Are You Ready to Rock?! Here Are 6 Amazing Music Novels

There is no subgenre of novel I love more than books about music. And I just finished what will likely wind up as one my all-time favorites. Deep Cuts, by Holly Brickley, is a novel about collaboration and inspiration, about jealousy and love, and, simply put, making great art. It's stunning to me that this is a debut novel, but it's the best thing I've read so far this year.

Brickley's novel got me thinking about some of my all-time favorite books in this subgenre. Here are six:

The Song Is You, by Arthur Phillips -- This is a bit of a deep cut itself, but I deeply love this book about a sad, mid-40s divorced man and a beautiful Irish singer who sort of fall in love with each other through their mutual love of music, though without ever meeting in person. Brickley's novel reminded me a lot of this book in terms of how the characters sort of flit in and out of each other's lives and speak to each other through various non-in-person channels. This novel came out in 2009 and was one of the inspirations for actually starting to write about books in some sort of formal way -- and lo and behold The New Dork Review of Books was born. One note about this book, if you decide to pick it up: Almost everyone else who has read it has HATED it. I'm definitely in the minority of people who really liked it.

Lo Fi, by Liz Riggs -- Another debut, this one set in Nashville, about an aspiring songwriter navigating love and life as she tries to find her voice as a musician. Riggs writes with a phenomenal sense of place here, and even if you've never been to a sweaty Nashville club, this novel is a great facsimile. 

Charm City Rocks, by Matthew Norman -- It's not a coincidence that so many novels about music are also love stories, and this one is too. An affable middle-aged dude who harbors a crush for a drummer in an all-female band takes a chance (well, sort of) and contacts her. Will they or won't they? A charming romcom with music at its heart, I loved this book!

Mary Jane, by Jessica Anya Blau -- This coming-of-age story gives big-time Almost Famous vibes. It's about a teenaged girl who spends a summer at the beach as a nanny and meets a famous rockstar who is trying to get clean. Mary Jane begins to realize her so-far sheltered life is not how the world really is. 

Gone to the Wolves, by John Wray -- People are always a little surprised when they find out I love heavy metal. But I do, and I loved this book about a group of teenagers in the 1980s who become obsessed with black metal. The novel is based on a real-life events about the tragic black metal band Havoc. If you know even a little bit of their bonkers story, you'll love this book. There's some great 80s metal references throughout, as well. The characters all sit around and listen to "...and Justice For All" when it for comes out. And at one point in the novel, they're at a glam-rock party in Los Angeles, and one of the characters muses about how if someone just took a look around and laughed, the whole scene would collapse under the weight of its own ridiculousness. It's funny because it's true. 

Daisy Jones & the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid -- Though the hipster characters in Holly Brickey's novel would probably not enjoy this obvious choice, Reid's novel (along with High Fidelity) are the two main comps for Deep Cuts. 

A Couple of Bright Bookish Things in Otherwise Dark Times

In January 2017 when the Orange Thing began his first term of catastrophic assault on human decency, good governance, and basic common sense, I had the most productive reading month of my life -- 12 books in those 31 days. That certainly wasn't a coincidence. Nor is it this time, when I've been almost maniacally productive in January in terms of reading, writing here, and writing generally. Keeping yourself busy with things you love is absolutely crucial in times of gathering darkness. And, friends? Things are bleak. Anyway...sorry not sorry for the speech. Hugs to everyone. 

Here are two fun things I worked on in January, both of which were actually published this week.

I got to interview Nickolas Butler for the Chicago Review of Books --  I've loved Butler's work since I read his debut Shotgun Lovesongs in 2014. We've met in person a few times since (he did a reading at RoscoeBooks a couple years ago), and he's an absolutely delightful person. 

His new novel, A Forty-Year Kiss, is out today! It's a sweet, heartwarming story about second chances in life and love. PLEASE BUY IT -- the hardcover is a truly beautiful physical object, complete with variegated sprayed edges and colored inset pages. It feels like a collector's edition! 

We actually did the interview on Zoom (as opposed to over email) and it was so much fun getting to talk with him. I think I even annoyed him at one point, asking him if his new novel could've taken place anywhere but in the Midwest. 😂 I think he's tired of being asked that about his books. But he's such a kind human, he wouldn't overtly show annoyance. If you've liked his other novels, you'll love this one too. And if he's a new-to-you writer, I urge you to take a chance on him and give him a read. 

