Staff Picks: Make it Musical!
by emjane
Whether you’re interested in the science of music or just want to hear a good story about a fictional band, we’ve got you covered! Here are four titles I’ve enjoyed where music takes center stage (or maybe side-stage, but it’s still there!)
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Request Now
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books are having a surge in popularity – deservedly so, in my opinion. Like her other titles, Daisy Jones uses multiple characters’ perspectives to tell the story of the development of a successful rock band in the 1960s. Beautiful Daisy has been sneaking into rock clubs and partying since she was a young teen and eventually starts to get noticed for her remarkable voice. Meanwhile, Billy Dunne’s band, The Six, is making its way through the rock scene. Eventually, producers try to merge the two acts, and while something fantastic is created, it's marred by ego-driven drama. Sound suspiciously like the plot to The Final Revival of Opal and Nev that I recommended a few weeks ago? The premises and executions are definitely SIMILAR, but both take their stories in different directions and provide their own unique read. I inadvertently read them one after the other, and while I might suggest spacing them a bit, it didn’t feel like reading the same book.
Musicophila: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks | Request Now
Psychologist Oliver Sacks had a real knack for writing about the science of our minds in a way that’s accessible even to those who have no science background (like me!) In Musicophilia, Sacks shares some of the more unusual conditions related to the relationship between the brain and music, with a myriad of patients’ experiences to serve as examples. This is an easy book to dip in and out of – pick the chapters that interest you and feel free to skip around. Though no science background is necessary, having some basic knowledge of music terms and theory definitely enhances the read.
Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia | Request Now
Siblings Rabbit and Alice head to the atmospheric Bellweather Hotel for an annual high school music conference to perform with the orchestra and chorus respectively. Introspective Rabbit finds himself navigating an eccentric (and kind of mean?!) orchestra director and a reckoning with his own identity – all without the support of Alice, as he can’t seem to track her down and hold her attention! Why? Brassy Alice has a mystery to solve: one where the stakes are life or death. Alice’s conference roommate Jill mysteriously disappears early into the weekend—in a method mirroring a tragic death in the hotel’s past. Concerned for Jill’s safety, and frustrated that none of the adults are taking the situation seriously, Alice takes on the search herself.
Y’all, I absolutely loved this book. Both the teen and adult characters are relatable and real, even if the situations they encounter aren’t of the everyday variety. There are lots of quiet references to The Shining and whodunnits, but they are handled in way that “when you get it, you get it,” but when you don’t, you don’t even realize a reference was being made. Bellweather won the ALA Alex Award, which is awarded to titles written for adult that have appeal for teen readers, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to both adults and teens.
You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse, and my misadventures with two of music’s most maligned tribes by Nathan Rabin | Request Now
Entertainment journalist Nathan Rabin goes deep into the intense, and often maligned, subcultures of fans of the jam band Phish and fans of the horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse. As Rabin points out, both groups are often used as punchlines, but the deep sense of community among the fans is not to be ignored. Rabin seeks this community by imbedding himself in both fanbases and finds himself changed by both. This book is not for the faint of heart. There is a LOT of drug use, a LOT of swearing, and a lot of “Really, Nathan, this is the decision you’re making?” But if reading those details of Rabin’s experience won’t bother you, You Don’t Know Me is a fascinating and world-broadening look into two groups I would never join, but will never judge the same way again.
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