Rock and Roll Book Club

At The Current, we love music — and we love reading books about music. That’s why we created The Current’s Rock and Roll Book Club. Every week, we pick a book about music and share a review online; you can also hear Jay Gabler talk about each week's book on The Current at 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday. We’d love it if you read along with us — and let us know what you think, using the hashtag #RockandRollBookClub.

What are your favorite music books?


The Current Rock and Roll Book Club Essential Reads

What are the all-time essential reads for music fans? From music memoirs to genre histories to novels set in record stores, we want you to share your list of your favorite music books.

Rock and Roll Book Club: 'Jack & the Ghost,' a picture book written by Chan Poling and illustrated by Lucy Michell


'Jack & the Ghost,' a book by Chan Poling and Lucy Michell.

'Jack & the Ghost' is a new picture book written by Poling, well-known to his fellow Minnesotans as a co-founder of the Suburbs and the New Standards. Music fans might also recognize the name of the book's illustrator Lucy Michell...but wait, isn't that last name missing an E? It would be if we were talking about Lucy Michelle of the Velvet Lapelles and Little Fevers, but in this case we're talking about Lucy Michell the visual artist. (Yes, they're the same person.)

Rock and Roll Book Club: Prince's memoir 'The Beautiful Ones'


Prince's book 'The Beautiful Ones' (dust jacket).

Who are 'the beautiful ones' in the title of Prince's unfinished memoir? It could be very literal, the beautiful people. It could be about his parents, or his family more generally. It could encompass creative visionaries, or the African-American community, or everyone Prince was making music for, which is to say the whole human race. The most likely answer might be: yes, all of the above.

Rock and Roll Book Club: Elton John's 'Me'


Elton John's memoir 'Me.'

This isn't one of those music memoirs written on a mission. It's one of those that feels like you're sitting next to the author on a long airplane ride; he starts telling his story at the beginning and then continues right up to the present day, stopping at every great anecdote.

Rock and Roll Book Club: Morris Day is 'On Time'


Jay Gabler with Morris Day's 'On Time.'

Morris Day's new memoir is a fascinating conversation with both Prince, posthumously, and his own flamboyant 'MD' character. The result may be more revealing even than Prince's own upcoming book.

Rock and Roll Book Club: Tegan and Sara's 'High School'


The reflective cover of Tegan and Sara's 'High School.'

Tegan and Sara's new book is a music memoir like no other: an intimate account of how they found their voices as songwriters while navigating the confusing waters of adolescence and becoming aware of their own sexuality.