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I'm on a new episode of the Chicago Writers Podcast -- I once again got to join host Dan Finnen and now-cohost and editor-in-chief of the Chicago Review of Books, Michael Welch, as well as CHIRB managing director Rachel Leon to talk about books. The angles this time were a short review of our favorite books of 2024, and then a longer discussion of our most anticipated 2025 books. (Spoiler: A Forty-Year Kiss was one of my picks. Everything is connected.) I also talked a little bit about Emily Henry, which I guess you'll have to listen to believe. 

Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor: Stories are Like Gods

The hardcover edition of Nnedi Okorafor's new exhilaratingly original novel, Death of the Author, includes a tagline at the top that says "The future of storytelling is here." I'd already been planning to read this book after reading a great review in the Chicago Review of Books, but the first time I saw that tagline, I thought, "hmm, okay, so some publishing marketing person has gotten a little out of their skis here. But fine." Turns out that line is a really funny and terrifically clever inside joke which you only get when you to the very end of this book. 

And read this book, you should! It's as inventive and fun as storytelling gets. It's really three stories in one. We have the main story about Zelu, at rock bottom of her writing career and fired from her adjunct professor job, who then pens a majestically successful sci-fi novel titled Rusted Robots. The second story is the text of Rusted Robots itself. And the third includes interviews with friends and family of Zelu giving important context to Zelu's life and career.

Regarding that last part, one of the themes of this novel is how we should rise above expectations or even limitations imposed upon us by family and friends who may think they have our best interest at heart, but maybe don't. Zelu's ever increasingly "crazy" ideas (though they don't seem to crazy to her), like volunteering for an MIT engineer's experiment to fit her crippled legs with exoskeletons so she can walk again, grate on her family who think she's just doing things, like writing bestselling novels, for attention. But this is her life! These are her decisions, and no one else's! 

All the while, we get segments of Rusted Robots, a story about a post-human apocalyptic class of robots called Humes who are in a war of survival with a cadre of sentient AIs called Ghosts. Except an unexpected thing happens: A Hume named Ankara falls in love or at least like or maybe just a symbiotic relationship with an AI name Ijele. Expectations subverted again!

Of course, telling a story with another story (soooo meta) isn't itself original. But how all three pieces of this novel converse with each really is so smart. Yes, it's a novel (that subverts expectations) about subverting expectations, but it's also about the origins of stories and the power of storytelling, which I'm always here for. A few quotes from the novel: 

"Stories contain our existence; they are like gods. And the fact that we create them from living, experiencing, listening, thinking, feeling, giving — they remind me what’s great about being alive."

And, cogent perhaps to today's moment: "What better time to listen to a story than when the world is about to end?" 

I'd been looking for an onramp to read Okorafor for a while. She's a hugely popular writer with rabid fans. This is it! I highly recommend this as something to jolt you out of a reading slump or just if you need something new and different. 

Familiaris, by David Wroblewski: On Fate and Purpose and Lots and Lots of Dogs

Can I interest you in a thousand-page novel about dog breeders set on a farm in northern Wisconsin that's a prequel to a novel published 16 years ago? Wait, don't go! Let me explain! I promise it's really good!

So, in 2008, a novel titled The Story of Edgard Sawtelle by an unknown writer named David Wroblewski took the book world by storm. It landed on Oprah's Book Club list (when that was still a big deal), was lauded by critics (here's WaPo's Ron Charles's glowing review), and was beloved by readers (me, included). The story, a retelling of Hamlet, is about a mute boy named Edgar Sawtelle whose family breeds a special kind of super smart and train-able dog on their bucolic northwoods farm. 

Last June, Wroblewski gifted us with a prequel, Familiaris, about the origins of that farm and how the Sawtelle dogs came to be. When I found out this book was coming, I asked a lot of readers if they were as excited I was. And I was met with mostly blank stares. What was happening? Maybe I was misremembering Edgar Sawtelle's impact? 

Anyway...every year, around Christmas I have a tradition of trying to tackle one of the "big, important novels" I missed during the year. Familiaris definitely fit that bill. Besides with all that's happening now (gestures at the whole world), a big, lush, sink-in-able novel seemed like just the thing. 

At its root, Familiaris is a love story. The novel begins in 1919 with John Sawtelle (Edgar's grandfather) meeting and falling in love with Mary Svoboda. Through a series of events, the two find themselves on a farm in northern Wisconsin with one of John's childhood friends named Elbow, a disabled and grouchy war veteran named Frank, and a few others.

