Since all festivals, concerts, and radio show meet and greets have been canceled, why not take a break from the pandemic blues with a good book. Sounds lame, completely understand but if you are trying to get back into reading we have a few to get you back into the groove. All links are connected to Bookshop, Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. So if you want a good book to listen to/read or just book with kick-ass photography, you’ll be HELPING independent bookstores.

• I Am China Xiaolu Guo

  London translator Iona Kirkpatrick is at work on a new project: a collection of letters and diaries by a Chinese punk guitarist named Kublai Jian. As she translates the handwritten pages, a story of romance and revolution emerges between Jian, who believes there is no art without political commitment, and Mu, a poet whom he loves as fiercely as his ideals.

  Iona cannot know that Jian has come to Britain seeking political asylum and is mere miles away in Dover, awaiting news of his fate. Mu is in Beijing, writing letters to London, feverishly trying to track Jian down. As Iona charts the course of their twenty-year relationship from its beginnings at Beijing University to Jian's defiant march in the Jasmine Revolution, her empty life takes on an urgent purpose: to bring Jian and Mu together again before it's too late.

• The Happy Ever After Playlist Abby Jimenez

  Two years after losing her fiance , Sloan Monroe still can't seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a "take me home" look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker's owner reaches out. He's a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.

  Well, Sloan's not about to give up her dog without a fight. But what if this Jason guy really loves Tucker? As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can't deny a connection. Jason is hot and nice and funny. There's no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?

• On The Come Up Angie Thomas

  Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill.

  But it's hard to get you to come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral . . . for all the wrong reasons.

  Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it--she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

• Supermarket Bobby Hall (Logic)

  Flynn is stuck—depressed, recently dumped, and living at his mom’s house. The supermarket was supposed to change all that. An ordinary job and a steady check. Work isn’t working when it’s saving you from yourself. But things aren’t quite as they seem in these aisles. Arriving to work one day to a crime scene, Flynn’s world collapses as the secrets of his tortured mind are revealed. And Flynn doesn’t want to go looking for answers at the supermarket. Because something there seems to be looking for him.

• Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkin Reid

  One of my favorites of this year. Recommend listening to the Audiobook version. The entire cast performing each of the band members and mangers really makes you feel like you are listening to a VH1 Behind the Scenes episode. Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

  Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock 'n' roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

• Break Shot: First 20 years Jame Taylor (Audible Exclusive)

   "I’m James Taylor and I’m a professional autobiographer", says the celebrated folk singer at the start of this tender audio memoir. Through decades of music by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, who created classics like "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in My Mind", James Taylor has doled out his history in the poetry of his work. Taylor says his early life is, "the source of many of my songs", and Break Shot is a tour of his first 21 years in rich, new detail. Praised by Forbes magazine as going "beyond the spoken word", Break Shot combines storytelling, music and performance to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience. Longtime fans will savor a crop of musical gems, including an unreleased recording of the beloved hymn "Jerusalem", selections from his newest release American Standard, as well as new original scoring by Taylor specially recorded for Break Shot and more from the Grammy Award-winning artist.

• Acid for Children Flea

  This book is currently not available yet but we can not wait to get our hands on it as it is about the co-founder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New York City suburbs to, finally, Los Angeles. Through hilarious anecdotes, poetical meditations, and occasional flights of fantasy, Flea deftly chronicles the experiences that forged him as an artist, a musician, and a young man. His dreamy, jazz-inflected prose makes the Los Angeles of the 1970s and 80s come to gritty, glorious life, including the potential for fun, danger, mayhem, or inspiration that lurked around every corner. It is here that young Flea, looking to escape a turbulent home, found family in a community of musicians, artists, and junkies who also lived on the fringe. He spent most of his time partying and committing petty crimes. But it was in music where he found a higher meaning, a place to channel his frustration, loneliness, and love. This left him open to the life-changing moment when he and his best friends, soul brothers, and partners-in-mischief came up with the idea to start their own band, which became the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

• High School Sara & Tegan Quinn

  High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, who grew up at the height of grunge and rave culture in the nineties, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. While grappling with their identity and sexuality, often alone, they also faced academic meltdown, their parents' divorce, and the looming pressure of what might come after high school. Written in alternating chapters from both Tegan's and Sara's points of view, the book is a raw account of the drugs, alcohol, love, music, and friendship they explored in their formative years.

• Beastie Boys Spike Jones

  Calling all music photographer fans, If you have seen Apple + documentary of the Beasties Boys, you should really check out this book. It’s the first book of photography to be published by the Academy Award-winning film director and photographer Spike Jonze. Will appeal to every fan of Beastie Boys and golden-era hip hop, as well as photography and Spike Jonze's own focused audiences.

• Glastonbury 50 Ray Davies

  We need another coffee table book and so do you and the 50th anniversary of the Glastonbury music festival is a perfect table read. From its humble beginnings, Glastonbury has grown into one of today's biggest global events, with the world's most famous acts and tickets selling out within minutes. 50 Years of Glastonbury celebrates the music, mud, and mayhem that have made the festival so popular, for fans and artists alike. Packed with incredible photographs and stories of the acts and attendees, this is a must-read for music fans everywhere.

If you have read any of these, what did you think of them? What did we miss? We would love to know in the comments below or on our social.

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