Here’s your ultimate reading list for the finest music-related memoirs, history books, and critical works of the year.
Mo' Meta Blues by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Ben Greenman
Questlove's memoir is basically like listening to the world's smartest, coolest music nerd hold court for hours on end. He fills you in on his backstory, but he's so deep into music that pretty much every moment in his life is connected to an insight into the music of the moment, or his experiences with some of the greatest musicians of the past three decades. You need this book if just to read his hilarious anecdote about going ice skating with Prince.
Autobiography by Morrissey
Autobiography is exactly what you'd want from a Morrissey memoir — page after page of florid language, pithy wit, and merciless bile directed at pretty much everyone who has ever wronged him. The best surprise of the book is realizing how much love and respect he has for the musicianship of his former bandmates in The Smiths. The same cannot be said for Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis, who he slags at every opportunity, to the point that it seems like a running joke.