Life ebbs and flows. They building their lives on this farm. There's a long backstory about their friend Walter who runs the general store in town, and his harrowing escape from the Peshtigo fire in 1871. John and Mary have two boys named Claude and Gar. And they begin their dog-breeding operation, creating a one-of-a-kind breed known simply as the Sawtelle dog. 

Oh, and the dogs! The dogs! This isn't just John and Mary's love story. It's the story of how pure and wonderful dogs are, and yes, how we probably don't deserve dogs. There are Violet and Forte and Gus and Needles and Ocky and Jug and so many more dogs. The dogs are as fully realized as characters in this novel as the humans, and it's one of the many reasons I LOVED this novel. 

Of course you can't summarize 1,000 pages (okay, it's really just 979) of plot in a few-hundred word review. But I'll tell you this: Familiaris is the type of novel you pick up and lose all trace of time. You sink in and it may be hours before you realize you need to blink or pee or eat something. Wroblewski is THAT good of a storyteller. 

If you've read A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving, which is one of my favorite novels of all time, you'll understand that feeling. And the similarities between the two books don't stop at how immersive they both are. There are themes of fate and purpose in both books, of finding meaning and doing good. 

I know not everyone will be interested in this book, but I'm here to tell you, if it's been on your radar, and you've been tempted: Do it! It's such a rewarding, wonderful reading experience. This kind of book is why I love reading. I wish there were more books like it. 

Finally, here's a photo from 2010 when I wrote about some of my favorite books about dogs on the occasion of adopting this goofy little dog named Yoshi. Yoshman passed away in 2022, but we had 12 wonderful years with him. RIP, Yoshman.  

8 Really Great Recent Debut Novels You Should Read Now

I recently finished reading Eiren Caffall's debut novel All The Water In The World, a stunning, beautifully rendered climate novel that gives Station Eleven vibes. It's such an accomplished and profound debut (a few more thoughts here), and I'm always in awe of writers who are able to pull this off in a first book (a first published book, anyway). So I started thinking about other debut novels I've read and really loved recently. Here is a list of some of my favorites from the last several years.

 

Perris, California, by Rachel Stark -- At some point, I'll turn the page and stop talking about this fantastic, gritty 2024 debut. But today is not that day. I can't wait for the paperback to hit shelves March 25 so I can restart my campaign to get this book a wider readership! 

Nightcrawling, by Leila Mottley -- Brave. Simply no other way to describe this debut about a woman who is forced to turn to sex work to take care of her younger brother. Mottley was just 21 years old when this novel was published. Her follow-up novel -- The Girls Who Grew Big -- is due out June 24.

Groundskeeping, by Lee Cole -- This 2022 novel is an absolute wheelhouse book for me -- campus novel, love story, and examination of politics, class, and power. Lee Cole's follow up is also out this summer -- June 17. It's titled Fulfillment and it sounds in a similar vein to his debut -- "two half brothers navigating the complexities of class and privilege in the American South." Can't wait!

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil, by Ananda Lima -- You may have heard me mention this book once or twice in this space as well. It's still mind-blowing to me how this novel-in-stories comes together so cohesively, both plot and thematically, in fewer than 200 pages. 

All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews -- I picked this up initially because I'll read any book set in Milwaukee (there aren't many!). But it turned out to be a truly impressive and original coming-of-age tale. Loved it! 

Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez -- I read this book about a high-society wedding planner (wait, what?!) in basically two sittings. This goes from a fizzy rom-com to a political tale of the travails of Puerto Ricans. If this sounds like it'd be difficult to pull off, I was amazed how seamlessly Gonzalez does it. Her second novel, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, was published last year -- I haven't gotten to it yet, but it's on my shelf, staring me down as I type this. 

A Country You Can Leave, by Asale Angel-Ajani -- In some ways, this is a great companion novel to Perris, California -- similar themes, driven by character voice, similarly accomplished as a debut novel, similar setting. Like many of these novels, this was a book I took a chance on based on the recommendation of someone whose opinion I hold in high regard. And they were not wrong. It's fantastic!

The Divorcées, by Rowan Beaird -- If you've noticed a theme in this list of books, it's that many of them are populated with absolutely fierce, not-to-be-messed-with women. And this one is no different. Plus a really fascinating setting -- a divorce ranch in Nevada -- make this debut a spectacular read.