when I started writing, I wanted to be a music journalist. I was inspired by Legs McNeil's oral history of the punk movement, Please Kill Me, and spending too much time at the library going through the CD racks.

that's why whenever I find a book about music, it feels like going home, and that book immediately rockets to the top of my TBR pile.

this summer, the novels and nonfiction coming from the worlds of rockstars and punks has been especially good, so I wanted to throw together a lil reading list of my recs if you're looking for something with a little more edge than Daisy Jones and the Six (no hate, no shade).

so, to quote playboi carti, this reading list is rockstar made.

✰ american spirits, anna dorn ✰

an obsessive fan girl lands her dream job as assistant to a pop star who is equal parts Lana Del Rey and Gaylore Swift. it's just, said pop star doesn't know her new assistant also runs her most dedicated fan subreddit page (or that she's about to become her biggest competition). I ateeeee this book up in a few sittings and it was delicious.

✰ the lightening bottles, marissa stapley ✰

my current read. think Kurt and Courtney with a dash of The White Stripes, this rise-to-fame (and ruin) follows Jane Pyre and Elijah Hart, star crossed lovers who create the greatest grunge band 90s Seattle has ever seen. but is their love enough to keep everything from falling off the rails? I'm eagerly reading to find out.

✰ it starts with anger: a punk beginning, an afropunk ending, james spooner ✰

I got an advanced copy of this thanks to Penguin and this memoir combines all of my favorite things: James' story of coming up through the punk and hardcore scenes; how he developed Afropunk, a hub for Black punk; and what happens when you feel the line between your dream and selling out fraying beneath your fingers. this one is on my up next pile and I know I'm going to love the way James incorporates illustrations, comics, and punk ephemera of all sorts into his memoir.

✰ punk rock karaoke, bianca xunise ✰

a coming-of-age story set on Chicago's South Side, this graphic novel combines Bianca's expert cartooning with a heartfelt story about bandmates and best friends trying to make their way in the music biz. definitely one to pick up if you're looking for a read that is as fun, fast, and frightening as a punk record.

✰ waiting for britney spears, jeff weiss ✰

I legitimately still cannot figure out if this book is fiction or nonfiction, but it is the sideways account of a writer turned tabloid journalist whose rise through the underbelly of club life and paparazzi in the 2000s parallels the rise to fame of one Miss Britney Jean Spears. I got hella existential reading this book, which raises questions about fame and the ways we used to build modern myths in the era of low-rise jeans and tattooed butterflies.

what did I miss? lmk in the comments!! and if you wanna support our lil internet angel reader clubhouse, you can purchase any of these books from my shop below and give me a follow <3