense of a fractured life, while the former is gripped by chaotic senselessness. Again, not an emotionally frictionless read, but another one positively steeped in philosophical, historical, and pop-culture references (including, among others, The Beatles, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Elvis, The Monster Mash, Michael Bloton, The Monkees, and Eric Clapton). While I loved this book, I did not enjoy one of Lamb’s other titles: ‘She’s Come Undone’ (which induces the same uncomfortable, oppressive-heat stupor as Tartt’s ‘The Little Friend). Excerpt:

“I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family’s, and my country’s past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things. This much, at least, I’ve figured out. I know this much is true.”

Audiobook version narrated by Ken Howard.

(10) High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (of course)

Fiction, 3.94 stars on Goodreads, . I cannot overstate how much I love this book; one of the few with a worthwhile movie adaptation (number 2 on my list of favourite movie-related movies, where I have already described the plot). Excerpt:

“People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands – literally thousands – of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss.”

Audiobook version narrated (unfortunately not by John Cusack but by) Russel Tovey (from Being Human).

What are *your* favourite books featuring music? Tweet at me (@acnotesblog) or let me know in the comments section!

For those of you who prefer to do your reading auditorily rather than visually, Acoustic Notes readers get two free audiobooks when they sign up for an Audible.com 30-day free trial.

For now, happy playing (and reading/listening)!

P.S. Song of the Day: Fade Into You by Mazzy Star

If you like Fade Into You, please consider supporting Acoustic Notes by getting it here.

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Christmas Wishlist: Music in Books

I may love music. But I also love books.

You’d be tempted to put ‘information’ in the Venn diagram overlap between those two circles, and while that is true, it’s also more than that. Songs and books don’t only store and transmit information: they store and transmit mindsets and physiological states.

You can listen to a song or read a book and leave your own life to inhabit someone else’s for a while. Or they can help you make sense of your own experiences, and realise the universality of many of the most poignant human experiences.

Music-related books combine the magic of both. Here are the top ten on my Christmas wishlist, if you’d like to see:

(1) Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

Memoir, 4.09 stars on Goodreads, NYT best-seller. Excerpt:

“‘Like a Rolling Stone’ gave me the faith that a true, unaltered, uncompromised vision could be broadcast to millions, changing minds, enlivening spirits, bringing red blood to the anemic American pop landscape and delivering a warning, a challenge that could become an essential part of the American conversation. This was music that could both stir the heart of your fellow countrymen and awaken the mind of a shy, lost fifteen-year-old in a small New Jersey town.”

Audiobook version narrated by Springsteen himself.

(2) Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

Memoir, 4.04 stars on Goodreads, NYT best-seller. Excerpt:

“It’s like, it’s like I have a different heart. The other girls have one kind of heart, and I have a different kind. My mom was understandably confused. “Are you saying they’re mean?” “No . . . I don’t know.” Saying other kids were mean felt like I was saying I was more kind, which definitely wasn’t it – more anxious maybe, more sensitive. I guess all I was feeling was that I was different. Sometimes I’ll be at work or a party and get that same feeling. I am not like these people. I don’t know what I’m doing here. And it comforts me to know that I felt that way as a child, too.”

Audiobook version narrated by Kendrick herself.

(3) How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt

Non-fiction, 4.2 stars on Goodreads. Story of the mp3, Napster, the inevitable rise of music piracy, and how the music industry has responded. This New Yorker article does a good job of describing it. Excerpts:

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Adar asked Brandenburg after their first meeting. “You’ve killed the music industry!”

“Most listeners didn’t care about quality, and the obsession with perfect sound forever was an early indicator that the music industry didn’t understand its customers.”

Audiobook version narrated by Witt himself.

(4) The Commitments by Booker Prize-winning Roddy Doyle

Fiction, 3.95 stars on Goodreads. The first in a highly-profane but ultimately good-hearted trilogy, The Commitments follows the aspirations, trials, and tribulations of working class Irish kids who form a band. It was made into a 1991 movie, which has the unique distinction of often being recommended as something to watch before reading the book. Excerpt:

“Well, I saw everyone else lining up, so I thought you were selling drugs.”

