FIVE MUST READ MEMOIRS for The Christmas Holidays

Wednesday is about books and writing. Here's the books that will be top of my Kindle list this summer...

Every summer, I like to treat myself by topping up my Kindle with a few new memoirs. They’re the go-to for Christmas holiday reading. Music and movies mostly. As that’s a big part of my life and learning - and what I love. I still like to get the hard-copy of the books I love most and in some cases I end up double-purchasing my favourite music memoirs.

Anyway, there’s always a bottleneck to the end of the year and a rush of great books hit the shelves in late October, early November and then into December. The book store becomes both a treat and an absolute worry to negotiate. I pick my path home so as to not walk past my favourite shops too often, or else my stocking gets filled before anyone else’s. Not the correct way to go about gift-giving…

But, at any rate, I wanted to share my list of the five books I’m most excited to be reading in the memoir category.

I am currently reading Sly Stone’s memoir - or else that would be on the list! I’ve just finished the Britney Spears book (and won’t be offering any thoughts on that) and I recently read the Pamela Anderson one, which, like the Netflix documentary (which essentially runs in conjunction) felt sad, and an air-clearing of sorts, but wasn’t particularly artful or a fulflling read. (I guess you could take that sentence and apply it to the Britney Spears book if you did want any extra thoughts from me on that one).

Anyway, these books are all about to hit the shelves in the next week or so, if they aren’t already available. So check them out. Tell me what you think. I am fizzing at the thought of these titles already.

So, in no particular order, I like to think this will be the backbone of my summer holiday reading, my Christmas wishlist, and - sneakily, a gift or two from myself to myself in here:

1. Henry Winkler, Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond

I am so excited to find out about this - out today! - that I will probably buy this today. Growing up, Happy Days, was it! And the Fonz! Man. Winkler was the coolest. Then you re-watch Happy Days and you realise Fonzie was a ponzi for Ritchie Cunningham to discover his inner coolness. Or, um, something like that. Anyway, Winkler is currently killing it in Barry, was brilliant in Scream, Parks & Rec, Arrested Development, The Waterboy and more. What a life. What an albatross of a character to carry with him through that all right? I can’t wait to read this.

2. Thurston Moore, Sonic Life: A Memoir

Worries that this will get too into the weeds with regards to no-wave and lo-fi and improv music might bug others, but I am here for it. I am here for it all. I’m not expecting to like Thurston Moore as a character or person at the end of this (after all I’ve read Kim Gordon’s memoir already, and that makes it clear) but I respect the leader of one of the greatest and most influential bands in my lifetime enough to want to hear what motivates him in telling his version of his life’s events. So pumped for this - even if it leads to a disappointment, it will also lead to a re-listen to his band’s brilliant catalogue. Something that is always a treat. I probably told you I LOVE Sonic Youth.

3. Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, The Upcycled Self: A Memoir of the Art of Becoming Who We Are

If Sonic Youth is one of the defining bands of my life, then The Roots is most certainly one of hte other key shapers in influencing my musical tastes over the last 20-25 years. So, already, I would be interested to read a memoir by the band’s vocalist. Also, the group’s leader (and drummer) Questlove, has now written several books and they’ve all been great. But I’m super intrigued to read Black Thought’s book for two reasons. It’s just 200 pages, a nice slim, poetic memoir is promised. And then this for a hook in the blurb: Today Tariq Trotter--better known as Black Thought--is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers our culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his family's home. The years that follow are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire. Oh my. Sign me up! Well, I’ll be waiting a couple of weeks. It’s out mid-November.

4. Vashti Bunyan, Just Another Life To Live

Alright, this one was actually released right at the start of the yeart - it’s been available all year, and I forgot all about it. But now I’m bumping it up onto the essential list; finding time for it. I fell in love with Vashti Bunyan’s music when she released her second album, which was in 2005. A mere 35 years after her debut. In total she has only three albums (1970, 2005, 2014) and a stop-gap collection of early singles and demos and leftovers. Her finite career is wonderful. But what happened in between? Well, motherhood and ‘boring’ things like that right? I am intrigued to read her story and dive back into the folkish delights of her music as a result.

5. Werner Herzog, Every Man For Himself And God Against All: A Memoir

I sometimes wish that Werner Herzog was my spirit animal. He’s made 80 movies, done some acting, written some poetry - including one of the most devastating single poems I’ve ever read - and he’s just casually eaten his own shoe (on camera), pulled a boat over a mountain by hand, and been shot on live TV during an interview. That cover image is him standing near an active volcano. He’s also written many other books, published screenplays, travel journals, a recent novel, a book of conversations. And now this. A definitive take? Well, clearly not. There’s always going to be more to come. But a book to take with me these holidays and devour. Can.Not.Wait!

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So, that’s my top five. But I’ll throw in a couple of bonus books.

Dolly Parton has several memoirs and autobiographies and a dozen biographies or thereabouts already circulating. But I’ll still read her latest even though it’s really a book about fashion. It’s still a book about (and by) Dolly. So I’m in! (Though this one might just be a reserve at the library).

Barbra Streisand is someone I can’t quite fathom. I get she’s famous. I get she’s a big deal. A triple threat. A real talent. But if I somehow didn’t get that, I’d have her screaming it at me anyway. I must admit, I’m kinda into reading her long-anticipated autobiography. That it’s nearly 1000 pages couldn’t be more fitting, and is simultaneously offputting and a bit of a giant lure.

There’s also a brand new Madonna biography that looks fantastic and might even be bigger than the Barbara! And a book where Willie Nelson talks about his lyrics and the stories behind his songs.Yay!

HAPPY READING!

See anything you like? Anything to add to your list? And anything from your list to add here?