Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A Book Where Music Plays an Integral Part of the Storyline

I would count The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher to fulfill this prompt. Song lyrics are repeated throughout the book. They provide opportunities for irony, sarcasm, and some humor.

I have intended to read Brendan Slocumb's The Violin Conspiracy for what seems like forever! This is perfect motivation!

I can recommend:
La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Listopia is HERE

I'm reading We Sold Our Souls

I laughed my way through Catherynne Valente's Space Opera (sorta like Eurovision in space), so this seems like the perfect time to read the sequel, Space Oddity

The Ensemble

The absolute first one that springs to mind for me is Moon Over Soho, the second in the Rivers of London series, which I love!

Queen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track and books like it were the first that came into my head for this prompt.

In keeping with my personal theme for 2025 I will be reading Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage by Tori Amos.

Reading The Gustav Sonata for this one.

I read Ballad for Sophie this year, and I really think it is the perfect choice for this prompt

If someone is up for manga, then definitely ギヴン 1 Given 1 :)

Ashley Poston's next book revolves around a songwriter so I'll likely use Sounds Like Love for this.

I have a bunch on my TBR about songwriters and/or bands:

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics
Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music That Made a Nation
Garth Brooks: The Anthology
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Road Trip
Boys in the Trees
Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story

I've read and recommend:
Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful
My Misadventures as a Teenage Rock Star
Melody by V.C. Andrews - she has several series with musicians in them

Thanks for the list, Tania! I've got Volume 4 of the Garth Anthology series coming my way this month, so this prompt is covered.

Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound by Daphne A. Brooks - the Yale prof in the news for "teaching" Beyonce... Book looks good.

Mr Beethoven by Paul Griffiths - alternate history, Beethoven travels to Boston.

All the World's Mornings by Pascal Quignard - Baroque era France and the viola da gamba - "In seventeenth century France an ambitious young man seeks instruction from a reclusive musical genius, and attracts the attentions of his new teacher's two daughters" -- a personal favorite.

Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks " Dub reggae set amid the Jamaican diaspora in London at the dawn of 1980s".

Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann - a deal with the D-vil.

A Musical Offering by Luis Sagasti - Bach creates the Goldberg Variations.

Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove

I asked in the Popsugar Facebook group about The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, asking what prompts it might fit and one suggestion was for the music prompt so that’s what I’m using.

Excited for this one. Been getting into music books a lot these days (memoirs, psychology). But there's one book I'd been seeing for the past year and a half give or take.

Finally found a paperback of it: 60 Songs That Explain the '90s

I'm a 90s kid (sort of. Born end of 80s, raised in the 90s. it's confusing) so I grew up on a lot of the good music back in the day that I still listen to. At the beginning of each chapter there's a list of the songs discussed and I've already highlighted a lot that I listen to. I can't wait to dive into this.

Metallica All the Songs and Prince: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track are both currently on sale in ebook form, so I will probably use one of those for this prompt. There's a Beatles one out there, too.

I feel like The Phantom of the Opera would work for this prompt.

I'm not the biggest Maiden fan, but I can sing along to some of their older stuff, and Bruce Dickinson seems like a really interesting guy, and his book What Does This Button Do?: An Autobiography gets good reviews, so I am pencilling that in.

Waiting for Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley and can't wait to dive in.

Interested in seeing the new Bob Dylan biopic this Christmas - have source material from Suze Rotolo - A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties - I believe it would work with this prompt.

I think Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir would work for this.

Laura Ruth wrote: "I laughed my way through Catherynne Valente's Space Opera (sorta like Eurovision in space), so this seems like the perfect time to read the sequel, Space Oddity"

I'm planning to reread Space Opera because I remember taking notes (which I still have in my nightstand) to keep all the species & characters straight. I'm thinking Space Oddity will work for #35 (LGBTQ+, not about coming out).

Just bought two books about the music scene in LA and have several story behind the song type books. I’ll read one when the mood strikes

I'm currently reading Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution, and I wish I'd waited since it fits this category like a glove.

I was surprised by how many choices I already have for this one.

Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time
On Bowie
Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love & Karaoke
Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap
How to Build a Girl

Some I've read, but haven't seen mentioned are:
Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Signal to Noise
High Fidelity
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

I will be reading Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid


HAPPY READING!!

Finished my book for this prompt:


60 Songs That Explain the '90s

Rating: 4 stars

Review: As a millennial this book was so fun. I loved the nostalgia. There was a lot of songs/artists I grew up listening to in the 90s/00s, so this book was excellent if you want to take a trip down the nostalgia rabbit hole.

It really got me thinking about my own journey with music and how it's played a critical role in my life. I found myself thinking about my memories with music, I found myself remembering when I first heard the songs that were mentioned in the book.

For those who enjoyed last year's K-Pop prompt, particularly if you read and liked XOXO, I can also recommend Lily Chu's The Comeback. Fun closed-door romance about a woman who ends up dating a K-pop band member.

I will read The Violin Conspiracy or Every Note Played

Even though I have already completed the prompt, I do have a book recommendation anyway:


Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist

I've heard positive things about this book and given how much I listen to Spotify, it certainly had me curious.

Finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read From Here to the Great Unknown.

I recommend Gertrude by Hermann Hesse

I am reading Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday. The blurb reads, "Lady Sings the Blues is the inimitable autobiography of one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century. Born to a single mother in 1915 Baltimore, Billie Holiday had her first run-in with the law at aged 13. But Billie Holiday is no victim. Her memoir tells the story of her life spent in jazz, smoky Harlem clubs and packed-out concert halls, her love affairs, her wildly creative friends, her struggles with addiction and her adventures in love. Billie Holiday is a wise and aphoristic guide to the story of her unforgettable life." I like listening to Billie Holiday, one of my favourite songs is Strange Fruit.

I was looking through the list of suggestions, because the book I was going to use didn't work out, and I saw Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, which I had read a couple of months ago. That's the book I'm going to use.