(5) The Fortress of Solitude by MacArthur recipient Jonathan Lethem

Fiction, 3.87 stars on Goodreads, NYT best-seller, winner of multiple literary awards. A cross-racial friendship in New York, set against a backdrop of 70s music. Disclaimer: this one is very polarising. It seems people either really love it, or really hate it. Excerpt:

“You could grow up in the city where history was made and still miss it all.”

(6) This is Your Brain on Music by neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin

Non-fiction, 3.86 stars on Goodreads. The author was, improbably and prior to his academic life, a musician, sound engineer, and record producer, and his interest in how we experience music translated to this book. Excerpt:

“When they find out what I do for a living, many people tell me they love music listening, but their music lessons ‘didn’t take.’ I think they’re being too hard on themselves. The chasm between musical experts and everyday musicians that has grown so wide in our culture makes people feel discouraged, and for some reason this is uniquely so with music. Even though most of us can’t play basketball like Shaquille O’Neal, or cook like Julia Child, we can still enjoy playing a friendly backyard game of hoops, or cooking a holiday meal for our friends and family. Even just a small exposure to music lessons as a child creates neural circuits for music processing that are enhanced and more efficient than for those who lack training.”

Audiobook version narrated by the late Edward Herrmann (the grandfather on Gilmore Girls).

(7) Love is a Mix Tape by music critic and Rolling Stone editor Rob Sheffield

Memoir, 3.83 stars on Goodreads. An account of the author’s marriage, expertly crafted around 15 mix-tapes. Excerpt:

“The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with — nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they can add up to the story of a life.”

Audiobook version narrated by Sheffield himself.

If you want more, the follow-up (Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke) picks up where the “Love is a Mix Tape” story leaves off.

(8) The Rest is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century  by Alex Ross

Non-fiction, 4.08 stars on Goodreads, winner of multiple awards. Provides an accessible keyhole into the intimidating labyrinth of 20th century music. Despite its heft, it tapped into some sort of zeitgeist of the times, with the author even appearing on The Colbert Report. Excerpt:

“Salome went on to be performed in some twenty-five different cities. The triumph was so complete that Strauss could afford to laugh off criticism from Kaiser Wilhelm II. “I am sorry that Strauss composed this Salome,” the Kaiser reportedly said. “Normally I’m very keen on him, but this is going to do him a lot of damage.” Strauss would relate this story and add with a flourish: “Thanks to that damage I was able to build my villa in Garmisch!””

(9) Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks

Non-fiction, 3.87 stars on Goodreads. From an author who needs no introduction, a book that describes the place of music in our psychology and the human condition. Excerpt:

“Every act of perception, is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.”

(10) Out of the Vinyl Deeps by Ellen Willis

Non-fiction, 3.95 stars on Goodreads. A series of essays by the late author, the rock column writer for The New Yorker for seven years spanning the 70s and 80s. Hired “on the strength of a single spectacular essay she’d written about Bob Dylan”, she was a female pioneer in male-dominated industry. Excerpt:

“The nightmares are chimerical; there is a continuing self, the Bobby Dylan friends describe as shy and defensive, hyped up, careless of his health, a bit scared by fame, unmaterialistic but shrewd about money, a professional absorbed in his craft. Dylan’s songs bear the stigmata of an authentic middle-class adolescence; his eye for detail, sense of humor, and skill at evoking the archetypal sexual skirmishes show that some part of him is of as well as in the world. As further evidence, he has a wife, son, and house in Woodstock, New York. Instead of an image, Dylan has created a magic theater in which the public gets lost willy-nilly.”

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Tweet at me (@acnotesblog) or let me know in the comments section!

For those of you who prefer to do your reading auditorily rather than visually, Acoustic Notes readers get two free audiobooks when they sign up for an Audible.com 30-day free trial.

While most of the books on my wishlist this year are non-fiction, there are obviously also some *excellent* fiction books heavily featuring/influenced by a love of music. If you haven’t completely lost interest after reading all of the above, you can catch some of my favourites (however tenuously linked to music) in the next post.

For now, happy playing (guitar and audiobooks)!

P.S. Song of the day: Break Me Out by The Rescues

If you like Break Me Out, please consider supporting Acoustic Notes by getting it here.

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